I find it incredibly frustrating to have the same conversation with students year after year. I started teaching over ten years ago and I'm still saying the same things about testing now that I was then. When the topic of exams comes up, it generally goes something like this "I know it doesn't seem fair, I understand that it doesn't really test what you know/what you can do, I get that it's feels more a measure of how good you are at exams than how well you know your subject... but unfortunately, it's the best we have." Really? I'm sure we can do better. Teachers want to do better and students demand it.
So what can we do? I was talking to a student yesterday about the simple addition of time. As they currently stand, examinations in WA appear hell bent on assessing not what students know, but what they know and can communicate under significant time pressure. If time stress forces you to work faster and better - great, but if you're one of the many students who find this kind of stress difficult at best and crippling at worst - it just doesn't seem fair. Make exams longer! Give students space to breathe. Space to think. Space to really work through their thoughts and develop answers that are more fairly indicative of what they can do. Time for change!
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About meI'm a teacher, student and advocate for better education through ongoing questioning, thinking and learning.
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