'Fish cannot climb a tree and a monkey cannot swim underneath water.' I know it's an age old example, but isn't it very relevant? Does it not make you think twice? Now, everyone is well aware that each child is unique; knowing and believing this, how can we use same parameters to judge the competence of several children. Learning is a very voluntary concept and not a forced activity. Nevertheless, there are always two sides to the same coin and hence two very different ideas behind this argument; whether grades are necessary or not?
When we discuss about grades and equality let us consider and analyze the grading system all across the globe, or at least some major parts. We have to understand this because of the educational globalization taking place. As soon as a child is born, parents have tons of aspirations about what the child can study, where the child can study and what ultimately will decide his/her future.
If this is not true, I don't know what is!!
Anyone who is reading this, please raise your hands if exams and grades were your favorite part of schools and colleges. I won't believe it, even if the nerdiest person will agree that exams indeed were a favorite part of growing up.
Therefore, taking this into consideration:
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Is grading everyone on a similar scale wrong?
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Is it really important to have examinations and centralised examinations at all?
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How do exams really play with child psychology?
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Does this exam psychology have any impact on an adult?
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How do exams impact the confidence of a child?
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Can exams help boost equality and can grading be used as a parameter to decide which child needs more attention?
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Can the grading system be completely abolished or can we put some logical twist to it?
Let us discuss..
Let us talk about the concept of whether its right or wrong?
The use of correct spelling is essential in any form of writing. Some people are naturally good at spelling and others need a little more practice. You will probably have been taught some spelling rules in English lessons. Revise these and practice them, some awkward or irregular words just have to be learnt. Reading a lot will improve your spelling ability as will playing some word games e.g. Scrabble, Boggle and Hangman. As a dictionary will not be allowed into an exam, make sure to look up spellings in a dictionary part of your 11+ preparation.
At our institution we are constantly evolving and taking suggestions; from parents on what should be the ideal way for their child to learn; from the students who tell us which way they found easier to follow and hence grow. The whole logic behind grading students and holding examinations should be clear. The objective is to make the child revisit whatever has been taught up to the point of examination. However, grading makes this point invalid. If examinations are meant to make the child really understand the concepts and grasp them, grading makes no sense. What if the child scores less and still passes the examination? Is the child ever going to go back home and read those chapters again? Not at all, because the aim was to pass a certain exam and move along. The purpose of education is lost here. The child learnt and understood whatever was necessary to pass, maybe just mugged it enough to remember it for a day, and its forgotten the very next day. Just like all of us have essentially forgotten Trigonometry!! But I thank God for that, I could never understand it even to just pass the exam… Examination is not a wrong concept. Yes, its necessary to somehow make the child revisit all that has been taught, but making this the only way to progress to the next level is not.
How does the grading system affect the child mentally?
The aim of the grading system is to pass and move to the next level, so the only impact it can have on a child is stress. The stress of passing for the ones who are not very interested in the subject and the stress of scoring less than expected for the ones who habitually score high.
No child studies for fun before the examination. Schools and educational institutes exist to help the child grow and evolve into a well-educated and a knowledgeable citizen, but is everyone learning in the same way? Is everyone interested in similar proportions in all the subjects? Certainly not! Then how do grades help them stand on the same pedestal? The stress of passing the examinations and scoring well is not new, many students actually succumb to the pressure. If it was only learning and growing, everyone would do it at their own pace and in their own style. The impact of examination pressure is such that being an adult I still get nightmares about failing my Chemistry or Maths examinations. Phew! How did examinations and grades really help me? Maybe to cross to another level or obtain admission into college and that's about it. It certainly boosts a child's confidence when they do well, but what about those who really struggled and still didn`t manage to do well in a certain exam? Maybe the examinations can be used as a means to help and educate the children who probably would not do very well, boost everyone to an equal level, just a thought!
Can the grading system be completely abolished or can we put some logical twist to it?
There are many of centralised exams at a global scale which are often used to analyse a child or an adult`s future. Exams like 11 Plus in UK for grammar school entrances and the likes of it. When in school, examinations and grades are used to level up a child, it's unfair to some extent as we have already discussed. These competitive examinations, grades and marks determining a student`s life, seem to be completely irrational.
Can one exam really decide your whole career? I believe not. A logical twist according to me would always be analysing the skills for the passion, the interpersonal skills and the student`s motivation to move ahead.
Although I understand that if you have to evaluate thousands of students up and down the country, checked by hundreds of different examiners there has to be an equalizing method or two papers of completely different qualities could receive the same marks because those examiners had a different judgement criteria.
There could be psychologists along with teachers on the admission panel to make a more accurate and fair decision. Radical thinking, but hey! whatever exists today is the result of someone's unique opinion!!