Over-protectiveness
The third criticism is that the progressive educator perspective is overprotective, shielding children from the dissonance and conflict needed to provoke intellectual growth. Such overprotectiveness may mean that children’s ‘ errors’ are not explicitly corrected, for fear of hurt and emotional damage. Instead euphemisms for incorrectness or failure are employed (such as ‘ see me’), which children understand very well to denote error, adding a layer of deceit to the meaning. Awareness of error is essential for learning, and dissonance and cognitive conflict are likewise necessary for cognitive growth in learning mathematics. Beyond this, dealing with interpersonal conflict and with controversial issues are essential life skills for citizenship in modern society. However, this perspective tries to sustain an artificial harmony through the denial of conflict in the classroom and the world. By shielding the child from such experiences the progressive educator view is obstructing the child’s cognitive, emotional and social growth.