Madam, – As we prepare for the commencement of the State exams, worthy academics/ employers/politicians often bemoan the “relevance” of such exams in today’s world, calling for the so-called panaceas of modern educational ills – project work and continuous assessment.
The main arguments underpinning these solutions are logical on the surface – that such project work takes pressure off students who will no longer have to regurgitate their education over a short period of weeks and prepares them for how things operate in the “real” world.
However, nowhere do I see a practitioner of secondary education – a teacher – asked for his/her views on how the existing project requirements in subjects such as history, CSPE and geography have been doing. Have they made it easier for pupils? Are they preparing students for the “real” world? The answer to the first question is Yes. Students do find it easier. They get a considerable part of their marks/exams out of the way by June. However, how they do the projects leads me, as a teacher of 15 years’ experience, to doubt whether we really are preparing them for the future world of work.
Would your future employer put up with students who won’t do any original research themselves as many teachers of history can attest? That have to be provided with every source they need, because a visit to the library is seemingly beyond them. Would they put up with an employee who hires in other professionals (grinds) to assist them complete it, or get their parents to do it?
Would the employer tolerate having to practically write large chunks of the project themselves because the student/employee has continually failed to do anything? It’s nearly impossible for a teacher to just walk away from an uncooperative pupil, knowing his/her failure could be seen as a reflection on the teacher and the school. An employer can fire a lazy employee. We can’t expel pupils for non-performance. We are obligated to get him/her over the line, by whatever means possible.
The line between the teacher’s work and the student’s work is always an ambiguous one and unless we at least evaluate and iron out the “bugs” in our present system then we are destined to repeat and exacerbate the existing problems. Project work is a good idea. Continuous assessment by outsiders is a good idea. But let’s talk to those at the chalk face before we hand it over to those upstairs (universities academics/ employers) who will no doubt blame secondary teachers for the poor performance of university graduates/employees after more of their reforms! – Yours, etc,