Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Testing Craze
After today's class discussion on disappearing creativity and lack of "joy" in the classroom, I've begun to think more and more about why this seems to be happening. We always accuse the students of expecting so much and never wanting to step out of their comfort zones and be creative, however, maybe it's not their fault. Over the recent years we've been shaping students into sticking to bland and uneventful thoughts and ideas. Perhaps this comes from our extreme push of testing. School has become a place where we learn to pass the test or to please the teacher. What used to be exciting and fun, school has become a place where we're forcing students to work towards business and global market. Nowadays, it's very rare for people to associate words of happiness and joy when discussing education and schooling. These testing stigmas are "sucking" the creativity right out of the classrooms. After reading an article on standardized testing in today's society, (http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/04/11/why-excessive-standardized-testing-is-causing-american-schools-to-fail) our class suggestions become even more relevant. In order to successfully redirect creativity into the schools it's necessary to put less emphasis on testing and more on the "joy" of learning. I believe that if a student is enjoying learning the subject will become that much more interesting.
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I think this is too true! Seriously, no one wants to learn material that is already uninteresting to them, but on top of that it is presented in a boring way! When I recall times of people sharing information they have learned in classes, it is almost always material that they find fascinating! They are learning it and maintaining that information over a long period of time because they actually enjoy it! I think that it is obvious that when students are interested in something, they want to learn more about it- which was also shown in the Isaac Asimov video and the one about the computers in other countries.
ReplyDeleteIgnore my rambling on at this point, as I tell a story....
One day I was at work and talking to one of my coworkers. I was telling him about how someone I knew was admitted to a mental hospital. We were talking about it for a while because it's not everyday that someone you know ends up in a mental hospital! But while talking, a med student overheard our conversation and he joined the conversation. He actually started asking me questions about the person so that he could explain to me why she might be having the issues she was having. It was almost like I was talking to her doctor. He was so interested in her life and why this was happening to her that he started making suggestions and theories. He said that he had been doing his clinical on the psych floor and this is what they were learning. I could actually see the interest in his face as he was explaining this to me because he was able to put his learned knowledge to use. I could also tell that he was proud of himself that he could show others his knowledge and sort of brag a little! If he had not been interested in the subject at all he probably could not have helped. This just shows that when people enjoy something they are learning, they gain a deeper understanding which allows them to apply the information in daily life.
I 100% agree with you. Learning material that we actually enjoy makes a huge difference when it comes to school work. I can recall so many instances when I have better retained information when I actually enjoyed the subject or how the material was presented. Like you said putting the "joy" back into the classroom would expand the opportunities for students to achieve and succeed.
ReplyDeleteRecently I have decided that I don't think I want to be an early childhood education teacher for these exact reasons. I hate the idea that teachers are no longer able to teach and help students the way that they want to. Instead they are forced to teach to the books because..well.. that is what is going to be on the test! and if the students don't do well on the test then the teacher loses his/her job! It's ridiculous. Why should a group of business decide what I should teach and how I should teach a group of students that all learn in their own unique way. With that being said, I am not on the hunt for a new life path. The government controls everything and I'm pretty positive I don't want them telling me how to run my classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually exactly why I changed my major from Business to Education. When college first began, people are always telling you to pick a major that is high in demand and will help you become successful in life. I chose wealth over passion and ended up being miserable in all of my classes. It was really hard for me focus and learn about topics I had no interest in. None of the information the professors were presenting stuck with me. The classroom environment also felt dull. I felt like the professors were just telling us a bunch of facts and terms that we would have to remember for test and quizzes. But is memorizing things really considered learning?
ReplyDeleteWhen I finally decided to change my major to something I was passionate about, I was much more focused in class and was eager to learn more about the topics we learned. I actually ended up enjoying doing some of the projects and homework assignments too because it allowed me to be creative.