"No grades, no masters" by Rebecca Lerner

I find the whole idea of the Ithaca Freeskool very compelling. As a college student, I agree with the founders of the Freeskool that the idea of grading someone on the knowledge that they've gained. So many different factors can affect one's academic performance, and that can make a grade suffer. A poor teacher can lead to poor performance. If that's the case, the student, not the teacher, suffers.

With that being said, I like the idea that Freeskool is against grades and compulsory schooling. I find it extremely interesting that there is a branch of Freeskool in Ithaca, a town with two universities. I like the fact that students at the Freeskool can attend classes that they enjoy to learn more about a subject that they love or are interested in.

However, a bad teacher can ruin a subject for a student if not forever, for a very long time. I had an awful teacher for Economics my senior year of high school and now I not only don't remember anything I learned, but have learned to hate the subject. As a politics and journalism major, that's definitely not a good thing. I think that Freeskool should implement some sort of teaching standard for its teachers, that way they can ensure that they are effective.

The other issue I have with Freeskool is the whole concept of a lack of syllabi. While it's nice to not be tied down to a schedule, people can end up arguing in circles for hours about meaningless things, like the members of the Anarchy and Spirituality did. I know that personally, that would drive me crazy.

However, I love that people in the community are willing to implement a program like this and I'm interested to see how it progresses.