In The Schools Our Children Deserve,
Alfie Kohn delves into the research that demonstrates what I have always felt
in my bones: the educational system needs a massive overhaul. Yes, there are
great schools out there. There are even more great teachers. But ask a great
teacher, and many will tell you that they, too, feel hamstrung by a system that
is overly concerned with achievement, competition, coercion, standardized
testing, and the belief that 'harder equals better.'
When we focus on how
we are doing, we are not paying as much attention to what we are doing. In
education, this means that the more important we make grades, the less the
students actually learn. This creates a classroom environment where the
student's priority becomes 'Is this going to be on the test?' rather than ‘How
does this relate to everything else I know?’
This focus on rank has more insidious effects, as well. If we need to
give children grades, then we may only assign them work that is easy to grade.
Multiple choice quizzes give a tangible number that the instructor can write in
a grade book. It is much harder to grade
students on a lively, classroom debate on a topic that isn't even covered in
the textbook. Which do you think makes a
deeper impression on the student? Where is more learning taking place?
This focus on ranking
creates a climate of competition. Classmates are looked at as people to outdo,
obstacles on the road to the top. Winning becomes more important than learning.
Collaboration is left at the door. This
is unfortunate, and has implications beyond childhood. Research demonstrates
that deeper learning happens when people collaborate then when people are
isolated. Collaboration fosters creativity, communication, and mutual
understanding. Working together is
essential in the modern world; the problems of the 21st century are far too big for any individual to solve alone.
Collaboration is a skill we can develop and nurture, yet we give it little time
in the traditional school. Those schools that do make the space for
collaborative effort often find it has extraordinary outcomes.
Learning to submit to
authority begins early in the traditional school, where students must ask
permission to tend to their bodily functions, and get gold stars when they do
exactly what is expected of them. Kohn covers the inherent problem of Punishments and Rewards in his book by
that name. This behaviorist approach to child development stems from the work
of B. F. Skinner, and likens the human mind to a machine or pet that can be
trained to the 'right' response by the proper use of reward and punishment. We
are not pets or machines, though. Children can be taught to give the right
response through these behaviorist methods, but true understanding is not
inherent in such rote learning. Understanding comes through engagement with the
material because learning is an active process, not merely the memorization of
data. One way helps them win at Trivial Pursuit; the other way fosters problem
solving and critical thinking.
Conditioning our
children to submit to authority has more ominous implications, as well. In 1963 Stanley Milgram published a
well-known study in which he learned that people will do surprising things,
things far outside their comfort level, if they are told to do so by someone
they believe to be in authority. Such studies question the wisdom of raising
generations of children who have learned to 'do what they are told.’
As if all of this
isn't convincing enough, Kohn takes on standardized testing as well. Textbook
and testing companies have been given enormous power to decide what our
children should know. But corporations aren’t people, and have different goals
than people. What is best for business is not necessarily what is best for our
children. These companies design tests which have proven confusing even to
professional adults, and give us little meaningful information about what our
children actually know. Yet budgets, salaries, and other important decisions
are being made using these numbers. Remember, testing companies are in business
to make money for the stockholders. When the law requires every child to take
their test, the company can be sure that they will leave no profit behind.
Finally, Kohn calls
into question the idea that 'harder equals better.' If test scores are down,
drill them on testing more. If they aren't learning in school, send more of the
same work home with them. If a strategy is ineffective, why do we act as if more
of the same will eventually get the results we are aiming for? This perspective
is endemic in our culture, and we shouldn't be surprised to find it in our
schools. It would be funny if it weren't so sad. Neuroscience tells us that
learning is an active process, but also an integrative one. Sometimes, we need
to let our mental fields lie fallow for a while so they can grow a new harvest.
Harder isn't always better. As John Holt once remarked, “One ironical
consequence of the drive for so-called higher standards in schools is that the
children are too busy to think.”
So what is better?
Learners learn better when they are actively engaged in the material. They
become more engaged when they are allowed choice in their education, when they
are allowed to collaborate, and when they are allowed to make mistakes. We can
take the pressure off of our kids to produce tangible results, and free up
energy for them to pursue that which they are passionate about. In some ways,
this may be easier for a homeschooler, or a private school to accomplish. But
teachers across the country are growing weary of methods that don't work, and
recognizing that they might have to think outside the box if they really want
to reach students and rediscover the joy and passion in their work. As more
people wake up to the ways in which the current educational model doesn’t serve
us, they will demand a different approach that honors the humanity and
creativity in everyone.
