Today when parents are asked to rank various educational goals, they typically give high ratings to promoting self-esteem and the will to learn, right along with competency in reading, writing, and mathematics (Reasoner, 1986). This is surprising for the fact that only a few decades ago proficiency in reading and mathematics dominated these polls, with esteem and motivational goals trailing badly. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that these shifts in priority hold across a broad socioeconomic spectrum. Both working-class parents and those in the professions endorse self-worth values. It seems that the lay public has come to intuit what we have demonstrated empirically, that self-worth considerations stand at the center of the achievement process, and that competency and feelings of worthiness are inseparable.

These ratings are also remarkable for what they do not reveal about public perceptions of the instructional process. Other expectations are also at work behind the scenes – factors that threaten the delicate balance between competency and confidence. First, as we know, there is the widely shared belief that schooling should be efficient. Second, many believe that arranging incentives around competition is the best way to ensure efficiency as well as creativity (Collins, 1975; Elleson, 1983; Grenis, 1975). This latter belief is so pervasive that, as will be recalled, George Leonard (1968) charged that competition is taught in schools as an end in itself.