Blog #4: Alfie Kohn Analysis

After reading Kohn’s What Does It Mean to be Well Educated?, I began to think critically on that question. There are many people who choose not to go to college, like my mother, to follow a different life path, but they are still quite educated. Until reading this book, my view on a well-educated person was different: I was under the impression that a person with a Ph.D. is far more educated than the rest of us. I became intrigued after reading the anecdote about Kohn’s wife and then I felt silly for having my notions about education.

 One of the most interesting sections is when Kohn discusses what makes us “well educated.” He focuses on the fact that we judge intelligence based on standardized test scores and the amount of education we receive. He critically examines these concepts and shows how poorly they judge our intelligence in the sense of education. He constantly brings up the idea that these methods show how well a student is at memorization and how many teachers are using a shallow approach to teaching. I agree with these statements that Kohn makes throughout his book. We are looking at education in the wrong way. A person who decides to enlist in the military after graduating high school is just as educated as a person who has a Ph.D. from Harvard, but in a different way. For example, a Calvary Scout in the US Army will be more educated in land navigation than a lawyer, but less educated in regards different law in their state. Each person is educated, but they have focused their education in a different sense. This can even be said about teachers. An elementary teacher is fairly educated in all subjects, but is not as educated as a content area teacher who has earned a degree in the secondary level of education.

This leads to another major point in Kohn’s book: the purpose of education. Over time, we have moved away from teaching to improve the knowledge of our students to teaching students how to take tests well. This can be seen clearly in a student’s junior year of high school, in which we train our students to pass the ACT or SAT. Throughout my college career, my professors (as well as various sources from my professors) have stated time and time again that standardized tests, especially the ACT, does not show a student’s intelligence clearly. Many of my professors are against using ACT test scores to allow students into SIUe, which is something Kohn is in agreement with. As Kohn stated in his book, the ACT and the SAT “is a measure of resources more than of reasoning” (Kohn 66). In regards to this statement, I wholly agree with Kohn. The ACT may ask a range of questions about a subject, but it cannot depict whether or not a student has learned the material, especially if they have test anxiety. We also run into the issue that lower income areas do not receive the same education as a middle or upper class community. This creates a natural unfairness already when it comes to test scores. A student from a lower income area who suffers from test anxiety will not do well on the test, which can harm their chances to get into college. This leads into another negative aspect of the ACT/SAT: it doesn’t contribute to diversity (67). If a student is part of a minority and from a lower income area, the likelihood of them going to college has decreased if his or her ACT scores were not high enough. Universities run into the issue of how much importance to place on those scores. Ironically, “SATs, like other standardized tests, do not further the cause of equity or excellence.” (68).

Overall, Kohn’s book raises many questions about our beliefs on what it means to be well educated. He focuses well on depicting the many factors that play into our misconceptions about a well-educated person. I agree with many of the claims he makes, such as the business aspect of education and standardized testing. As a whole, we allow many outsiders to affect not only the way we view education, but also how we teach our students. Kohn’s book taught me to look past the outside pressures of being an educator and discover a meaningful way to educate my students, especially those who do not plan to go to college right away. I believe one of the main ways to do this, especially at the high school level, is to ask my students how they view education. We, as a class, can also discuss what they think it means to be well educated. These discussions can lead me to create at least one unit that fits their beliefs and needs toward education. By doing this, I am creating a change in my students’ understanding of education and showing them how we can make their high school education meaningful, whether or not they are going to college.