For quite some time now the notion of teaching to specific outcomes as opposed to teaching to the individual needs of a person has been on my mind. Not one to have totally agreed with my own learning at school, I find it hard to comprehend how we can as a profession deem it necessary to teach students to the test as it might be. Yes it looks good for a teacher and a school when they have outstanding results but does it paint the full picture. My thoughts are that it certainly does not. Sure a student may be able to regurgitate information that has been spoon fed to them for the purposes of improving test results but is this really a true measure of growth of an individual?
My thoughts were reignited this morning when I read and article in the Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/naplanstyle-testing-has-failed-us-schools-20110501-1e395.html) stating how NAPLAN style testing had failed in the United States. The basic premise behind this was that some students were being excluded from schools when it was thought they might bring down results, as well as "good" teachers leaving disadvantaged schools to avoid the stain of poor marks. It would appear then that our reliance on measurable results could potentially be leaving disadvantaged students behind, not an ideal situation in a country that encourages the education of all.
Instead of teaching straight out facts shouldn't we be teaching the individual? What good is a person who can recite facts and yet not comprehend, analyse and think for themselves? Wouldn't we be much better off teaching skills and not just facts? Personally my own goal is to teach students to be critical thinkers and to question everything that comes across them. Sadly I see to many influences on teachers to simply teach facts and get results. This is further highlighted by another article which coincidentally appeared in the Herald today (http://www.smh.com.au/national/top-teachers-to-get-more-pay-)20110502-1e3rh.html. The measurements of this success are certainly not going to look at how you have impacted upon a student in terms of their personal development as a person, instead you could almost assure they will be based around marks and results. For an extra $5000 how will you teach?
