Test Culture

12/12/18

Test Culture

In the time I have been in this school I have supervised a few of the Christmas test which ranged from one to two hours for the younger groups. However, one group of first years I was supervising really resonated with me, as I had just finished writing up a paper looking at assessment for learning as opposed to assessment of learning. They had an hour-long history exam, with an hour’s study beforehand. This was the first 1st year group I have supervised. I was shocked at how panicked and frightened they were. I decided to talk to them before handing out the exam. I stressed that if they tried their very best it would be fine, and they would be the same great humans after the hour was over. However, I’m not sure it eased any anxiety. Whilst writing they kept asking me the time and I could see the panic on their little faces.

Several students would take tiny breaks and shake their hands to relieve them from writing so fast and with so much pressure. This was so disheartened to watch, that these children who this time last year where in 6th class! So much pressure has been put on them already at this early stage in their secondary education. How will this shape their attitudes in the future? I think negatively. Why are we continuing to conduct assessments in this manner? In my mind this clearly unhealthy and in no way benefiting the children who we are here to teach and help grow.  Also forcing children to sit for 2 hours is a huge task. I am completing my masters and I sat an exam of an hour and a half for two subjects! How is this in any fair on a group of 22 twelve-year olds. Most important of all, are we really assessing their knowledge and skills. I think not and this needs to change. 

As a teacher this really brought into light the importance of assessment for learning. In my opinion, whilst I don’t think our society could function with no standardise testing, we can make a change to the attitude and grading around these tests. Whilst the new Junior Certificate is moving towards change, there is a lot more that can be done to ease the pressure of the testing culture that is so prominent in the Irish education system.

Looking at professionals such as Linda Darling-Hammond, professor at Stanford, in her StandforXTedTalks, she discusses how a person scores on a standardised test has no correlation to how they perform in the outside world. So why do we will test in this rote learning way? As Howard Gardener reported there is such a vast array of learner and different intelligences, we should cater to all of these in our classrooms regardless of the subject. And testing through exams, does not test intelligence, just memory.