It is kind of funny that in the world people try to leave their mark but in school everything is about getting good marks. Totally different meanings but the same words. Which brings up the question about marks.
Hard for me to believe that it has been over 50 years since I started going to school. I remember that my first class was in a tiny little school where we had Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 all in one room. I remember almost nothing of going to that school. I vaguely remember a class with tables and I remember the teacher allowing us to go outside and dig for worms. We got a penny for every worm we collected. Past that? Nothing. Except that my mom said I was doing Grade 3 math in the class. I'll take her word for it as I certainly don't remember a report card.
But I actually have report cards from later years. At that time there were no percentages, no letter grades, no competition to be the best. Report cards were simple:
The grading scale was simple.
U - Unsatisfactory
S - Satisfactory
G - Good
VG - Very good.
Those words meant something. You either learned it or you didn't. "S" or better was good enough for me on the mark. My mom was far more interested in the how hard did I try. The effort mark was more important to her than the achievement part.
Fast forward a decade (plus or minus a little) and letter grades became important. I entered the world of:
And there were percentages attached. I actively competed with other students in class. Who would be the best? Who would be on the honor roll with a "B" average? Who would be top honors with an "A" average? There absolutely was competition to be the top. Who would get the scholarships? Who would get the medals? Who would get the trophies? Marks became a measure of success.
Which reminds me of a bad joke...
... But I'll tell it to you anyway.
Of course that is absurd but there is a real culture of striving to be nothing but the best. To excel and get perfect grades. I've had Korean students who study late at night to get those marks. Students who go to school and then go to cram school after school. Students who sacrifice weekends to keep studying.
To pass the test. To make the grade. To be the best
When my children started going to school there were originally letter grades that I was familiar with. Of course I wanted them to do well and I looked for the A's and B's as much as possible. I read with them. I hired tutors for them. I helped them with their homework. I want them to succeed.
But the funny thing is that the learning that paid off the most was the learning that had no grade associated with it. It was the money talks we had around their allowance. It was the time I spent with them assembling their own computers rather than just buying a prebuilt. It was the YouTube video's we made together. Time spent hiking or camping in the woods together. Even time spent at the park learning to ride a bike, at the rec center learning how to swim, or at the ice rink learning to skate. There was no letter grade, no final exam and no competition... just skills to be learned to last a lifetime.
And when my students entered the second half of their schooling the teacher told us they were doing away with the letter grades and percentages. Students wouldn't be taking tests like they used to. No more stratification of students based on test scores. Instead students would be "taught how to learn" rather than "taught to recite facts and score well on a test". The idea was simple:
In a way there were right and in a way they were not.
For High School I actually think that the schools had a point. They changed their grading system to:
More or less VG, G, S, U ... that I had decades earlier.
As a parent who lived in the competition system I had a hard time accepting the new grades. I knew how much better I did in school because I was competing with friends and other students. Without the competition I never would have strived as hard. However, for students who aren't top of the class? Not having to compete and knowing that you are at the level you should be at is "good enough" without hurting ego
Looking at my children now? Both of them had contempt for their teachers in high school because they felt they were being lumped in with a bunch of students who didn't care for subjects that didn't matter. As such their grades weren't bad, but they certainly didn't indicate how intelligent they were.
For high school students who just need to be competent and have a baseline education the "no grade" system works just fine. Having High School students who are competent is good enough. I do get a little upset when children are just passed along when they are obviously "Not Meeting" expectations though. A high school graduate who doesn't know 7 x 11 = 77 or that 100 - 10 = 90 is unacceptable. When at my work I have a high school graduate ask me "Where is Mr. Brown filed" and I say "Alphabetically under "B" and they follow up with "Where is "B" in the alphabet".
How do I answer that?
I'm OK with a "meeting expectations" at the High School level but kind of expect that they actually, well, Meet Expectations.
Now sometimes at University I would be happy with the old style of marking. If someone is in fine arts and learning an instrument? Meeting and Exceeding seem to be excellent markers. For STEM type courses percentages matter. At least for my son.
My son is in a Pre-med program. The acceptance standards for medical school are incredibly high. Grade point average matters. Percentages matter. Showing you are among the best is incredibly important.
... Because not every student can succeed in a "meat grinder" course like Medicine. Average students are unlikely to make it through. "Bright" students are unlikely to make it through. Typically only the "Best" students have a chance to cope with the incredible demands that medical school puts on students.
Marks are one of the ways to measure if a student has what it takes to succeed when they go further. I mentioned medicine but many other fields are also very demanding and not for those who aren't bright AND dedicated AND hardworking. Competition and showing complete mastery for those who want to be the best in the field makes sense in my mind.
But here is the funny thing...
I'm a Pharmacist. The courses I took were demanding, not medical doctor demanding, but still demanding. High marks were an absolute necessity to sort those who were likely to make it through from those who were unlikely to. In the class marks were a good way to show mastery of the content matter. Being on the Deans List (high honors) was a way to show you understood the content better than the rest. Important if you went on to graduate studies.
But as a Pharmacist?
I'm no longer marked on an A, B, C, D, F scale. My patients don't care about what my marks were in school. They don't care if I was first in my class or last in my class. Indeed, if I compare my marks to my managers marks, I would likely have much higher marks.
But in the actual job? My manager would be rated as "VG" and myself? I like to think I would get "S" Satisfactory maybe even tending towards "G" Good. In real life its not about how well you take tests. It is not about how well you can recite information. Its about how well you can do the job and deal with other people. In those ways my boss is way better than I'll ever be.
That letter grades are important sometimes especially to sift between those who will be capable and those who will not when it comes to higher learning. At lower levels when everyone should be able to make the grade? Basic competence becomes the benchmark and a "Meets Expectations" becomes a far better metric.
My wife has never given me a letter grade.
I don't get a report card for being a father.
There is no test to get into the Hive Learners
I'm either "Meeting Expectations" or not.
I'm either "Satisfactory", "Good" or "Very Good" in my day to day dealings.
So whenever possible, why teach our children to expect grades when life rarely gives them?
Just my thoughts on today's Hive Learner post prompt. Feel free to send comments as I always like hearing from fellow members. No comments? No problem. Thanks for reading this far. Always appreciate eyes on my posts.
