Accomplishing vs. Learning

We should go to school to learn, not to get good grades. I highly agree with the statement that grades have become more important than learning and that grades can reduce a students interest in learning.

In today's high schools, students and teachers could be replaced by robots. Students go to school to get a good grade, while teachers are there to give the student every opportunity to get that good grade. Many teachers are told what to teach each day and how to teach it. This has taken the creativity out of teaching and learning. It's no wonder that students are only focused in getting the grade when teachers have stopped being creative in the way that they teach the material. 

Throughout my high school career I was constantly told that I had to be better than 90% of my graduating class, I needed to take certain classes, and that I needed to get a certain score on a test. I rarely was told that I needed to learn as much as I could about things that I was interested about. I guess that is saved for college where I am allowed to choose a major. I believe college is way better than high school in large part due to the fact that students are allowed to learn what they are interested in rather than what they have to take to get into college. In college we learn certain things for our future job. In high school we get certain grades to get into college. In college we learn "soft skills" to impress employers. In high school we learn how to gossip.