I’m going to tell you a story about my education. I’m going to tell you a story, perhaps, about your education, too. They may be one in the same. In my first semester of college — and all of middle school and high school — grades had their power over me like an omnipotent dictator does over his subjects. I had many sleepless nights during which I studied statistics, chemistry, biology, business law or sociology. It was not uncommon to have nervous breakdowns, quite specifically because I engaged in a process under which I would study incessantly, take the exam, then leave the exam room not remembering the test itself. What's worse, I couldn’t even recall the information that was tested — the information I worked so hard to memorize. I wondered what made this so? Later, my mentor and professor pointed me to new educational research from critical education studies and social psychology to offer an answer and to draw on a new perspective: a grade-less education system.

So much of what we understand about school is attached to a socially constructed measure of intelligence in schools called the “grade.” This so-called regime of evaluation, the research suggests, (1) diminishes students in interest in the given material; (2) creates a preference for the easiest possible task; and (3) reduces the quality of students’ thinking (Kohn, “The Case Against Grades.” 2011). This, perhaps, is because of the immense power grades have to shape our behavior; that is, the way we think about school, in general, and our approach to answering the question, “What does it mean to be a student?” For me, being a student was a constant struggle, mainly because I was doing things I didn’t like and because I was constantly being judged by a system that just didn’t work for me.

Significantly, there’s clearly an issue that has confused, bothered, and stressed-out so many students in the United States and elsewhere. Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford University, and other researchers conducted research that, among other things, says that student success is a result of the intelligence mindset of a student. She and her colleagues determined a typology of mindsets, called "growth-" and "fixed-mindsets." A student with a growth mindset embraces challenges, tackles obstacles and finds inspiration in others’ success. A fixed mindset is quite the opposite—low motivation when challenged and discouraged by others’ successes. Further research argues a strong connection between the findings of Kohn and Dweck: a graded school system produces fixed-mindset students. These students are hyper-competitive, lower-achieving, and superficial in their critical thinking abilities. A grade-less system, then, encourages collaboration, active critical thinking without fear of judgement (i.e. the grade), and a new interest to explore thinking.

Now perhaps you’re wondering what can be done. You may say, “Yes, this research makes sense—and clearly the phenomenon it’s discussing is dangerous. But what can I do about it?” Granted, you may not be a teacher or policy maker who can ultimately transform school into real learning centers without the unnecessary and time-consuming notion of grading, but you do have the power to change your mindset, as Dweck would argue. You can, in fact, take the grade’s power away. Think of it like this: know the material, learn the material without thinking that it’s attached to a grade. Once you think that it’s all about the grade, something called extrinsic motivation kicks in, and you’re no longer learning, but instead, trying only for a "good grade." Think about the stuff your teacher says, not the grade, ever. Take it, and seriously think about it; test it against what you think you already know; ask questions; build collective knowledge. Get engaged, get interested. Yes, you may still have to take exams, but it isn’t wise to take the exam saying, “okay, I need to get a 93 to get an A — and that means I need to study for 8 hours.” I’m arguing that this mindset is dangerous. What you can do is just alter your mindset to embrace the material, to engage with the learning and let the outcome of the test be. You see, we’ve been so conditioned to worry solely about the grade — the result — but not about the process of real learning.

I know you'll have questions, I know you'll be confused about what this implies. For now, ask yourself, "What does it mean to be a student in the 21st century?" So much of this effort requires communication with others. Tell friends and teachers about this research, about this approach. Together, we can revitalize education!