Mary Beard slams ‘exam factories’ Is she right???

[Elisi]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mary-beard-slams-exam-factories-n9kf9kxgz?shareToken=a56451802e52fd2f9f06a46dfa367303

The academic and broadcaster Mary Beard fears that some schools are at risk of becoming “exam factories”, producing students puzzled by the concept of study for its own sake.

Beard, the Cambridge classicist and a presenter of several TV series about the Roman empire, said: “ I do think we have got too many exams . . . not only public exams, but practice exams to pass the public exams, which then breed more practice exams. So you can get the feeling that education is just down to passing tests.

“There is a danger, it seems to me . . . Is the system just trying to do too much? Is it at breaking point?”

Speaking ahead of You May Now Turn Over Your Papers, a BBC Radio 4 documentary about the history of exams that she presents next Sunday, Beard added: “Everyone is trying to do their best. They are not trying to stress the children of this nation out so that they are gibbering wrecks but somehow, in the end, everyone is invested in marks.

“[It is] not just the kid who wants to get a particular grade to get to a particular university, but the school that wants to get up the league tables. Maybe we should start thinking what is all this for? . . . This is a stressed system.”

[Qwerty]

I have said that for years thanks Mary for bringing it to attention, there are lots of bright intelligent kids out there and just because they don't want to go to university but want to start work doesn't make them less intelligent

[Gemini]

Qwerty, 2 of my DDs have degrees (one has 2 degrees) The one who didnt go to uni, along with her OH, who also didn't go, own and run an amazing successful business, have the biggest house and poshest cars, of the whole family! Uni isn't for everyone, and not going is in no way a failure.

I think too many exams do stress pupils. We all know that stuff learned to pass exams is easily forgotten, learning needs to be more than that.

[Qwerty]

I agree my DS had a degree but the job he applied for he could have got with A levels there wasn't the jobs around he had to take what there was, of course he has done well since in the civil service and is happy there , whereas my DD didn't want to go to uni she got a civil service job and was promoted to a title I forget now but dealt with Alistair Campbell he always asked for her when he came to Leeds unfortunately the Tory government closed the offices down to save money. Grrrrrr .She now works at NHS as business manager and again rising up through the ranks very bright girl without a degree but her value at work is almost indispensable so education beyond 18 isn't always needed too much emphasis put on degrees in my own opinion,common sense helps but I congratulate those that have wanted to achieve a degree

[Shemadee]

We used to have tests just before Easter and exams in July! There wasn't any fuss made though I guess if you had pushy parents it may have been different. I don't like to think of children being stressed by tests though luckily out GSs school seems to have got through SATs without unsettling them at all. Problem is when we lived in London parents who tried to question the teachers were accused of being pushy parents and their concerns were ignored. One family moved to Kent and it took two years to diagnose severe dyslexia and two other learning problems. When I went in to help with reading I noticed one of DSs friends was always being kept in to catch up with class work. He was a very bright sweet natured boy. When his frustrated parents had him privately tested he was also dyslexic. He used to look so unhappy at being "punished". These boys lost more than four years of early education and no end of damage to their confidence and self esteem. Perhaps some kind of testing would have picked this up much earlier? When DS started senior school he had a very disruptive class mate. He was in his second year when a teacher suddenly clicked that he would overturn a desk or similar if he realised he was going to be asked to read something. A friend who was widowed young only realised why her youngest, 14, was having so many problems when he asked her how you stop the letters from jumping all over the page. It does seem that some kind of compulsory testing is needed to stop children slipping through the net. Most teachers do a difficult job very well but when they slip up it is children who suffer.

[Daisy]

I don't think teaching to the test is a new phenomenon. When I was teaching at College I often heard certain staff (mainly Physics, History and Chemistry) bemoaning the fact that the 16 year olds from certain schools were spoon-fed through GCSEs and arrived at College with no concept of thinking for themselves or applying knowledge. These schools did well in the League Tables and were well regarded, but I always felt their pupils were sold short. An A or A* grade is great, but there's quite a jump academically from GCSE to A Levels and the spoon-fed students found it much harder because they didn't have the study skills.

A degree isn't the be-all and end-all and it's great to see youngsters succeeding on their merits out there in the real world. My DIL1 worked her way up from Office Junior to a senior IT manager after leaving school at 16.

Shem - I think it's appalling that signs of dyslexia aren't picked up early on. The longer children 'miss out' the harder it is to catch up and the more their self-esteem suffers. The poor friend of your DS being kept in to catch up. That's so sad for the little lad. When we lived in Surrey I used to help with reading in the Middle School, and there was one little boy who at 10 couldn't read even two letter words like 'it' or 'of'. when I queried it with his teacher she shrugged and said "Mr X (Headmaster) won't accept that we have any child in this school with a literacy problem"! Fortunately he retired soon afterwards, but that little boy had effectively missed 5 years of schooling.

[Shemadee]

The first two boys mentioned both had above average IQs which hopefully helped once the diagnosis was made though how much psychological damage is hard to judge. The second boy attended a secondary school with a special needs unit attached. He did get some GCSE and got a job in the stores of John Lewis. He was then given a job in their IT sales department and shortly after promoted to floor manager so did very well all things considered. JL were very supportive as employers.

I did feel for the first little boy. He was a real delight and used to look quite sheepish when he was being kept in. The teacher was generally above average so I did find it a bit puzzling but perhaps the problem was the headteacher. Both boys went to the same school.

Hopefully the schools now have methods in place to prevent this type of thing happening.

[Daisy]

Shem - thanks goodness the boys survived their horrible early experiences. I still think far too many children slip through the net.