She came in with her mother to speak with me as I was having lunch. Hailey went home after her oral Independent Study Unit performance mark was posted and was not able to speak, eat or sleep. Her cumulative grade had fallen from 97% to 95%. She was devastated. She is currently the top student of the school in grade 11.
The mother, who spoke for her 16 year old, wanted to know what could be done. I said I didn't know what to say. "Is this an issue of fairness in your view?", I queried. No. She went on to say that Hailey had prepared so much good research material, of which a lot was not used in the time allotted to present her views. I agreed that it must be frustrating to be so well prepared and not be able to use it all in the time frame given for presenting one's point of view (the ISU was a timed informal debate in groups of four). I applauded her for the quality of her arguments and her ISU mark of 90% was in my view still excellent. I just ended with "I don't know what to say". They left my office with the realization that I was not going to make some kind of concession here.
Philosophically I take issue with giving extra opportunities to students who are already well above average academically. What will happen to her psychologically and emotionally in her post-secondary studies when she is no longer always at the top of the class?
I asked one of my colleagues whether I was missing something here, and immediately she quipped "She can't take not being first". Indeed, another very capable student scored 100% on the ISU.
Are we educators breeding a generation of "must haves" in terms of high marks who cannot live with the "personal failure" of anything under 97%?
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I'm seeing that this is like you said, not a case of under-performance, or thinking that marking wasn't done properly but of simply wanting the most-in terms of marks.
ReplyDeleteI even wonder if it is about "being first" or more of an issue of parental and child identity being wrapped up in performance and marks.
A sense of "worth" coming from having high marks and achieving and attaining academic reports.
I have unfortunately heard of cases where administration and teachers give in to persistent (dogged?) pressure from parents to assign "extra-credit" work or things of that nature to students who didn't need remedial work assignments.
I hope that as educators we will be helping move students into the real world of post-secondary education or careers where the option of going back asking for "more credit" is less likely to yield results.
Hopefully we would be helping to educate students to be satisfied with best effort, and not base their worth solely on academic marks.
--Raymond Leung
The above example of the girl is sadly, how an increasing number of students and their parents have started to view "success". Viewing one's self-worth based on just high grades and academic achievements puts undue pressure on young minds, not to mention that the constant striving for perfection that can put their health at risk, too. The focus on being successful in everything a student does might prevent them from undertaking new endeavours.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, in my opinion what needs to be done, is to help students develop a sense of identity that is separate from their achievements and failures, and help them develop coping skills to deal with disappointments that come with failures. As educators, we need to reassure that the students best efforts are appreciated but, in case things don't pan out according to plan, there is a plan B and, maybe a definite plan C and that IT IS OK. Lastly, important adults in the students' lives, particularly parents must model a work-life-fun balance that the students can emulate.
Niveditha
Success can mean many things to many different people and others can have a hard time understanding why certain achievements mean more to some than others.
ReplyDeletePersonally, the fact that Hailey is not speaking, eating, or sleeping indicates that this is more of an issue regarding self-worth, than it is about competitiveness. Competition tends to lead to anger or resentment, not a lack of normal day-to-day functioning.
I do not think educators are the only ones breeding a "must-have" mentality in our students; I believe it is a societal issue. People generally connect self-worth with success, and it seems as though Hailey is a prime example of this. Perhaps, Hailey feels as though school is the only thing she is "good" at, and saw the loss of marks as a personal strike against her self-worth as a person.
However, it is important for students to understand that tying success, in whatever form it comes in, to our self-worth is detrimental to our personal identities and the way we view others. In fact, I believe that it is this perpetual idea that our self-worth is connected to our success that causes others to feel the same way.