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”?
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.
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