I think that one of the biggest things that jumped out at me
when I was reading the chapter about culture and context was the difference
between Eastern and Western attitudes toward education. I read a wonderful
article called “Struggle
For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning” which talks
about the differences in attitude toward struggle. While the article is talking
about kids in the classroom, I think that to a certain degree, the concepts
being discussed can be applied to all ages. Here in America we tend to have the
most respect for people who seem to succeed without really trying. The picture
below illustrates this quite nicely.
I think that in Eastern cultures, they see a lot more of the
iceberg, and they are ok with that. I love the example in the article about how
the Japanese teacher sent the student who was having the most problems to the
board to practice in front of the class and that while everyone got to see him
struggle, he was rewarded for his perseverance and ultimate success by the applause
of his classmates. In an American classroom, I think most teachers avoid
calling out students who are struggling because they don’t want to embarrass them
or make them feel bad about their struggles. We all tend to forget what a wonderful
feeling that succeeding after a struggle can be.
I think that one of the areas in education that really
emphasizes the Western attitude toward success is our grading system. Everyone
starts out perfect, then gets marked down for every mistake. Although this is
the way that it has always been done, it doesn’t promote an atmosphere of
learning for those who need more practice to master something. I have recently
been investigating standards based grading and am planning to begin using it in
my classroom starting this summer. In this approach to grading, the student
submits an assignment, and can keep submitting it until they have mastered the
material. I know that it will take more work and flexibility on my part, but I
hope that it will have much better results. When you teach to a schedule, you
have to move forward regardless of whether the material has been mastered or
not. With standards based grading, students will not be allowed to move on
until they have mastered the material. This video is a good basic introduction
to Standards-Based Grading:
I feel that as a teacher, part of my job is to do my best to
ensure the success of all of my students. I think in the long run, they will be
better off having mastery of a small amount of material, than struggling with a
whole lot of material, or worse yet, resorting to cheating because they can’t
keep up and don’t understand what they are doing. A lot of the way grades are
handled in today’s classroom sets students up for failure. I think that we
should look to the East for some possible solutions to these problems.
References
Spiegel, A. (2012, November 12). Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning. Retrieved April 30, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/12/164793058/struggle-for-smarts-how-eastern-and-western-cultures-tackle-learning
[ActiveGrade]. (2012, December 26). Standards-Based Grading Overview [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7m4762pjH8
Thank you for telling the story of the Japanese teacher who allowed a student to struggle and then rewarded the student for his perseverance. Everything is not easy, and we need to encourage students to stick with it when the learning is hard.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the video on Standards-Based Grading, and I found another video on the subject that was helpful. This approach is very similar to gaming. You are graded on what you can do; this takes the focus off all the things you can't do. I would like to incorporate this approach in how I grade my students.
https://youtu.be/bn_sCLoQNVs?t=7s
Jenny,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really like the iceberg graphic you chose to represent the truth about success. It was particularly relevant today as it was Honors Convocation day on the Hickory campus. Many students were recognized for their academic achievements. Most of these achievements were related to research and scholarship, but a few of the recognitions were because of students' memberships in an honors societies whose only criterion to join was grade point average. After reading your post, I thought back to this morning and what these awards told us about the students. The presenters briefly explained the projects of those who won research awards so we had a pretty good idea (especially if we attended the SOURCE presentations) of what they were studying and what they had accomplished through their research. Those who were recognized for GPA we were left to wonder exactly what that signified. Enter the ideas set forth by a standards-based grading model.
To supply an additional resource for your post, I read an article by Marco A. Muñoz and Thomas R. Guskey (2015) in the publication from Phi Delta Kappa on assessment, grading, and standards. The gist of this article is summed up with a quote from their first paragraph, “The first step in sound classroom assessment practices associated with grading is to ensure that grades are meaningful” (Muñoz & Guskey, 2015, p. 64). For instance, what can we tell from the A grade a student received in their history course? We can reasonable assume they did the work to the standards set by the instructor, but we have no idea what they actually know. Standards based grading produces a gradebook entry that looks much different from a bowl of alphabet soup. For example, a learning outcome may be “Student can trace a movement or idea back to its roots.” The student would then receive a rating of not proficient, partially proficient, proficient, or advanced. This scale easily allows the instructor to see which concepts the student has mastered and which can be improved upon. Not only does this method of grading qualify or describe a student’s achievement, but it serves as a roadmap for the student helping them to decide where they need to go next. Additionally, standards based grading makes the process of assigning grades more fair and equitable (Muñoz & Guskey, 2015). I encourage you to read more of this article. It’s well-written and on a level accessible by everyone.
Muñoz, M. A., & Guskey, T. R. (2015). Standards-based grading and reporting will improve education. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(7), 64-68. doi:10.1177/0031721715579043/.