School Teachers In Alfie Kohn's Against School

Many school teachers claim that without grades there would be no incentive to work. As a student who has been homeschooled her whole life and had never received a grade before collage, I find this thinking completely rubbish. You do your work and do it well because that is what is expected of you. This is what I stood by in my time as a precollege student. However, in a world where kids are taught from a young age not to do anything unless it benefits them, it makes complete since that without grades they would not do the work. In Alfie Kohn’s essay “From Degrading to De-grading” he says, “Without bribes (A’s) and threats (F’s), students would have no reason to do such assignments.” This statement is completely true; however it is only true when we make it so. Because we raise our children to obey by way of rewords and threats (go to bed on time or your grounded, do the dishes and I’ll let you play a video game, exc.) and not by way of respect (obeying simply because that’s what is expected of them), we have instilled in them that …show more content…
As a homeschooler I never experienced a feeling of entrapment when it came to my schooling. I had a set amount of work which I had to complete each day and my personal goal was to understand and complete my lessons as quickly as possible so I could go outside and play. I was never forced to sit still in a classroom listening to teachers lecture for half the day. Even during my high school years if I started school by eight am and worked diligently I would be done by noon and if the weather permitted I did my work outside. “Plenty of people throughout the world today find a way educate themselves without resorting to a system of compulsory secondary schools that all too often resemble prisons.” (Gatto p. 273) Although I may be bias, in my opinion homeschooling is an amazing alternative to traditional school. Perhaps if schools would put to