I’m sure that you’ve heard someone brag about the grades that they get in school. In this moment you probably felt a few different things depending on the boat that you are in yourself. Something that you almost never hear someone say is that they got better at a certain skill in school. It’s all about the grades.
The reason that we decided to use grading in the first place was to motivate students to have to learn the material, practice, and imbed it into our heads. Whilst all of these objectives are okay and good for students, it leaves room for error. Students will often choose a task or text or assignment that they are familiar or comfortable with.
Because students are only choosing tasks that they like or are familiar with they don’t get the opportunity to branch out and learn more about various different things. Many students will choose a single path to get to the answer or complete which limits them to other options to finding answers.
Some may argue that this limitation on students isn’t the grading system’s fault, but rather the students. You can’t blame the students though. They are simply doing what they have been taught to do all throughout school. Grades entice students to limit themselves in fear of doing poorly
Grading undermines the idea of teamwork. With the grading system in place it forces teachers to make students do their work independently majority of the time because they need to see the grasp that each individual student has on the topic. This creates a border between students which not only doesn’t allow them to work with their peers but it can also keep them from getting to know their classmates as they should.
All in all, there are several things that are wrong with the grading system that must be replaced by a new system that will engage the students in what they are learning and make sure to engage their imagination and accountability. Grading is a huge problem in our school systems today that needs to be changed. I encourage you to reflect on you grades limited you in your school life and do something to change that for the students of today and tomorrow.
The Golden Thread 
Leave a comment