Are Exams really getting easier?
Whew the girls exams are over. The bits of paper scattered all around the house can be peeled off the walls, doors and ceiling. ( Daughter number four, has an important history diagram situated conveniently above her bed.) I am just hoping that it does not peel off the paint as well!Exams, for most kids are very stressful and yet as someone who went through this "in the olden days" , I don't remember the pressure being as bad as it has become now. Nor the constant comment that the exams are getting easier. Which I guess will be the next predictable news item on education in August, when the exam results are out.
It seems like every year this criticism is levelled. It certainly was when my two eldest children took their GCSE's and A levels some years ago. The charge is always the same. The exams are getting easier and standards are declining.
As a parent, and someone who is lucky enough to know a few teachers I really do not believe this to be the case. (Certainly the exam papers I have seen baffle me - and I would like to think I received quite a good education as I attended a local grammar school.) Certainly the teachers work a lot harder and are monitored a lot more closely. I also have a strong recollection when I took my exams that there was less parity between the exam Boards.
Maybe the teachers coach the children specifically to pass the exams. But who can blame them for doing that, with schools performance being so closely monitored. Anyway, in my opinion, any good teacher or private tutor will always have done that.
What I do know is that they are now taught how to revise. Something I never remember being "coached" in. Hence all the signs round the house.
My theory is that there is so much more for us to have to get to grips with these days. Not only do we have all the old traditional subjects but some new subjects including IT, graphic design and technology. Schools are expected to fit a lot more into the day - and that must be tough to do when the school days is the same length (maybe even a little shorter) than it used to be.
More importantly there are also many more distractions inside even in the best run homes, which makes less likely for kids to settle down and read a good book. They are more likely to be talking on MSN, watching a DVD, playing a computer game or listening to their Ipod.
None of this entertainment was available thirty years ago. And if you are a Mum like me who is constantly trying to encourage hobbies, this can shoot you in the foot too. Daughter number four, who is a keen army cadet, struggles to fit in her homework.
What is the answer - I really don't know, but generally in life positive affirmation produces better results than constant criticism. And I am sure that must go for teachers as well as kids.
Labels: GCSE exams, happy kids, school holidays parents, school league tables
posted by Diana and Steve @ 11:14
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