Life is so busy for most people that we sometimes lose sight of what really matters most. For educators results of tests tend to be high on the list of important outcomes and this week, with the publishing of NAPLAN results, there has been a lot of discussion about how effective our education system is.
NAPLAN is The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy‘It is an annual national assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. All students in these year levels are expected to participate in tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the system and very little improvement has occurred in the overall level of competency that students have achieved. In fact writing has declined although there have been slight improvements in literacy and numeracy. Is doing well in a test so vitally important? The tests don’t measure a child’s confidence, ability to work independently, their social skills, their helpfulness or humanity not even their creativity.
I would be dismayed if my children were not able to use maths, read, write and communicate effectively but I feel that focusing in the tests doesn’t help the whole child to succeed in life. I don’t want the education system to concentrate on how to pass these tests or to judge teachers by the number of high passes they get.
A friend sent me a video link recently that is worth watching as it is about what is important in life. It only takes a couple of minutes to watch but it is a great piece of teaching.
https://kidzfizbiz.worldsecuresystems.com/files/IMG_3941.mp4
Other website by Helen Ecans