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Is The Theme Of From Degrading To De-Grading By Alfie Kohn

676 Words3 Pages

Isabella Foster
Professor Stovall
English
1 March 2023
Title:
You receive a notification on canvas saying a new assignment has been graded, you look at the grade, and realize all your hard work didn’t show. Instead of thinking about what you can do better for the next assignment, you completely disregard it, and don’t try on the rest of the courses’ assignments. For many students, this is a reality of receiving grades. In the article, “From Degrading to De-Grading”, Alfie Kohn’s argues, the idea of completely getting rid of the grading system. Kohn discusses the negative effects grades have on students and how/why schools should transition to grade-free schooling. While be a student, I have had my fair share of receiving graded material. I …show more content…

Kohn explains, “The competition turns schooling into a quest for triumph and ruptures relationships among students doesn’t just happen within classrooms, of course. The same effect is witnessed at a schoolwide level when kids are not just rated but ranked, sending the message that the point isn’t to learn, or even perform well, but to defeat others” (Kohn 4). When I was in high school, I took a few honors and AP classes. With being in advanced classes where grades are the most important to students, I saw how competitive it got between students. Students would always compare grades and saw each other as threats. Especially honors and AP Classes, because these are student’s that want that high grade to succeed. I found myself comparing my grades, even if I got a high …show more content…

Parents aren’t any better when it comes to grades, they just want to see the A+ on their report card and assignments. Kohn explains, “Researchers have found that the more students are led to focus on getting good grades, the more likely they are to cheat, even if they themselves regard cheating as wrong” (Kohn 3). I find this completely true. With parents and students focusing on receiving a good grade, many cheat just to get that good grade. This imposes other issues because the student isn’t absorbing the information being presented. Not only that, but if one is caught cheating, a suspension or detention is placed. While in college, if you are caught cheating you can be kicked out university. I remember a time when I was a teacher’s assistant for a period during high school. I was working on reorganizing ribbon for the class, and I turned around to see students clicking on and off their screen to google and texting behind their computers for the answers. Now, when parents just focus on their child getting a good grade, they don’t really think about how that child is receiving that

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