Wot Exam?
-
a comment arising
from a high School Staff meeting
A Staff meeting exercise of determining a progression of study skills goals across Yrs 7 to 10 lead to a discussion of the value of education by the schools student cohort.
While I think there was some over exaggeration of the view that most of our students do not value education there is some meat worth discussing. (Just on the first part – students love a replacement teacher for a lesson or two but usually there are complaints if it drags out by a week or more – although our casuals are gold!)
To begin, a meeting of the school council from the week before may shed some interesting balance.
The school council was well attended by 8 parents ( this
apparently declines after the first meeting of each year). We teachers had an
extended discussion over wording in the SC, HSC sections, particularly with
statistical interpretations of centralised exam
success. The parents were interested in this discussion and expressed some ideas
of their own. However their overwhelming
area of interest was in the more practical section which stated students entry into employment, TAFE or university.
It indicates a pragmatic view of education.
It is in some ways the opposite of the classic examination ideal.
The starting point for the big stake test was the university structure
of lectures followed by a final, usually essay based ,
test.
Initially universities catered
to an elite – either extending the social outlook of the elite or training the semi-elite doctors and
engineers, in numbers far fewer than today. Universities were thrown open to
the masses globally with the rise of technology based production and the need
for technically trained engineers, scientists, office workers and of course us
teachers for the future. This occurred with the electronic automation of
industry in the 1960 / 1970s. Gough Whitlam’s “ Golden
Boy of Labor” status for opening up university is probably a little too
generous given the pragmatic need of the expanding Australian economy at that
time.
It is worth noting the shift of universities over the last 15 years from annual tests to continual assessment.
In part this is a realisation of pragmatic
reality.
Day to day people work cooperatively to produce
homes, health and products, overcome problems and perhaps even develop new
methods and understanding.
Organised work and ongoing projects
have become the norm, replacing the worst of the Victorian work houses
practices, and better reflecting the way humans have worked over much of
history.
Our students are well disposed to project work. This has been noted by
the HSC and SC course changes recently.
In summary, I think a general disinclination towards tests is a healthy
reality.
I think the education department is right to increase the emphasis of
the use and assessment of projects.
If anything this needs to go further. To discuss a case in point,
Software Design and Development - a subject with a large practical component -
is tested by a centralised exam. Completing
the year 2000 exam needed around 16 pages of writing. Only three of
these pages had a technical look with flowcharts etc, the remaining 13 were
predominately of structured paragraph form.
It seems crazy for 2 years of combined theory and practice to be tested
(and of course ranked) by an exam (and you can add all the literacy problems we
know exist for disadantaged schools). This subject
needs a major project such as art or industrial arts.
Our routine (and of course many other schools) of half yearly and yearlys for years 7 and 8 seems in stark conflict to the talk of “the middle school years”.
I would propose these years are assessed on a topic based routine, with
an increased emphasis on project work.
Years 9 and 10 continue to have centralised
exams to lead them into the SC and HSC routines.
Long
live cooperative work, exploration of knowledge and personal development!
A
quick death to centralised rankings, high stakes and
the global push to tie test results with diminishing and increasingly tied
funding!
My final comment – I think the social changes of our students social roles, from manufacturing apprenticeship to higher order office work, mirror the social shift of higher education to universities in the 60s and 70s.
Our experience academically and
within this area means we, rather than government and global multinational
agendas, are the most suitably placed to
connect with and guide the best interests of our students in this exciting time
of global crises – a word represented
by the Chinese as danger and opportunity.
John Morris