The Schools Our Children Deserve By Alfie Kohn - 1358 Words

Book Synopsis The Schools Our Children Deserve by Alfie Kohn Chapter 1 -- Forward Into the Past There are two categories of schooling theory that will be discussed in this book: â€Å"Old School† (OS) and â€Å"Non-traditional† schooling. The first has information ‘drilled in,’ worksheets and behaviorism, and an emphasis on obedience. Students are individualized and run through like clockwork as teachers fill their brains like buckets -- math is usually the subject where this is the worst. In the second, children are taken seriously, and student questions shape the curriculum; critical thinking is fostered, students learn from each other, and the community is one of learning -- usually the arts are where this theory comes through the most. Before†¦show more content†¦Chapter 4 -- Getting Evaluation Wrong: The Case Against Standardized Testing Standardized tests are no way to measure the things that really matter -- intrinsic motivation, intellectual exploration, or anything else that really matters in the pursuit of creating a lifelong learne r. What makes it worse is when test results are given out without even saying what they were being tested on, and when those results are put against other countries as though relativity to the rest of the current world is how we should measure how well our students are doing. Many of these tests are designed for the same students to get all the questions wrong or all the questions right so the students can be easily stacked against each other -- not a measure of how smart they are intrinsically, but how smart they are compared to their neighbor. When we spend so much time preparing students for tests, we’re putting the cart before the horse, devaluing tests even further! Chapter 5 -- Getting School Reform Wrong: The Arrogance of Top-Down Coercion There are two ways to reform anything: top down (demanding it,) or bottom up (growing forth from the community support.) Community support makes more sense, because here in a macro scale, just as on a micro scale, more is accomplished when the motivation is intrinsic instead of imposed. Extrinsic motivation kills intrinsic motivation. Our school system doesn’t make sense; if we want to raise little freedom-oriented democrats why are we marchingShow MoreRelatedA Lecture Hall Is Filled At The Brim With College Students1751 Words   |  8 Pagesare others who would argue that paying students to try in school takes away their motivation to actually learn. Among the latter stands Alfie Kohn, author or Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes, who would be appalled by the professor’s actions. 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Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Please visit our web site at www.pearsoncustom.com ISBN 0–536–72690–6 BA 996748 PEARSON CUSTOM PUBLISHING 75 Arlington Street, Suite 300 Boston, MA 02116 A Pearson Education Company iii iv Table of Contents SECTION ONE .................................