Schooling certainly goes beyond Grades

Second to the home environment, school has the biggest influence on young learners. School is where the children build their own experiences, be it with friends, peers, teachers or that of learning. This is the place where they learn their social skills, and create a network that’s exclusive to them. School is a place where children grow in each other’s company.

Unfortunately, most of us tend to forget the big picture of it all and simply focus on the grading system, academics, and acing everything. Attaining education doesn’t limit itself to acquiring knowledge or information, but it is a whole system that is in place to shape the mindset of young and growing children.

Schooling aims at holistic development, teaches a range of skills, behaviours, and the right attitudes that are essential to live a successful life. That said, schooling does go beyond grades. Let’s dive in to discover the primary reasons for schooling.

🎒Holistic Development

Education aims at building a self-sufficient individual, a person that is known for their range of skills and qualities they possess. Schools aim at fostering essential skills like emotional intelligence, social skills, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.

🎒Life skills

Life skills are important to lead a successful personal and professional life. School is the best place to learn essential life skills, such as organization, time management, communication, leadership, and teamwork.

🎒Character Building

Schooling also plays a vital role in teaching values such as integrity, honesty, empathy, and respect for one another. These are some of the most essential qualities for building character that eventually helps contribute positively to society.

🎒Future-Ready

Education moulds students to create successful careers and achieve life goals, which honestly demands more than just academic achievements. It includes imparting a sense of responsibility, adaptability, resilience, and an appreciation for diversity.

In a big pool of skills, abilities, and qualities, the education system puts emphasis on types of grades. Grades are just a means of measuring students’ academic success, it is not the only measure of a student’s abilities and success.

🎒Grading system India- The Real Problem

Educators have conventionally relied on student assessments that compare an entire class with a few successful peers with the false idea that they are motivating other students to catch up with them. In fact, it has an unpleasant effect on the entire class. Instead of encouraging the majority of students to do better, it instils the feeling of failure and defeat.    

Using grades to make a scale only goes to show that it is all a big competition, when in reality it isn’t. The grading in school only puts the children up against each other, which isn’t healthy for them to experience in their growing years. This may also hamper their relationship with their friends and peers, developing an unnecessary competitive environment. Besides, the rote learning method of most students and teachers have long been debated to base the grading system on something so inefficient.   

🎒Rethink Assessment to Improve Learning Outcomes

Assessment should be more student centric; it should help students learn and store information better. Assessment needs to be based on purpose that ensures a coherent and effective way of measuring a student’s learning pathway and capabilities. Another aspect of assessment is to understand the gaps in the students’ understanding of concepts and where they need assistance.  
When the assessment helps point out gaps in learning, teachers get an opportunity to go around the same concept again using a different approach. This way, the learning is effective and makes a difference in a student’s learning experience.

The purpose of assessment derives into how assessments should be constructed and used. When assessment is curated to enhance learning, students needn’t feel anxious or censured when appearing for one. On the contrary, students should take this as an opportunity to make their learning more apparent. As for the sake of reporting and checking if the concept is clear among students, teachers should closely look at the quality of assessment given. 

It’s imperative for the education system to recognise the purpose of the assessment to derive best results for students and teachers. We look forward to an education system where types of assessments are curated for better learning outcomes, and not developed just as a measuring tool.   

The Bottom Line

At the end, every school and educator must focus on creating a learning environment that feels secure and safe for the growing children. Assessment is a big pillar in the learning process that leaves a substantial impact on students’ confidence and self-esteem. That said, assessments and evaluations should be curated to serve as a basis for professional learning that enables assessing students effectively, efficiently, and fairly. Rethinking assessments and evaluations would be a big step towards making education more inclusive in ways more than one.