A little rant about the stupidity of marks

I never would have thought to write a blog, especially not one about education. So when I first got this project, I was clearly dreading it. Why couldn't we just do a regular project, or an essay like all my other classes. I know how to do that, I've figured out how to get through those projects well enough to get the marks I want. This, in itself, is another problem….but I’ll get to that in a minute. However, I'm actually kind of enjoying this opportunity to blog now. Since I've started in the Concurrent education program more and more questions have arisen about teaching, more so this year than the rest. And I think this project gives me an awesome opportunity to kind of just get some of the thoughts and questions I've been having out of my head. So I'm going to start off tonight’s blog with a little story of my time in high school.

As I said, I am in the concurrent physical education program. So it would make sense that I would have loved my physical education classes in high school right? Well I did….but clearly there was something else in play, as I didn't even take a gym credit in my grade 12 year. Looking back, it seems stupid that I didn't. But at the time, I seriously felt like I just didn't have space or time….I had to take those University level credits, all the maths and sciences, to make sure that I had all the credits I could possibly need for any program I might want to do. And clearly, it was the marks that mattered. And at the time, even now, it still seems to be what matters. I have figured out how to write essays down to a science; I have figured out how to do well in labs and seminars by saying what the T.A. wants to hear, or participating when they are paying the most attention. This is beyond flawed; we are teaching and learning to the test, forgetting the information as soon as we think we no longer need it. There is so much wrong with this….I’d like to say I'm still learning a lot in my education, and although I have definitely taken an interest in some of my classes, and learned some interesting facts, what I've honestly learned is how to work the system. I'm still trying my best to get as high of marks as possible, in case I want to do any more schooling after I get my degree. However, through my classes I am now starting to see this is a major problem…am I really learning anything, am I really doing what I enjoy? And as a prospective physical education specialist, do I really want my future students to stop taking phys ed classes, just because “the mark won’t count”?

                                                     http://9gag.com/gag/anXbDr0

The above picture, though slightly crude, I think is very relatable for many students. This is how the traditional classrooms have been run, because only the final mark that you get even matters. Nobody really cares about the process or what they've learned; it’s all about getting that A by finding a way to impress the teacher. This picture, to me, really represents what I see being done in school. Talking to anyone, asking if they did the readings for their class, or if they started their essay on time, will probably have answered "no" at least one time in their schooling. Because, as long as you can learn how to make stuff up that sounds like you've learned something, you don’t actually have to learn or put in the work. This picture at one point says “I used a thesaurus for every other word and referred to the first outside source that popped up on google”. The mindset behind that is, that if you can do something with the least amount of effort and still get a good mark, why would you bother putting the energy in. If you can make yourself SOUND smart, you don't actually have to know anything. It’s so easy to just follow a typical format that you know teachers will like to get a good mark instead of actually learning. We’re all just trying to get through our classes as easily as possible, but with the best result, because it’s only grades that matter.

But what do we really mean (from a more educational perspective) when we say that only grades matter? This is where the type of assessment seen in classrooms comes into play. Typically, we've seen a lot of emphasis put on the assessment OF learning. This is where we see things being assigned marks. When we use assessment OF learning, we see the importance being completely placed on the end result (and the mark given to that result), instead of on the process and the learning that gets us there. How can we know that someone actually learned anything though if we're just looking at a final product-we can't see what actually went into it. When all we do is assessment OF learning, students see that it’s the end product that matters. They start to see marks as being the most important thing in school. When this happens, we see classes that aren't necessarily as "academic" being pushed aside, because "those marks won't count towards anything", or that they don't "count" towards University. This causes people to stop learning and caring about what they actually enjoy to do and instead focus on that grade assigned at the end of the school year. But why should we be thinking about marks as counting towards something anyway! Instead, we should be thinking about how this class can actually help us learn, or better ourselves in some way.We need to switch this emphasis to the other forms of assessment. We need students to start to learn how to learn. We need to actually teach and learn things that are applicable and beneficial to our lives, instead of learning how to beat the system. When instead we look at assessment AS and FOR learning, students will start to see the importance of school. Assessment AS learning involves getting students to develop self-assessment skills, and learning how to implement instructional strategies that can be helpful for themselves. Assessment FOR learning involves getting feedback (without a mark) on an assignment so that you can know where to go from there, or what you still have to learn. I think that the important thing in both of these is that neither of them involves marks. In this case, students will be able to focus more on the process of learning instead of the end product, and instead of a final grade. It makes learning much more relevant to students. For example, if we take the picture from above and apply it to assessment FOR learning, it becomes completely irrelevant. When we’re no longer focused on the mark, but instead getting feedback on how to actually improve ourselves, making stuff up to get a mark now becomes a waste of time. Instead, putting effort into an assignment becomes much more applicable, because we can learn how to make ourselves better (hopefully in an assignment or class that we actually enjoy) without having to worry about a stupid letter on a piece of paper. If we are learning in an environment that actually prioritizes how we learn and learning to learn, we might be much more likely to not only try, but also to take a relevant class, and invest more in something that we actually enjoy.

All of these questions swirl around in my head, and make me think about what it is actually going to mean to be a teacher. Honestly, it makes me a little bit apprehensive; I have heard so many negatives and seen the fact that school has mostly become just about marks and learning how to work the system, how on earth can I possibly change that? If even I approach school this way, how can I expect my future students to be any different? To be perfectly honest, I don’t have an answer to this question. But I know what I want to do. I want to put the emphasis on learning for the sake of actually learning, and doing the courses and projects that we actually want to do. If we transition to forms of assessment that de-emphasise the importance of grades, maybe people will actually be able to take the courses that they enjoy instead of just worrying about marks. Maybe, grade 12 me would have been able to continue to take a phys ed class because it was more than grades that actually counted. 

making a change

Another September means another year of school starting, and already the projects and readings are starting to pile up. I am a fourth year concurrent education student (intermediate/senior) for physical education, with a teachable subject in biology. This year is my last year of undergrad, which is both really exciting and terrifying at the same time. I'm excited this year because my classes seem really great; the education classes seem to relate to actual practices and the direction that our teaching will be heading, and my physical education classes seem like they are going to be giving some great real life experience as well. However, it’s crazy to think that this time next year we’ll be in teachers college, getting ready for the real world of classrooms and teaching.

When it comes to education and teaching, I think it is very easy for people to get set in their ways-whether they are old teachers or new teachers. Even as a current student, it’s something we can see all the time; hearing about how education should be changing, how forms of assessment and the way we teach should be moving forward. However, we’re still taught in the same old way, lecture day in and day out, and are still taking exams in the gym with hundreds of other students. To me, that doesn't really feel like we’re moving forward-it just seems like the same old story, with the same old classrooms and practices. I'm sure as prospective teachers, we may even find ourselves sticking to the old ways of teaching, because, hey, that’s what we’re used to, that’s what worked for us. Part of the reason we all want to become teachers is because we enjoyed school and our classes, at least I know I did. However, though we may have enjoyed our classrooms the way they were run, I think it is really important that we don’t get stuck teaching that way just because that was what we were used to, or that was how we learned. We need to look at the best of this old story, and bring it forward with us into creating a new story when it comes to teaching.

There is always so much change going on in the world, which leaves the door open for countless opportunities. It’s exciting to hear about so many different examples of teachers bringing new ideas and practices into the classroom. There are many different ways to approach learning to get students engaged, and teachers are starting to use these fun and educational activities to get students more involved , using real-world assessments and projects that allow the students to take control of their own learning. One of the examples in class that was really interesting to me, even just by the name, was the “Wild And Crazy Think For Yourself” Projects (WACTFY), where students create assignments that are meaningful to themselves. I feel like this was something that would never have happened when I was younger, and I think it creates an excellent opportunity for both the students and the teachers. How can you get to know your students in the classroom if you never give them a chance to express what they are interested in? What if one of the smartest students in class is actually being held back by the typical way classrooms are taught? Projects such as this offer teachers a great opportunity to actually get to know what their students are interested in. For me, I think this is a big thing, because that can help to further direct the learning in the classroom, to actually bring their interests into future projects, or bring examples from their lives and the way they think into the classroom and what actually needs to be taught. Even now as a student if a project actually has meaning to me, or has something to do with what I'm interested in, I'm more likely to put more effort into it. I even find myself getting better marks in classes that I find enjoyable; this seems obvious, if I like something I'm going to actually want to do the work (it might not even feel like work), and I'm more likely to learn something along the way. When we advance our classes using new methods, it is more likely to be relevant to students, and make their learning more meaningful.

Clearly, teaching in the same old way does not always work, progression is good and can hopefully get students more engaged through more personalized learning strategies. In the summer I work at a camp, and one of the campers I have worked with for a few summers now was talking to me about school. Between this year and the last, he had moved from a public school, into the private school system. As a student with a learning disability, his family thought this would be more beneficial, as there were more opportunities and attention paid to individuals in the classroom. This resulted in a major change for him: he said he learned so much more because the teachers actually let him learn about what he wanted to learn. He said they had so many cool technological resources, that he actually enjoyed going to class compared to the previous year, where he spoke of frustration and a lack of learning. Clearly, our schools need a change. If such a smart kid with a thirst for learning cannot find what he needs in our public school systems, we need to advance.

This brings me to one of the major changes we see in the new story of education: technology. Technology is starting to be accepted more widely in classrooms, and this gives excellent opportunities to enhance student learning. Considering it is something they already use on a daily basis, this helps to bring what they're already interested in, into the classroom. While there is the traditional idea of technology, such as simply bringing computers or laptops into the classroom to work on, there is also more complex interactive technologies; even global opportunities can be found through the use of technology. For someone who was always interested in science, but did not always find these lessons to be engaging, I think that there are some really great examples of these technologies that can make science much more fun, giving the potential for more students to gain an interest. In another one of my course (higher level thinking in science and mathematics) we have discussed these ideas, and I think this video sums up some of the really exciting opportunities that are out there. (however, since clearly I am technologically challenged I can't actually get the video to appear, and can only get the link to work!) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzahyTMq8u4

Though the entire video is quite long, there are some really interesting examples (such as at 7:30) where technology is being used in the classroom. If our classrooms can keep advancing and using these resources, I think that we are headed in the right direction, and perhaps more students will begin to get more out of school and their learning.