Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Classroom

by Asao B. Inoue

In the second edition of Labor-Based Grading Contracts , Asao B. Inoue refines his exploration of labor-based grading contracts in the writing classroom. Drawing on antiracist teaching practices, he argues that labor-based grading contracts offer a compassionate approach that is strongly grounded in social justice work. Updated with a new foreword and revised chapters, the book offers a meditation on how Inoue’s use of Freirean problem-posing led him to experiment with grading contracts. The result is a robust Marxian theory of labor that considers Hannah Arendt’s theory of labor-work-action and Barbara Adam’s concept of “timescapes.” The heart of the book details the theoretical and practical ways labor-based grading contracts can be used and assessed for effectiveness in classrooms and programs. Inoue concludes his exploration of labor-based grading by moving outside the classroom, considering how assessing writing in the socially just ways he offers in the book may provide a way to address the violence and discord seen in the world today.
 

387 pages, Paperback

Published April 3, 2023

Reviews

[Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

At a time in which educators are grappling with issues of academic integrity, student stress, and justice & equity, this book is well worth the read and reflection. It asks us to think about how we grade, why we grade, and whether the work students do is more pertinent to the grade than the teacher's judgment on work quality.