Feel free to quote the text. Please note that this forum includes both of the readings, "Against School" and "From Grading to Degrading." You do not need to answer every question, but rather you can pick and choose, as long as you address both A and B.
A. What are some of the negative impacts of giving grades that Kohn discusses? Have you experienced these as a student? Discuss one or two specific examples from your experience. What are some of the reasons teachers feel unable to go to an un-graded learning environment? How linked, in your mind, are receiving high grades and learning well? Alternatively, how linked are receiving poor grades and learning very little? Does this paradigm reflect your reality as a learner?
B. What reasons does Gatto have for believing that school is unnecessary as it stands? How realistic is a change to the current system? What evidence does Gatto give that you find compelling regarding the inadequacy of "forced schooling?" In what ways do you see Kohn's arguments and Gatto's arguments as similar? How are they different?