Why you should focus on praising the child's effort...

I think Singapore's Education Minister should invite American academic Professor Carol Dweck, a leading researcher in several psychology fields, to come and evaluate our "kiasu-afflicted" educational mindset (both policy makers' and parents'), from the playschool and kindergarten level all the way to the tertiary level.

She recently gave a presentation to the UK-based RSA:

Her presentation (and the Q&A that followed) is available on YouTube. While it is nearly an hour long, if you have young children, it is worth investing your time in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyVZ0KKJuTg

(Note: A much shorter edited version is being made available.)

I also found a much earlier (but by no means outdated!) EducationWorld interview with Prof Dweck, titled "How Can Teachers Develop Students' Motivation -- And Success?". Click on the link below first if you are not sure if you want to watch the RSA video:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat010.shtml