> 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!
And Socrates worked that way, too!)
Gretchen>