Quotes About Learning

S. Neill put it, promising a reward for an activity is "tantamount to declaring that the activity is not worth doing for its own sake."26 Thus, a parent who says to a child, "If you finish your math homework, you may watch an hour of TV" is teaching the child to think of math as something that isn't much fun.

a grade can be regarded only as an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite amount of material.

Every hour that teachers spend preparing kids to succeed on standardized tests, even if that investment pays off, is an hour not spent helping kids to become critical, curious, creative thinkers.)

As it happens, most studies have found that unexpected rewards are much less destructive than the rewards people are told about beforehand and are deliberately trying to obtain.

We accept without question that children have to memorize the state capitals even though they could look up that information whenever they need it. Like any other tool for facilitating the completion of a questionable task, rewards offer a "how" answer to what is really a "why" question.

The exceptional teachers not only tended to give less homework but also were likely to give students more choices about their assignments.

It may be the poorest teachers who assign the most homework [because] effective teachers may cover all the material in class.

The goal of reading every night is not to teach your child how to learn to read. That can be my job. The point of reading every night is beginning a conversation, making connections, learning the language of books, and sharing a love of literature.

the use of rewards for reading, writing, drawing, acting responsibly and generously, and so on is cause for concern, not only because these things could be intrinsically motivating but because we want to encourage rather than extinguish that motivation.

Where did this disposition come from? And what are our long-term goals for people—particularly children—with respect to motivation?

There's a huge difference between a student whose objective is to get a good grade and a student whose objective is to solve a problem or understand a story. What's more, the research suggests that when kids are encouraged to focus on getting better marks in school, three things tend to happen: They lose interest in the learning itself, they try to avoid tasks that are challenging, and they're less likely to think deeply and critically.

To examine the claim that rewards are effective at altering behavior, we pose three questions: First, for whom are they effective? Second, for how long are they effective? And third, at what, exactly, are they effective? (I have already hinted at a fourth question—At what cost are they effective?—but

if, like Charles Silberman, we think school "should prepare people not just to earn a living but to live a life—a creative, humane, and sensitive life,"22 then children's attitudes toward learning are at least as important as how well they perform at any given task.

As a rule, the point of homework generally isn't to learn, much less to derive real pleasure from learning. It's something to be finished. And until it is, it looms large in conversations, an unwelcome guest at the table every night.

How will this affect children's interest in learning, their desire to keep reading and thinking and exploring?" In the case of homework, the answer is disturbingly clear. Most kids hate homework. They dread it, groan about it, put off doing it as long as possible. It may be the single most reliable extinguisher of the flame of curiosity.

In the absence of homework, "students come in all the time and hand me articles about something we talked about in class or tell me about a news report they saw. When intrigued by a good lesson and given freedom [from homework], they naturally seek out more knowledge.

But as I mastered the material, homework ceased to be necessary. A no homework policy is a challenge to me," he adds. "I am forced to create lessons that are so good no further drilling is required when the lessons are completed.

Aprender a dar pasos como un tímido niño que necesita aún solícito cariño; hallar que cada cosa es vieja, pero es nueva, que dentro de lo eterno lo viejo se renueva y en la hora en que vuelve la excelsitud de amar saber que algo en nosotros es capaz de volar.

Man know much more than he understands.

Man knows more than he understands.

There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder.

For there is no gardening without humility, an assiduous willingness to learn, and a cheerful readiness to confess you were mistaken. Nature is continually sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder.

The poet, no doubt, has to learn by suffering, but having learnt, he has then, in my opinion, to help others not to be miserable, but to be happy.

Self-discovery is a slower process but a more natural one.