| In Grade-Obsessed Society,
Learning Gets Left Behind
by Steve Byrd, in the Christian
Science Monitor (May 25, 2004)
In an editorial in the Christian Science Monitor,
Steve Byrd reflects on American students' anxiety about grades.
Byrd, who teaches Spanish and Portuguese at the University
of Texas-Austin, finds the obsession with grades at the end
of the semester especially disheartening: "Is this what all
their stress is about: a result?" This focus on end results,
Byrd argues, threatens to overshadow the learning process
and to obscure the ultimate educational goal of "achieving
excellence."
In diagnosing our obsession
with grades, Byrd suggests that at least some of the problem
may be cultural. He cites his experience teaching in Brazil,
where "grades were never an issue" and "the focus was on collaborative
learning"; American students, with their attention to individual
results, hold the "exact opposite" standards. Most troublingly,
Byrd finds evidence that the current emphasis on results,
in the academy and elsewhere in American society, sometimes
costs us our integrity: "Students are observing that everywhere
in society, from academics to sports, from business to politics,
'good grades' are of paramount importance—even at the price
of dishonesty."
The complete
text of Steve Byrd's editorial can be read on the Christian
Science Monitor Web site.
The articles featured in AAC&U
Perspectives do not necessarily represent the views
of AAC&U staff, its board of directors, or its membership.
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