We must learn to trust teachers
EWELL, home-schooling has happened; months of learning in a new way has happened; not being in the classroom has happened.
So let’s be done with these outcries of horror over how GCSE and A-level grades are going to be determined this year.
When are people going to learn that extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions?
We seem to be largely accepting of that when it comes to vaccinations, furlough payments and self-isolation, but for some reason too many want to carry on with exams as if nothing has happened.
The proposals are that teachers will be able to decide not just grades but how those grades are determined – that could be on coursework, on classroom performance or what are termed “mini exams”.
It doesn’t really matter how it’s done, the fact is it will be done by the professionals who know the children best – their teachers.
So why all this shock-horror that exams are to be marked by teachers? They seem to be good enough to be entrusted with that job through most of a child’s 14 years at school, so the least of all evils must be to let them continue in the same vein.
My late father had a great saying: “It takes a priest to say Mass”, meaning you do what you do and leave those who are the experts to do what they do.
We have to get back to a normal world as soon as possible.
On top of the unnecessary pain, loss and hardship that so many people and the nation has had to
endure, whether junior gets a gold star or a gold star-plus is the least of our problems.
Educating youngsters to the right standards in the right subjects is a delicate balance.
Last year it was initially left to a computer algorithm to decide – and when that went belly-up everyone seemed happy for the teachers to step in. So why are so many affronted this year?
A survey this week reveals most
people’s biggest financial regrets are not saving for a rainy day, not tackling debt and not buying a home as early as possible.
I would suggest that teaching our youngsters the wisdom of that would benefit more of them than whatever their exam grade eventually turns out to be.
Teaching is a vocation. My belief is that teachers want the best for their pupils.
As parents, we should trust them.