The Increasing Misery of the Student

­­­­­­­One of the philosophical flaws of mainstream education models lies in the use and interpretation of grading scales. What does a grade really reflect? It depends on the author of the rubric. A grade may reflect the percentage of intended learning opportunities “completed,” or the percentage of a given evaluation deemed to have been “correctly completed.” It cannot be equated to real learning however, nor is it an accurate measure of progress in most cases. The reason is that learning is not a static activity. It is never finished. No concept is ever fully mastered, no theory ever truly perfected. Learning cannot be measured quantitatively.

In his analysis and critique of capitalism, Karl Marx articulated “laws” of capitalism that would lead to its inevitable downfall. One of these “laws” is restated by Todd G. Buchholz as the “Increasing Misery of the Proletariat.” He further summarizes Marx’s ideology: “To Marx, work plays a special role in human life. Human beings are impelled to create and enhance their lives through nature and through relationships with other people. The human personality cannot develop without creative work. Under capitalism, labor becomes just another commodity. People are forced to accept routine, dull jobs. They become animated tools. They feel alienated from themselves, the world, and each other. "

Karl Marx perhaps appeals to the humanist in his use of the concept of Alienation. He paints an idealistic view of work, occupation, and labor. What if we applied this thinking to the flaws of mainstream education? Have you ever felt “alienated from [yourself], the world, and each other” as a result of a capitalist academic economy?

Grades are becoming a primary form of “wages” in the capitalist academic economy. The artificial inflation of a grade’s value in spheres outside the classroom has fueled the transformation of grade point average from statistic to currency. 

Grades in one stage of traditional academic life are for many a determining factor of educational opportunities during the next stage. GPA is required on applications for jobs, internships, and further educational pursuits as an identifying piece of information. The profile of your potential value to an organization or program is being generated in part by a grossly inaccurate “measure” of your learning.

Marx’s solution to the faults of capitalism was to encourage a revolution by the proletariat against the capitalists. They would then (somehow), implement the ten-point plan he included in the Communist Manifesto. I submit the quest for a new model for the use and interpretation of grading scales as a potential topic in the Education Content Group.

Where Marx and Engels declared: “Workingmen of all countries, unite!” I say: “Students of all countries, unite!”