The Fall Educators Conference took place Friday, October 9th on the campus of Eastside Catholic. This annual event is conducted by Westside School’s accrediting body PNAIS (Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools). This is the eighth year that Westside’s own David Bergler (Mr. B) has been involved in the organization and planning of this conference. This year’s conference was attended by over 900 educators from nine states.
The conference keynote address was by Alfie Kohn. Mr. Kohn is the author of such books as The Schools Our Children Deserve and The Homework Myth. Alfie Kohn has appeared on the Oprah Show and CNN. His ideas on education are thought-provoking and at times controversial. Mr. Kohn spoke to a packed gymnasium stating that “there is no better way to undermine students’ interest in learning – or the quality of their thinking — than by pushing them to work harder, get good grades, and score well on tests”. He went on to say that many schools that pride themselves on their commitment to high standards and achievement have created a climate that really isn’t about learning at all. Mr. Kohn believes that many schools rely on traditional practices and a mistaken belief that what is harder (more “rigorous”) must be better. He said, “When the point is for students to prove how smart they are, they become less inclined to engage deeply with ideas, to explore and discover”. Alfie Kohn invited the audience to think about helping kids to focus on what they’re doing in school as opposed to focusing on how well they’re doing it.
This is interesting discussion and we would welcome your comment about Performance vs. Learning.
