What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated?: And More Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies

This is an insightful book outlining some of the things that do and do not work in education and what could be done to improve those. For example, emphasis on passing standardized test does not necessarily improve learning and knowledge but only helps students become good at cracking a specific type of test. Learning often takes back seat compared to learning tricks to crack the test. It may even become a measure of resources to join courses to help crack such tests, which does not necessarily measure knowledge or intelligence. There are sugestions like making work at schools more project, problem solving and discovery oriented, where students have to cooperate, show initiative and think logically to solve problems rather than simply learning tricks to solve certain type of questions. I only found the section on capitalistic conspiracy theory a bit distractive from main idea. However, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in education.

This book (or collection of essays) lays out a very strong and persuasive case against the merits of standardized testing and letter grades. Supported by research that is exhaustive and enlightening, the book's author (Alfie Kohn) drives home his main point from start to finish: the more students are rewarded, the more they tend to lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward because they are driven by extrinsic as opposed to intrinsic motivations. After teaching for 1 year at the high school level I encountered the dilemma that is the central theme of this book: teaching students to be tested, as opposed to teaching students to learn. The section (From Degrading to De-Grading) on "learning orientation" and "grade orientation" really captures the essence of Alfie Kohn's message. Some may say that this book is tremendously one-sided, and it is. Alfie Kohn believes that our archaic system of ranking and judging our students based upon the memorization of a "bunch o' facts" and the reward of a grade is damaging. So what does he propose we use to measure performance and achievement? The use of qualitative feedback from instructors that he refers to as authentic assessment. It includes narratives (written comments), portfolios (carefully chosen collections students' writings and projects that demonstrate their interests, achievements and improvements over time), student-led parent-teacher conferences, exhibitions, and other opportunities for students to show what they can do. If you are concerned that such methodology may affect your child's chances of getting into college, he's researched that too. He writes that the most selective colleges have been known to accept home-schooled children who have never set foot in a classroom, and that it's not widely known that hundreds of colleges and universities don't require applicants to take either the SAT or ACT. These narrative assessments are accepted by college admission officers in lieu of letter grades. This book will definitely make you question what it means to be well educated.

Alfie Kohn always does a good job of bringing a lot of enthusiasm and emotion to books like this. He definitely has a lot of good points, and at least attempts to make reference to studies. You will find yourself agreeing with a lot of the little observations he makes and many of his big ideas. However, as many have pointed out, a book like this tends to end up sounding like a collection of complaints more than a systematic discussion of what it actually means to be well-educated. I have implemented a number of his ideas in my own classroom with good success. The problem is that while he is clear about what shouldn't happen in a classroom, his discussion of what should happen always tends to be a little more open-ended and general. For example, he claims that students don't need to pack their heads with facts for a successful career, but rather need to be enthusiastic problem solvers and thinkers. So he suggests teachers shouldn't focus as much on rote memorization and factual knowledge. What is lacking is an in-depth discussion of how to foster thinking skills and problem solving in a classroom and maintain some sort of expectations of what kids should and will know or be able to do. This is the kind of book that makes for good, light reading about education and that can get you thinking. It is not the kind of book that should be widely quoted in serious research papers.

If you are truly interested in what can be done to improve our schools, and tired of the rhetoric fed to you by politicians and the media, this book will definitely give you some meat to chew on and think about. I recommend it for all who believe in the value of education.

It is quite unusual to find a book that is a collection of articles and essays as pageturning as What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? by Alphie Kohn. As I was reading, I found myself becomming excited by Kohn's ideas, even at times verbalizing agreement with him and nodding my head as if he and I were talking. When Alphie Kohn has an idea he takes it, runs with it, and never looks back. His book is thoroughly researched, but what I really enjoyed about this book is that there is no other author (or very few, rather) who has expressed such a defiance to the public school system as it currently is. Kohn has qualitative and quantitative research backing him up left and right, as well as plenty of moving testimonials, as to why the public school system is in desperate need of reform. To most critics, reform means "higher standards", "raising the bar", more testing and less recess. Not to Kohn. He delves into the true meaning (or lack there of) of those now cliché terms politicians have created (politicians mind you, not educators) to drum up support for the regression of our country's educationals system. Kohn takes the next step and frankly explains why they are wrong and what we can do to fix a broken system. Quite the revolutionary, Kohn boldly suggests ridding the public school system not only of annual standardized tests and college enterance tests (i.e. ACT, SAT), but of grades as well. Sound intriguing? It is. And Kohn does a spectacular job of presenting his arguments with ample reasoning and research as well as what he believes the alternatives should be, and does it all in an easily readable manner without being pretentious. I did feel like at times, however, that Kohn may have gone a bit too extreme even for me. His chapter on how saying "good job" to children is actually detrimental and creates approval-seaking zombies (my words, not his) may have gone a bit too far. At the same time, eventhough I felt the chapter became a little ridiculous, there were still many very valid arguments made and research presented. Despite disagreeing to an extent, I truly learned and thought about something I had never considered before, and if only for that reason I am very happy I read it. What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? is a perfect read for teachers wanting ideas to make their classrooms more education friendly, students (high school level or above) who are fed up with all the pressures, uselessness, and arbitrariness of standardized tests and grades, administrators and school board members looking to improve their school on their own standards, and anyone wanting a fresh breath of air and an original, enthusiastic voice added to the debate of public school reform. Even if you disagree with all of Kohn's ideas, I still recommend you read this book if only for the simple fact that you know what you're up against. This is by far one of the most original, intriguing, thought provoking,