Argumentative Essay: Stop Degrading Our Students!

Stop Degrading Our Students!

Stop Degrading Our Students!

Many times, tests are inaccurate representations of one's aptitude. Students sometimes have bad days, good days and even sick days. Some suffer from test anxiety or have difficult home lives that make it hard to get work done or focus in class. Some have learning disabilities. Some are geniuses in psychology but could not take a chemistry test if their life depended on it. Everybody has varying strengths and weaknesses, however if someone fails to succeed in one subject, many will perceive them as being less intelligent. Study. Exams. Result. Grades. Most of our students’ life revolves around these key elements. Particularly grades are a matter of life and death for many diligent students. In our educational system it is customary to test a student’s knowledge in a particular subject and then grade him according to his performance. ‘A’ grade being the highest and most coveted, while ‘F’ being the lowest and the scorned. Students who get the highest grade are deemed really smart while those who fail are considered dull. Now the question arises do grades really reflect intelligence? Or is it a common misconception?

According to educational experts many factors add up to make a grade. It reflects a student’s sense of responsibility, his diligence, the ability to understand the course material, and to perform well when tested. Overall grades reflect the results and not the intelligence or effort. A grade itself is a combination of a teacher’s professional judgment of a student’s overall performance. This is because high achieving students are able to deliver what the teacher wants. So, grades, in fact, reflect whether teachers think students have mastered the content. Most of the students who get good grades are very obedient, compliant and hardworking. They have the desire to surpass all their class mates and excel in everything. In their efforts to be the best they are often limited to just their course material and are oblivious to the world around them. Though they are successful in their class but they spend all their time poring over the textbooks, that they miss all the joys of life. This obsession with grades comes from the belief that educational success means more opportunities for higher paying jobs and a better life. So can they be considered smart? No! There is a whole new world out there of which they have no knowledge. Their excellent grades are not the indicators of intelligence

Whereas according to the results of research Harvard University, United States that “a person's success is not determined solely by the knowledge and technical skills (hard skills), and by learning secrets themselves and others (soft skills)”. This research proved, successful only about 20% with hard skills and 80% maintenance with soft skills. According to Patrick O'Brien, in his book, Soft Skills is  "Making College Count", he called "The Winning Character", the Winning Character such as “communication skills-organized skills-leadership-logics-skills ensure something-graduated skills, and- ethics”. So that is why there is another category of students who are generally thought to be at the bottom of every educational level, but succeeded after they left the grading education system. They receive bad grades and are generally considered dull. But are good grades really the holy grail of education? Of course Not! These students have the guts to surprise everyone. Sometimes they are more intelligent than the class toppers. The only reason they don’t perform well in the educational institutes is this that they have their own vision and don’t want to be defined by the books they cram. Their intelligence is unraveled in practical situations. That’s why in real life most of them are far more successful. Some of the world’s most famous people were considered dull but they surprised everyone by their intelligence for example famous scientist Sir Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school and was considered “unpromising.” When Thomas Edison was young, his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. He was counseled to go into a field where he might succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality.

And many more examples of successful people who used to be considered stupid. So, here we can conclude, not everything can be measured from a student who then we grade them. It is as said by Marilyn Price-Mitchell Ph.D,  she said that  “skills like critical thinking, curiosity, and collaboration are much more difficult to measure quantitatively across large populations. So we tend to measure what can most easily be measured - reading, math, and science knowledge.” Additionally, Thomas said motivation plays a big part in a person's grades. A student with mastery-oriented motivation approaches a class with curiosity and an interest in the subject, whereas a student with performance-orientated motivation does so solely from a grade standpoint. "The counter to that is a performance-orientated motivation where you are much more concerned about grades, you don't really care that much about the material of the class," Thomas said.

Grades never promise success in life, rather it is the accompanying skills, such as how to understand and navigate educational systems. Though high achieving students turn out to be citizens who become accountants, doctors, engineers and lawyers but they tend to be single minded. On the other hand success in business, public service, research and beyond often requires creative thinkers driven by curiosity, courage to take risks and to be open minded. These attributes are opposite to those necessary to succeed in educational institute. Instead of simple compliance, the students will question the rules and challenge the teacher. They are not interested in delivering what the teacher wants and may appear bored, indifferent or defiant. They can be stubborn, impulsive and rebellious. They are determined, often displaying single-minded obsession, where perseverance and resilience that leads to success. They are able to see most of us can not. These traits equip them for success in real life but poor grades in school. Overall we can conclude that though the grades are important for being solid, contributing citizens but by no means, a good grade is a measure of intelligence.

Share this post