Unschooling Ruminations

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post defending teachers.  I still agree with my post, but I do feel that some of my viewpoints have been refined slightly. First, I feel that it is very very politically incorrect to criticize teachers. We must always acknowledge how great they are, how they are in the trenches, how hard they work, and on and on. But, this isn’t always the case. There are many, if not most, teachers who have really lost sight of the goal of their vocation and who have certainly lost the passion and enthusiasm for it.  And, so, I will not strive to be politically correct in this post. As such, I will likely offend a few people and raise a few eyebrows. But, as long as we tread lightly on this topic, educators will keep going down the same path, believing the lip service about how brave and courageous they are, and how we all admire them.

Now that I’m done warning you, let’s get down to it, shall we? I had a slightly disturbing interchange with a few teachers a couple of weeks ago. It was in response to this article on the detriments of grading. I posted it on my Facebook page, and the discussion ensued. I was glad that some teachers were reading it, and I did get some in agreement with the article. But, others thought that grading was not only necessary, but it is good and useful. As they said, it helped assess the children to make sure they were reaching the standards set forth by the state.

Here is where my stomach dropped. This is how these teachers see their jobs. Not to inspire or to expose children to the world; not even to educate them or facilitate their learning, at least not in true sense of the word. No, their job is to make sure kids can regurgitate facts well enough to pass the tests so they get a so-called “good grade” and we can give them our rubber stamp of approval that they have attained the standard set forth by the state.  I’m sure they wouldn’t characterize it this way, but that’s how I see it. In my view, grades are only an assessment of how well a student has learned to play the school game, not what they have learned. Grades, along with standards, tests, curriculum, assessments, conferences, IEPs, and all the rest, have really served to convolute what education is supposed to be about – educating.  Teachers who vehemently defend this system are, in my estimation, blind. They make work tirelessly and deserve pats on the back because of that, but they are working blindly toward a flawed end. And, that makes them worthy more of pity than of gratefulness.

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assessments, grading, standards, teachers