Sunday, June 26

It's is humbling to say this, the guy who constantly boasts of his world travels, but...I'm sick of Senegal. I didn't leave the hostel today. The idea of facing the teeming masses of Dakar again on a hot day just left me empty. And, truth be told, I value these trips partially because I can simply sit and read for a whole day without any distractions or temptations.

Dakar is one glutinous, roiling mass of humanity that stretches for miles and miles. Neither farm nor forest interrupts its homogeneous 'landscape'. The busses are mini versions of the whole city, crammed with people going.....where? The streets are filled with idle young men. Those who are better off at least have a tiny stall filled with fruit or soft drinks or oleos of batteries, socks, cigarettes or anything that could be sold. On my way back from Downtown yesterday I sat in the bus waiting for it to leave on its seemingly endless trek back to my hostel. As we waited a steady stream of merchants trod through the bus from front to back proffering just about anything you can imagine. Every once in a while the smell of raw sewage would reach us. It was a miracle that any vehicle could depart the bus terminal (which is really just a random assemblage of busses and taxis). There was no apparent organization to the traffic and the drivers fought for enough space to edge out to......the overcrowded lanes of Metro Dakar.

Finding English language books was nearly impossible but I chanced on a sidewalk vendor who had a few that he was willing to part with for an outrageous price. ($11 for two threadbare volumes of pop history).

I did manage to do some writing today, a review of Alfie Kohn's latest book:

For those who have read Mr. Kohn’s other books on schools and families this book will be no more than a series of digests of his ideas. But the ideas are where the fun is, right? Few writers on manners and morals incite more virulent adherents and opponents than Alfie Kohn.

Just for fun I’d like to lay out my own reading of Alfie’s basic assumptions. And let’s contrast his views with people who disagree with the author. I’ll list Kohn’s assumptions first. For the sake of brevity I will not deal with Kohn’s ideas on families.

1. First and foremost children come to school with inherent virtue that can be nurtured (by stimulating lessons and caring teachers) or corrupted (by undemocratic teachers instilled in the beliefs of behaviorist rewards and punishments). Opponents say that kids come to school faced with choices between virtues and sin and are only prevented from making the wrong choices by controls used by the schools and by the family.

2. In school kids come loaded with intrinsic motivation to learn (after all learning is a natural process that we engage in nearly nonstop throughout our days). Opponents argue that kids come to school (remember they are there by fiat, not by choice) without motivation and it is the job of the school, particularly the classroom teacher, to steer them toward good decisions.

3. The knowledge we should be encouraging is discernment not information. Opponents argue that wisdom is derived only after information is amassed.

4. Knowledge cannot be measured. Opponents say that taxpayers (in public schools) and parents (in private schools) pay the bills and it would be irresponsible to deny them an objective measurement of whether their money is being squandered. The only viable measurement is a test of what kids have learned.

5. Grades and competition inevitably reduce intrinsic motivation. Opponents argue that captive students must be forced to try (work) in the classroom by extrinsic factors. Grades are a way of defining and recognizing virtue in our society.

6. A little revolution is a good thing. Children should learn to be wary of adult dictums because they are often based on what is good for the institutions at the expense of the child. Opponents live on the Slippery Slope. A child who questions one rule will learn to challenge many or all of them, leading to anarchy. It is assumed that the teacher will do nothing that is not in the best interests of the child.

7. The job of the school is to make the child’s experience enjoyable. Dull tasks cause the child to ignore or resent education. Opponents want the school to be challenging since virtue can only be earned day by day with continuous good choices. Learning, they say, is difficult, and requires sacrifice and effort.

8. The school should address deeper motives and deeper concerns, rather than try to change behavior. Opponents say that the teacher must rely on his or her own wisdom—presumably gained through age—to model and enforce classroom morality. In the daily classroom there is no time to ferret out each child’s inner motives. The teacher owes it to all the students to enforce obedience. There simply isn’t time in a normal teacher’s day for what Kohn suggests.

9. Never withdraw love or affection from a child. Opponents say, “love the sinner, not the sin” and advocate isolating misdoer's until they learn to follow the rules.

10. Happiness in the short term will lead children to a well-balanced personality in adulthood. Opponents say struggle, work, effort, and sacrifice lead to happiness in adulthood.

11. Rewards and punishments can produce short-term compliance but always lose out to intrinsic motivation over the long haul. Opponents say, “So what!”, we teachers live for the moment and getting short term, quick compliance is the only way we can survive in the classroom.

12. The more democracy in the classroom, the better. Students should be involved in choosing the curriculum and in developing the classroom rules. Opponents say, in the classroom, children should be seen but not heard.