Unfortunately the way I see our current education system, it leads more towards teachers teaching for an exam. Whether that be HSC or NAPLAN, we seem to be more concerned with measuring academic performance at the expenses of leaving behind social and emotional learning.
Even those teachers who are able to balance......
this effectively are still judged according to how well their students perform in the exam. Is this really what we want as teachers? To be judged by how well students do in exams? Is this method of teaching producing students who have the skills to function effectively in society? Are we really being effective as teachers?
We need only visit a classroom for a day to see the real issues within a classroom - bullying, poor social skills, varying audio-digital skills, students who lash emotionally to those who are withdrawn. Add to this the multiple learning styles by which children learn and various cultural background they come from and you have a classroom that requires skills in social interaction, self awareness and managing emotions – all skills that contribute to the overall wellbeing of a child but not measured in any Naplan test.
Teaching is an age old tradition based on imparting knowledge and skills onto others but it is not this alone. Teaching is not simply feeding students knowledge on certain topics, asking them to recite that knowledge and then giving them a score that is supposed to represent how well they will function in society. Teaching is more than this. Teaching is about showing students where they have come from, showing them their place in the world and giving the skills on how to bets contribute to it.
Teaching should be about educating for life, not just educating for an exam. In doing this teaching should prepare students for their journey of living by providing them with opportunities that encourage them to think, feel and act according to their own instincts. Teaching should not just be restricted to content but should teach skills in coping, communicating and social interaction. The difficulty people face with this method of teaching is how to assess it – given that we as educators are accountable for everything that we do, both with ourselves and our students who are constantly measured. Tests in the field of Positive Psychology are starting to be formulated to do just this – measuring well being and Optimism.
Imagine if we could not only teach skills in social and emotional intelligence but we could then measure it? Then we would be truly educating our young people in all forms.
Daniela Falecki
www.adolescenttoolbox.com.au
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