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In class we talked about grades and their inadequacy. After thinking some more about it, I am not sure there is anything wrong with grades. I think what is wrong is the way in which we use it. I think some arbitrary marker orf progress, if you will (grades) is needed in the academic world, so there is nothing wrong with giving grades. What is wrong is when we expect grades to be the only marker of what is happening. I don't think grades are supposed to measure temperament, or individual skill, or individual creativity. It is we/employers/the system who have forgotten that grades are only supposed to be a marker for how well a concept is grasped.

In the same vein, it is not up to grades to tell us how individual students learn.... it is the job of the education system/teachers to vary teaching styles and pay attention to individual students and notice how we learn. Of course some teaching styles are always going to help some students more than others, and so it is up to teachers to vary teaching styles, or account for the differences in personalities that we all have. Of course all this is easier said than done given the realities of teachers and students and classrooms and education systems. And it is up to employers/students/teachers/everyone to realize that grades are only one arbitrary marker of knowledge and not the whole thing - in fact, not even the most important thing.