I believe that the purpose of learning is help the children be well rounded adults and get ready to take their rightful place in the future and the testing is a way to measure children how much they learnt and their weakness and strengthens, at the same time, it also measure teachers effectiveness (Kelly, 2014). We know that we are unique and learn in different ways. When we think about testing a child holistically, the multiple intelligence, which is the idea that human intelligence is compromised of a varied set of abilities rather than a single, all encompassing one, should get involved (Berger, 2014).I think the test should take into account various aspects such as their learning styles, the age of the child, and even if they are under a disability.
Most countries use testing for tracking and for selecting students for admission into academic secondary schools or universities. In China, the students face a highly competitive and stressful examination. College admissions in China are based solely on national higher education Entrance Examination, Gaokao, which fall on 7, 8 and 9 June of each year. It is academically motivated Chinese teenagers spend 8-10 hours a day for three years in preparation. Senior High School in China has one purpose: test prep. There is no curriculum outside of the test, which tests math, English, Chinese, as well as a chosen subject like chemistry or political correctness. There is not any life outside of the test. Sadly to be said that the test prep actually starts from the elementary school. It is usually heard parents or teachers said that if you don't study hard how you can success in Gaokao and go to university so that have a good future, when the children in elementary school. Under this examination system, it causes some of the students who are good at having high scores and poor in ability to do things. Chinese Education Government has noticed the issue. They reform, however it doesn't work well so far(Rotberg, 2006).
References
Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Kelly, M . (2014). The Purpose of Tests. Retrieved from http://712educators.about.com/od/assessments/tp/The-Purpose-Of-Tests.htm
Rotberg, I. (2006). Assessment Around the World. Educational Leadership 64(3) pp. 58-63
3 comments:
Wow! Thank you for further insight on China's curriculum or test preparation curriculum. According to my research I found that test prep also starts in early in secondary school for Japan and that the competition for admissions to college which is intense.
Lucia,
I really enjoyed reading your blog. I think that learning is a positive thing but it greatly depends on what you are learning and the content. In our society I think that learning has both a manifest and latent purpose. The manifest purpose is of course gaining knowledge but the latent reason is to further the economy. The information you provided regarding China's educational system was insightful.
Lucia,
Wonderful information regarding the education system in China. Wow, I would be stressed out if I had to study 8-10 hours a day for a test - I think studying for that long of a time is absurd because after awhile nothing is sticking to the brain. In elementary test prep is introduced to us to get us ready for the thousands of tests to come in other grades - I remember in elementary we took tests called Benchmark, ITBS(Iowa Test of Basic Skills)- I live in Texas, I don't know why we were taking tests that were based off in Iowa, Standard 9 tests and many others that led to the thousands of tests in middle and high school.
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