Re: The school game

Eric Crump (wleric@SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU)
Tue, 13 Aug 1996 23:33:36 -0500


On Tue, 13 Aug 1996, Darlene Sybert wrote:
> Do you really think that students would put forth the same effort if
> there were no grades and no exams and no measures of their success?

No, not the same effort. And just taking away grades and exams and other
judging and ranking mechanisms won't do much good. That's like yanking
the crutch from a person with one leg. They need grades for motivation
now because we've *made* them need grades. Most students have become
dependent on coercion.

But if students were freed from that junk *and* were given both the freedom
to follow their own interests *and* supportive guidance to help them pursue
those interests productively, then motivation would cease to be a problem.
Students who are driven by their own passion rather than coerced by an
Authority are unstoppable. The big problem for teachers of those students
is managing to keep up with them!

--Eric Crump