Are Grades Squelching Students' Love of Learning?

"But so besotted is our educational thought that we believe children regard knowledge rather as repulsive medicine than as inviting food. Hence our dependence on marks and prizes, athletics, alluring presentation, any jam we can devise to disguise the powder." — Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education, p. 89

There is no doubt that today's educational system is heavily reliant on grades as a means of measuring students' learning and achievement. But do grades truly give an accurate representation of what students have learned? And perhaps more importantly, how does an emphasis on grades affect students' internal locus of control and intrinsic motivation?

If grades are not a reliable measure—or a healthy motivational tool—then what should we do instead?

Charlotte Mason had compelling thoughts on this subject. Though she lived over a century ago, her insights remain remarkably relevant today.

The Problem with External Motivation

Charlotte Mason wrote:

"It seems to me that education, which appeals to the desire for wealth (marks, prizes, scholarships, or the like), or to the desire of excelling (as in the taking of places, etc.), or to any other of the natural desires, except that for knowledge, destroys the balance of character; and, what is even more fatal, destroys by inanition that desire for and delight in knowledge which is meant for our joy and enrichment through the whole of life."^1^

Mason suggests that children—and indeed all humans—possess a natural desire for knowledge. When we use grades as the proverbial carrot to motivate students, we implicitly communicate that the joy of learning itself is insufficient motivation, or that knowledge is not worth pursuing for its own sake.

She goes on to argue:

"Both teachers and children find an immeasurable difference between the casual interest roused by marks, pleasing oral lessons, and other school devices, and the sort of steady avidity for knowledge that comes with the awakened soul."^2^

There is a profound difference between a student motivated by grades and one who learns from an awakened soul. When we embrace this view of education, grades cease to be the focal point. Instead, we pursue something far more meaningful—the cultivation of a living, engaged mind.

The Danger of Prodding

Another common assumption is that grades motivate students. But what if the opposite is true? What if grades actually train students to rely on external rewards in order to value learning? When grades are emphasized, we risk undermining intrinsic motivation and dulling the natural desire to learn.

Charlotte Mason referred to this practice as prodding. She writes:

"What we must guard against in the training of children is the danger of their getting into the habit of being prodded to every duty and every effort. Our whole system of school policy is largely a system of prods. Marks, prizes, exhibitions, are all prods; and a system of prodding is apt to obscure the meaning of must and ought for the boy or girl who gets into the habit of mental and moral lolling up against his prods."^3^

A Different Approach to Assessment

This leads us to an important question: if not grades, then what?

Charlotte Mason was not opposed to examinations or assessment. However, modern exams are often designed to reveal what students do not know. Mason's examinations, by contrast, sought to uncover what students do know.

Rather than multiple-choice questions, students were asked open-ended prompts such as:

Write a short account of the period between the Old and New Testaments
What do you know of the first battle of ___?
Describe in detail the lily family. Name some other monocotyledons.

In this way, students demonstrated the fullness of their knowledge rather than isolated fragments.

If Marks Must Be Used

Mason also acknowledged that if marks were used at all, they should emphasize character rather than intellectual cleverness:

"If a system of marks be used as a stimulus to attention and effort, the good marks should be given for conduct rather than for cleverness—that is, they should be within everybody's reach… Emulation becomes suicidal when it is used as the incentive to intellectual effort, because the desire for knowledge subsides in proportion as the desire to excel becomes active."^4^

Even so, Mason ultimately concluded that marks of any kind tend to distract children from their proper work—work that is inherently interesting enough to secure attention and good behavior without external incentives.

What Is the Ultimate Goal?

Questioning the validity and reliability of grades forces us to revisit the ultimate goal of education. Is a 4.0 GPA truly the highest aim? Is acceptance into a prestigious college and securing a well-paying job the definitive mark of an educated person?

Perhaps—but these goals should never eclipse virtues such as integrity, generosity, prudence, and honesty.

Mason warns that an overemphasis on grades can lead students to become "slaves of knowledge" rather than joyful masters of it:

"Boys and girls may be so full of marks and places, prizes and scholarships, that they never see that their studies are meant to unlock the door for them into this or that region of intellectual joy and interest… School and college over, their books are shut forever."^5^

Education Is a Life

Education is a life, and that life does not end at graduation. It is possible to offer a rich and beautiful education without the constant pressure of grades looming overhead.

When students are taught that the purpose of learning is merely to make the grade, we do them a profound disservice.

Let us instead raise children who become joyful masters of knowledge—rather than reducing education to something as trivial and fleeting as a letter grade.

Sources

Charlotte Mason, School Education, pp. 226, 39
Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education, Preface
Charlotte Mason, School Education, p. 39
Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 144
Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, p. 45