Alfie Kohn's Essay 'Confusing Harder With Better'

251 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Education system

"Confusing Harder with Better" Reading Journal In the essay written by Alfie Kohn, “Confusing Harder with Better " talks about the education system and unprepared students. Furthermore, in the essay, the writer mentioned that student due to work very hard to pass the standard tests. Moreover, certain schools do want to higher their standards because they think that will help the students to build their knowledge. The author believes that putting more than the normal on the student’s shoulders will affect them in a bad way instead of the beneficial way. Furthermore, He thinks that making schools harder does not mean necessary that schools will become better they might be the opposite. The writer claimed that there are some reasons behind his

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Jonathan Kozol's Still Separate, Still Equal

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    When it comes to education, everyone has their own opinion on what should be taught, how things should be taught, and what should be fair within the different levels of education. I have personally seen many posts on Facebook from my family members that live in differing areas, which are truly the opposite sides of this nation, and there have been quite a lot of separate views. Family members from New England, in particular, are generally more conservative and wish for there to be more patriotism in schools, such as making it mandatory to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Those from the west coast, who tend to have liberal views, hope that college tuition will be able to be free of cost. Different areas of origin as well as one’s parents

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'The More Factor' By Laurence Shames

    1776 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Laurence Shames’s article, “The More Factor”, Shames explains how America has grown to believe and reinforce the opportunistic concept of the frontier—vast open space where possibilities of success have the potential to cultivate. This concept has become symbolic of what America stands for: the freedom to go further and farther than man has ever dreamed of, and without limits. And while this mindset still exists as an ideology of America, as well as how the rest of the world believes America supports itself, this ideology can no longer hold itself to be true. This optimistic approach cannot define the growing and upcoming generations of the 21st century. In the same way that Shames states that “in America, a sense of quality has lagged far

    Read More

  • Summary Of 'The Downside Of Grit' By Alfie Kohn

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    exis Hanson Professor Dosch English 101 3 May 2016 title In “The Downside of ‘Grit’: What Really Happens When Kids Are Pushed to Be More Persistent?”, Alfie Kohn; an author and lecturer, claims that not everything is worthwhile especially when going at a task for an extensive amount of time. He asserts that ‘grit’ (the passion and determination when pursuing long term goals) is becoming less persuasive and credible. Kohn states that grit can cause serious issues that have real consequences.

    Read More

  • Lives on the Boundary by Mike Rose

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ild, when he would hide and daydream, up until his first years of college, when he would avoid areas that were difficult, the author recognized that there was important link between challenging the student on a meaningful level and the degree to which the student eventually produced. “I felt stupid telling them I was… well – stupid.” (Rose 43) Here, Rose shows an example of how poor preparation and low standards in the classroom can make a student feel inadequate. Indeed, one can see how many things seemingly unrelated do affect a student’s ability to learn.

    Read More

  • A Generation Of Slackers Are Not So Better By Catherine Rampell Summary

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, such accusations such as laziness and entitlement, although common, have been prevalent amongst those of college age as proven in “A’s for Everyone.” Shepard had investigated the cause behind this and had put the blame on grade inflation in the years prior to entering college, the pressure to get superb grades due to high tuition costs, and most importantly the belief that “effort” constitutes a grade bonus. However, if one has entered the school system in America, one could see the relative ease in which one could improve their grades through inordinate amounts of extra credit. Multiple students have heard and even seen fellow students ask their parents to even come in for meetings of which equate to blaming their child’s poor grades on the teacher and harassing said teacher to allow their child, soon to be a hardworking, productive citizen of society, to get the “grade they

    Read More

  • Herbert Kohl's Argument Essay

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this passage, the audience truly sees the meaning behind Herbert Kohl's message. His purpose for writing comes back to the fact that people interpret situations differently in every way. Kohl not only wanted to highlight the purpose behind wanting to learn something new but he also wanted readers to be aware that most time it does not come down to the inability of someone who doesn't want to learn but the real reason behind why they don't want to. People have different opinions on topics such as these but Kohl wanted to show that being able to want to stand up for your culture and the meanings behind it are rather important. Behind Kohl's purpose for writing, we see an insight into his past life relating to Wilfredo's. Kohl's reason for

    Read More

  • Carl Singleton's 'What Our Education System Needs Is More F'

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our education system is failing and in his essay “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s” Carl Singleton writes that nothing else will right the ship or fix this issue except for his proposed solution which is to simply fail more students. As a matter of fact “by the dozens, hundreds, thousands, even millions” (Singleton 1) is how he describes the failing grades should be distributed. He claims that illegitimately passing students has existed for the past two decades and even implies that it stems further back than that with many teachers in the school system today “who never should have been certified in the first place.”(Singleton 1).

    Read More

  • How Standardized Testing Effects the Education

    2676 Words  | 6 Pages

    As child growing up some of the frightful memories include a visit to the dentist; an evil man with scary drill whose solve purpose is to hurt you or the first day in elementary school you finally leave all behind the cozy classrooms and nap times of kindergarten and enter the big leagues. All of these are considered a cakewalk compared to standardize testing. Since the start of elementary school students in the United States are taught to test. In many instances students are held back or placed in remedial classes because of lower grades. But many don’t realize that some students are not great at testing taking and because of the lower grades some educators believe that these students are lower achievers. This leads to lower self-esteem and encourage students to drop out in later years. Also students are forced to memorize information merely as facts without sparking their creativity or enhancing their knowledge.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization Of Standardized Testing

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since elementary school, students have been sharpening their No. 2 pencils, preparing to fill in the bubbles on their standardized tests. To younger children, these tests aren’t a very big deal. But little do they know that the tests they take in elementary school are practice for the biggest test they will take in their lives. This test is the ACT, or the SAT. These tests are a huge deal. Students’ results on these tests could change their plans for the future, and that’s a lot of pressure. So are these tests really all that they are made out to be? Are they really that important enough to stress about so much? Many people have started to say that standardized tests are hurting American schools, and that they put too much pressure on students.

    Read More

  • Standardized Testing Vs Standardized Test

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    Standardized tests are a tremendous part of most schools’ curriculum in the United States today. These tests are assessments of students’ knowledge on either one or more subjects. Standardized tests are a performance evaluation of students, teachers, and schools due to their importance. A standardized test is distinctive from other tests in two ways. One, it has common questions being answered in the same way and two, it is being scored in a consistent style allowing for comparative performance. Through extensive research Oliver’s and Visone’s statements and overall research have several key differences that shape their own separate arguments. Though their thesis and hypothesis have the same underlying idea that there is a problem with` standardized

    Read More

  • The Consequences of Grade Inflation

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    Without anyone pushing students to the fullest extent of their comprehension in certain subjects, there will not be enough material for the educator to give a coherent grade, which results in giving a pupil an unearned mark.... ... middle of paper ... ... Instead of encouraging them, they do the opposite. It will give such students “false feedback about their ability,” making them believe that what they are doing is proper, that it is the standard set of skills that everyone has, and that they will succeed in almost anything with the same attitude.

    Read More

  • Standardized Tests: Do They Really Work for Raising the Rank of the US in World Education?

    1813 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kohn, Alfie. What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated? and More Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies. Boston, MA: Beacon, 2004. Print.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of The Common Core Standards

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    (2014) exclaimed that why do 62 percent of parents think the Common Core is not perfect for their kids, despite it has fascinated some entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and the secretary of education. In a case in point, parents should get more involved in the education of their children if they do not approve of measures being used. She agrees to the idea of a federal government using incentives to adopt their specific education program, but then again she only sees that parents complaining and not taking action. In another context, “parents have no choice about whether their kids will learn Common Core, no matter what school they put them in, if they want them to go to college, because the SAT and ACT are being redesigned to fit the new national program for education”. (Pullmann, J. 2014, September 24, p. 1). In fact, Porter (1989) states that the Common Core standards became as opposing to teachers and teaching occupation, and the tactics are not good strong enough for enabling teachers to be dependent. The teacher is often understood to be the planned without rules. Moreover, some voices against the criticism of the common core, they believe that it is meaningless because districts are still permitted to select which material goes out with stem the basis stated by the Common Core

    Read More

  • Directed Self Placement

    467 Words  | 1 Pages

    The test subjects or as refered to in the article, the "seats" did not only behave differently after they were told to place themselves in the class they thought they deemed suitable for them. But most were more inclined to choose English 098 over English 150, whether it meant they would have to take an extra class or two because of it. I would say that they came up with quite astonishing results but then again, when put into perspective, I would have done the same thing. Had I been placed in English 098 by a standardized test, admittedly, I would be not be happy but had I been given the opportunity to choose I would have chosen English 098. Because it may not be easy for most to say, but some things take more practice than others even if you have to take more time to understand than other people do. It will never be too late or even too early to better yourself, whether it is as a person or as a writer. I can resonate with the feelings of those students who felt inadequate or even incompetent merely because they do not do things as well as others

    Read More

  • Equality of Opportunities in Education

    1424 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...the pressure of keeping up with other students. Here, they can work at their own pace and figure out a solution that best works for them to understand or solve a problem. One last idea school reform should address in creating an equality of opportunity in public schools would be to set standards and spend more time in the classroom on these important tasks. These standards are put into place to help evaluate one’s progress. It’s important to have some standards in place, but they need to be feasible. To make such standards feasible, the teacher will be able to tailor it so that the standard can be met by the student. Spending a decent amount of time to get students to reach these standards is imperative. Without a sufficient amount of time, students may not be able to grasp and fully understand what is being taught to them resulting in standards not being met.

    Read More

More about Alfie Kohn's Essay 'Confusing Harder With Better'

Open Document