Essay on "What Does it Mean to Be Well Educated?"

Essay 4 pages (1147 words) Sources: 2 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Educational Philosophy

Alfie Kohn (2002) offers a convincing argument that contemporary education places too much emphasis on grades, irrespective of whether or not her response to the characterization that grades are inflated is completely accurate. According to Kohn, the conclusion that grades are "inflated" is unsubstantiated for several reasons. For one thing, it may simply be that the educational system is performing its fundamental function of educating students better after a few centuries of development. Second, it may be a reflection of increased opportunities for students to pursue academic areas of genuine interest to them. Third, it may be attributable to administrative changes that allow students greater latitude to withdraw from courses instead of receiving poor grades.

Kohn also challenges the conclusion that SAT scores are declining, which critics of grade inflation suggest demonstrates that grades are inflated since changing SAT scores should correspond to similar changes in grades during the same time period. Kohn (2002) suggests that (1) SAT scores are not actually declining when all factors are considered; (2) SAT scores are a poor predictor of academic performance or long-term subject matter retention; and (3) fluctuations in SAT scores are likely the result of totally different factors than those that relate directly to academic performance (Kohn, 2002).

Curiously, Kohn does not mention the obvious possibility that increased SAT scores could also reflect specific preparation that could, in many cases, actually conflict with devoting attention to academic studies to the detriment of the latter while the former improves.

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While I agree with Kohn's arguments, in my experiences and observations at the primary and secondary school level, grades are indeed becoming inflated, but by a mechanism not addressed by Kohn, because the author's research predated the full implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) first introduced by the Bush administration in 2001. In the interim, grades have become tremendously inflated in man states, by virtue of the nearly complete preoccupation on the part of education administrators with preparing students - more accurately, coaching them - to perform satisfactorily on federally required competency tests in the very narrow areas of mathematics and reading. Kohn (2002) refutes the underlying teaching philosophy that conceives of college professors as performing the function of distinguishing or ranking students for the benefit of future employers or graduate school admissions offices. Similarly, Kohn rejects the belief that grades are necessary (or even particularly effective) at motivating learning.

According to Kohn, college professors who espouse the ranking philosophy of education have forgotten that their primary role is to educate students and not to fulfill a weeding out function for the benefit of third parties. Kohn (2002) presents substantial evidence that college students actually learn more and retain more genuine enthusiasm for their studies in non-competitive academic environments than in highly competitive, grade- focused education models.

While I agree that overemphasis on performance, particularly as measured by grades, is not necessarily conducive to an optimal learning environment, I have also experienced and observed the extent to which the motivation to achieve high grades has also provided concurrent motivation for learning and that working hard toward a high grade can also stimulate long-term subject matter retention, at least in my case.

In What Does it Mean to Be Well-Educated? (Kohn, 2003) presents a very convincing argument against the underlying definitions and approaches of contemporary education with (most of) which I agree wholeheartedly. Specifically, Kohn suggests that contemporary attitudes about what a… READ MORE

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