Grades

At present children are graded, A for Achiever down to F for Failure, or that is certainly how the grades can be and seemingly are interpreted.

This process begins with 'sats' at the age of 7 in the UK and continues throughout the education system to the end, end being degree's, bachelors, nvq's or whenever the pupil is no more. You leave education with a grade, a score, a mark of accomplishment or failure.

There is an argument for grades. If for example I step onto a plane or into an operating theatre or a garage I expect the person performing the important task of flying my plane, operating on my body or repairing my car to be competent at said task. I expect them to have got the required grades. My expectation is not that the surgeon is accomplished at English Literacy or an accomplished chef or even that the person was well mannered, conformist and superb overall (obedient) at school, not consciously but the reality is that the surgeon will likely have been a 'model student'.

In British schools the 'grades' are assigned via exam papers and impartial bodies marking the papers so behaviour and personal relationships are not as important to the American system of 'scores'. Get on the wrong side of, aggravate or just not bond with your teacher and your score card might represent this 'apparent failure'. However in British schools your teachers decide what exam paper you will be taking. They have decided you are a failure before you even sit the exam by sitting you in-front of a paper that has a maximum grade level. A-C D-B F-C.

Apparently this is done to give the less 'competent' children a psychological boost by removing difficult questions that they are bound to not understand thus allowing them to be the best they can be with what they do have.

Get on the wrong side of the system and you might just be assigned a paper that reflects this 'apparent failure'.

Same problem at both sides of the pond.

I also touched on another inequality within current systems.
The pilot, surgeon and mechanic all have the lives of others to consider but their reward, their fiscal reward that is does not reflect this.

If the surgeon gets it wrong once one person might die. The patient
If the pilot gets it wrong once hundreds might die. The crew, passengers and people where the plane crashes
If the mechanic gets it wrong once hundreds might die. Depends on the vehicle, train, car, bus, tram, plane... many deaths could result from an error.

The mechanic is paid the least, the surgeon is paid the most. The surgeon is also likely considered upper to the lower mechanic.

All this from grades?

On one hand I want us to get away from grades, but on the other hand I want my pilot to be competent at flying planes.

Maybe the key here is to only grade young adults?
If schooling is transformed into a learning environment instead of a teaching environment with teachers having a new role of assisting you on demand and teaching you how to learn for yourself why would we need grades?

Every pupil would potentially be studying something different and using different methods to source their knowledge. Also studying for the first 3, 6 or 7 years might be nothign more that figuring things out, playing, experimenting, enjoying. Imagine that? Going to school being a joy because you know when you get there that there is a wealth of tools, resources and materials and they are all at your disposal to do with as you please (except attack the other pupils with of course).

Instead of being made to learn mathematics at set period and switch to English at set period and science at another....
It would no doubt be a natural progression. For a child to continue their thirst for science they would realise a need to learn mathematics and English and set about the task. Imagine if the schooling environment was not time served either. If a child wants to be there for longer, fine, shorter days would be fine also, but I also think it appropriate that school should be able to take place at home also.

At present we all fund schooling but our children are not permitted to bring materials and tools, etc home with them. We paid for it on their behalf...
I think it would make more sense if a child could choose a number of items, 5 for example to take home. The school would then deliver said learning items to the child's home. If the child wanted to replace an item with something else they would simply ask for it and the school would make the swap.

If an item is consumable the child would either seek a refill or replacement.

Learning could then become a family activity and a far more enjoyable experience. False constraints of time or wealth would be reduced to nothing and most important of all the child is learning and enjoying their childhood too!

Grades would be irrelevant and impossible to do under the current format. Why ask a pupil to answer questions about an obsolete Shakespearean play like they do today if the pupil avoided the dusty old thing anyway? Makes no sense.

A child could however be building their own portfolio of achievements that is automated for their younger years and then as the child matures is handed over to them. They choose what was an accomplishment and what was not, adding and removing as they see fit to their own portfolio.

By the time they reach young adolescence they would almost certainly of formulated a portfolio that truly reflects what they have accomplished. Being their own Judge and Jury and considering their own achievements on their own merit, instead of grading them against a pretend 'A student'.

Grading could then only begin when the child who has had a thirst for flying since being a small child, studied their dreams and built a portfolio. This young adult could then be assessed and given enhanced flight school. Instead fo being graded, certified or not certified to be a pilot.

Never passed or failed, one can continue to seek the certification for a lifetime if one chooses to.

I wrote this to open a discussion so please add your thoughts and ideas via the comment form. In a couple of months we can review the outcome and consider whether or not we have drawn conclusions.