What Really Counts
League tables and competition between schools have become such a feature of recent times it is easy to forget that good grades are not actually the purpose of good learning, they are a byproduct.
Of course, as students get older grades become more significant because they are also a sorting mechanism, and, if we are not careful, a social marker. Many universities have a finite number of places - how do they decide who they admit? Grades. That’s the sorting part. It is easy to think that going to a university that demands the highest grades makes you extra special. That’s the social marker part.
But our lives are happier when we maximise our potential, not when we are pressured into one path because others think it is a more important way. We have richer lives when we are healthy, emotionally secure and have positive relationships. As, Bs or Cs as a teenager soon become a distant memory. Life would be pretty paltry if they didn’t.
School is so much more than just academics, children learn to socialise and regulate their emotions; they challenge themselves with activities that they may not have chosen for themselves; they learn to deal with both disappointments and successes with good grace; and they develop habits that will serve them through their whole lives.
Next week, Middle and High school parents will receive progress reports for their children. They focus on aptitudes not academic grades - ultimately, the journey to a fulfilled life is determined less by current grades than by willingness and character. Please take a careful note of what they say and ask your child about the contents.
Is it always more interesting to ask a child, ‘what did you learn today?’ rather than ‘how did you do?’ Schools are about making progress not about proving yourself.
Comments
Post a Comment