The Desire to Learn vs. the Incentive of GradesThe way children are taught has been the same since the beginning. They are in a classroom, receiving lessons with a teacher at the front, focusing on math, reading, writing and science, and are tested and given a grade based on how much they learned. However, this system is being questioned. Is this really the best way to learn? Is a structured curriculum effective? Are grades necessary to encourage learning or do they diminish the desire to learn? In Walden Two, BF Skinner delves into these questions by creating the idea of ​​a utopian society with the ideal way of educating. This novel teaches that learning should be enjoyed – not made into a system – becoming more individualized, less standardized, and less anchored in grades. Grades are essential to a student's life today, determining the success of our school experience, but are they really necessary? In Walden Two, Skinner takes his stand, explains how, essentially “we don't need 'grades.' Everyone knows that talents and abilities don't develop at the same rate in different children'” (Skinner 118). Grades are intended as an incentive to learn, but many see them as “an administrative device that violates the nature of the development process” (119). Furthermore, the basis of the evaluation is initially incorrect, because it is centered on the idea that all students they learn the same way and progress at the same rate. For this reason, some students fail to succeed with this standardized system. If a student does not learn better with a lesson, they will not learn as effectively as those who do, causing a lower grade and further discouraging the student from learning. student... middle of paper... is in class However, even when I figured out what I liked and didn't like, I still had to take the classes because they were required,. leaving me wanting to learn in those classes, I was just there, doing what was necessary to get an “A”. These requirements that cause a loss of the actual desire to learn are another unintended consequence of our current education system. Again, grading that causes discouragement and lack of learning and curriculum that causes students to waste time on unnecessary courses are just some of the unintended negative consequences. of today's education system. Ultimately, learning shouldn't be about simply taking required courses, passing them with "A's" without the information sticking. It should actually be about learning, there doesn't have to be a reason behind the learning. “Education should just be life itself. We don't need to create motivations” (124).