there are some heavy duty personality issues involved that are hard to overcome
And to understand in the first place. Dooblebug I'm reasonably confident that I could cope with the challenges of the first three items on your list, though not necessarily in a way that would leave anyone gasping with admiration at my efficiency. But weaving that last one into the mix is what I find most daunting, especially when there are all the
other personalities that need to be woven in as well: the teachers, friends, relatives etc who impact on/are impacted on by my children. And particularly when a significant amount of their time is spent away from me.
Josh, you advise not despairing. Although it's a stronger word than I would use, I don't necessarily agree with the conclusion of the article that JoJo linked to, which suggested that there are many paths to fulfillment without success at school. Schooling opens up opportunities (learning and life) which may not be achievable any other way for many people, particularly if their confidence has been eroded by their school experience. And if the 50% of successful (whatever that means exactly) Americans who didn't arrive via schooling are mostly confident, entrepreneurial extroverts, then the statistic isn't a particularly shining ray of hope for badly bruised introverts.
I'm quite taken with the idea of recognition for effort and think it makes a lot of sense, so was a little surprised on the weekend when a GT event organised by our local group finished with marking and then giving out of prizes for the highest marks!
