Welcome to the time of year, ladies and gentlemen, where the tail wags the dog. Repeatedly. Really, someone should document this, just so that we can see exactly how screwed up our education system really is.
A friend of mine came up with an idea that seemed to make so much sense that I wondered why it was that someone hadn't implemented it yet. It went like this: assuming that different people have different learning styles, would it not also make sense that different people have different recall methods? If so, why do we have everyone writing on a two-hundred-sheet multiple choice test? Doesn't this favour certain individuals with good visual and language skills?
The answer as to why nothing like this exists is this: Sputnik. That's right, the aftermath of the Cold War has turned North American education into a hellhole reminiscent of Dante's Inferno: Surrender all hope, ye who enter here. The paranoia of communism has, for the most part at least (this generation) left us. However, we are still pressed for easily-quantifiable results. Most teachers would know that it would be hard to assign a percentage grade to a kinesthetically-administered test. Those types of deals are pass-fail, and no one likes just being good. We want to know, accurate to two decimal places, exactly how good we are. This drive to quantify our results has left us with a system that is falling to pieces, even as we try to support it. New programs are now springing up left, right, and center; they all offer alternatives (within reason) to the current system. Too bad that once you leave high school, nothing like this is even remotely possible.
So, in short, congratulations, North America, on being stuck in the 1960s! I know they were fun times, what with the hiding under the desk (which will obviously protect you from a nuclear detonation) and all, but get with the times! There are so many ways to make learning more enjoyable - to keep that fire within kids until they leave at the end of Grade 12. For those teachers who are already doing their fair share and more of this task, thank you so much. I've run into a couple of you, and you're all awesome. Thank you. Your classes were hugely enjoyable, and the stories even more so.
...fair or not, does not just being more intelligent advantage some students over others? To an extent the burden has shifted from HS (teachers are expected to teach) to university (students are expected to learn). Seem like a funny distinction? Here the prof doesn't get in trouble if his class full of morons gets a low grade.
ReplyDeleteObviously a test that uses a variety of methods is great, but necessary? To an extent you either know the material or not and at the university level that should be enough. If employers are hiring you based on your education, it's fair to judge on results regardless of 'fairness'. Some relative standards are required to make that call, insert grades here.
Even if grading essays or drama becomes more arbitrary, so many courses are knowledge or analysis based and really easy to quantify.
So ideally it would be sweet if they shook things up... but.