What Does it Mean to be Well Educated by Alfie Kohn
What Does it Mean to be Well Educated by Alfie Kohn is a book designed to open one's eyes to some of the pitfalls and wonders of becoming a teacher. In the book Kohn blueprints his understanding of the system of education in America. Kohn, who is well known for his disregard for the standardized school test revisits that testing system in the book, however he also deal with many other issues that have recently been faced by the educational system of the country. How educators dealt with the weeks and months following 9/11 as well as school violence are two of the recent school issues that he takes on. According to Kohn the corporate business world has turned education of the nation's children into a multi billion dollar enterprise. The companies that have jumped on the band wagon sell standardized test instruments, materials to prepare for them and millions off dollars in sales for books on how to teach to the test. He constructs a road map for the reader in which the link between such businesses and more global social concerns can be cl
Before reading this book I had heard about the controversy surrounding standardized testing, but had not really given it a lot of in depth thought. Kohn illustrates throughout the book his belief that the return to student focus in education is the way to improve the country's public school setting. I have also had my belief validated that student focus is the best way to educate. This is important because my philosophy has always been centered in the individual needs of students however, I had failed to examine standardized testing and their possible corporate importance. It leaves the reader understanding where the problems are and invites the reader to use individual methods to solve it. Kohn believes that using student interest, using more subjective methods to assess progress and not depending on a single standardized testing system are all steps that will improve the quality of education and ultimately the outcome of American society. I plan to keep a copy of this book in my desk to remind me that market driven tools are not always the best tools especially when it comes to the education of the nation's future leaders and workers. This book will have a significant impact on my work with children. Kohn's dislike of all narrowly confined ways of thinking comes through as he bluntly maligns organizations such as the NRA. Students will benefit from my reading of this book because even though I will most likely have to administer standardized tests I will not put pressure on the students before, during or following the test. I believe that students are capable of almost anything that they want to do if we as educators can learn to trust THEIR interests and instincts. When I teach and work with my students in the future I will be mindful that one standardized test does not determine the progress or abilities of any student. He instead, challenges the readers to come up with alternative and pleasing methods by which to measure a student's progress. CONCLUSIONThe book brought me a new sense of why I wanted to work in the field of education.
Common topics in this essay:
According Kohn,
America Kohn,
Alfie Kohn,
standardized testing,
standardized test,
student focus,
measure student's progress,
education nation's,
reading book,
student's progress,
measure student's,
testing system,
|
Acceptance Essays
