Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences | Edutopia

Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences | Edutopia

Assessment FOR learning

Oh my gosh. I feel so move by the goal Rick Stiggins has about Assessment FOR learning. The goal is to "keep failure from becoming chronic and thus inevitable in the mind of the learner".

Could there be a more noble goal than this? Than to care for the soul of a child?

I personally experienced some failures lately, that made me tell myself, "Not again. Ops! I did it again. I have not made any progress regarding this issue." And this situation made me very depressed.

So I read with great interest Stiggin's vision of helping all children not have to face this situation or negative perspective that I just experienced. He wants to help children experience success by the process of an experienced person showing the child where to go, examples of good and bad, how to get there, by giving feedback. Thereafter teach the child how to do self-assessment, set his or her own goals and give him or herself descriptive feedback.

I find this so noble.

It makes me think Stiggins has great empathy for children who struggle with learning.

This is really a different approach to assessment. He says "we must recognise that assessment is about far more than the test score's dependability - it also must be about the score's effect on the learner. Even the most valid and reliable assessment cannot be regarded as high quality if the causes a student to give up."

Gosh, this view is revolutionary! Don't you think so? So much of my educational experience made me feel like a failure and like giving up, or simply finding a quick fix to get my grades. I didn't know maybe some teachers' desire was not so much that I get my As, but... that I develop fortitude, that I believe that I can improve and he or she was willing to help me attain it.

(sorry for getting all emotional here. This really pulled a heart string in me)

"New knowledge builds on existing knowledge, so each article must link fairly quickly with material that has already been published, and then add to it by extending, challenging or transforming some aspect of it." (page 3)

"By and large, the best route follows two simple principles: have something worthwhile to say, and say it well." (3)

"... communicating, reporting discoveries and findings, sharing insights, and learning from others are indispensible elements of scholarship." (4)

"Finally, publication is FUN if approached properly. A lot of personal satisfaction flows form it." (5)

"For each manuscript you plan, set yourself a target date for completing the first draft, and stick to it. After this first draft is finished, begin the process of refining it. Even accomplished researchers find that their manuscripts often need cycle after cycle of reworking and polishing before being ready to submit to journal." (6)

"The assessment of a manuscript for a journal article is essentially about whether its scholarly significance is such as to justify wide dissemination." (8)

"When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative." - Robert Stake

Hmmmm... I like this illustration a lot.

It puts the two in perspective. With the heavy emphasis on summative, I have the tendency to think that formative is better and the more the merrier, but they serve very different purposes.

Formative will help a student in the summative.

In life there are many summatives, those make or break, high-stakes moments, where we must perform or we suffer heavy consequences, such as Interviews (lose the job or get it), Big Projects (lose the deal or gain it), Big Exams (get the qualification or repeat a year), Marriage, Perform CPR on Someone who just Collapse in front of you and you're the only one there...

We can't escape these summative moments in life and they're important, a test to tell us where we stand at this moment. If we fail, we know we need to work harder.

But I believe there are even more formative moments. That will help us to succeed in the summative moments. The self-aware and reflective individuals in an environment where feedback is given freely will be able to capitalise on these moments. Moments like communicating clearly to individuals and when met with difficulty in doing so, working on improving it; preparation phase of project; smaller tests and continual assessments; relationships with peers, practising CRP on a dummy and being calm in fretful situations...

Hmmmm...

This is so fascinating. Really, both are important. And it's great we emphasize both in schools and not one above the other.

Learning is seeing patterns in the world around us. Teaching is creating the conditions in which students can see the known patterns of our collective understanding. Nobel prize winners see patterns where they have not been seen before.
- John Polanyi, Nobel Laureate-Chemistry

It still "unnerves" me a little when I think that the schools I attended had certain agenda when I attended them.

They wanted to develop in me certain character traits, inculcate certain skills and all, they wanted me to be the product of their vision.

Yet, implementation is not perfect.

And schools have differing ability to implement.

I compare my Secondary School and Junior College.

While both intended to create servant leaders, I find that I have a lot more opportunities to learn leadership in JC than in SS.

There are many possible factors that influence this outcome though...

Gosh, parents, think wisely when you enroll your child into a school. Don't just put them in the best school or the nearest school, think, what does this school value, is that what you want to be inculcated in your child?

I think I've been too biased towards one side of the spectrum.

The side where we shouldn't care so much about achievement, but about the student.

Yet, as I see confident children, smiling with their attainment and proud parents.

I cannot help but to believe that it is a beautiful thing when we teach our children how to work hard for something worthy and to get fruits for it.

Pity is the student who works hard and gets no reward and develops the idea that hard work doesn't equate to success (in the way expected) and very early in life chooses to take the easy path of least resistance.

Pity is the student who doesn't know the joy of excelling. But is trapped by his low self-esteem or critism or laziness and never labors nor see the rewards of his labor.

"Forget the idea that thinking is somehow a painful and laborious feeling in the mind, a kind of headache that is best avoided if possible. Thinking is fun. By fun here I do not really mean a diversion that affords enjoyment. For the word also means an activity that engages one's interest or imagination, an activity that may prove to be more than a diversion and may involve challenge and hard work but is still a source of enjoyment. If you come to love thinking for yourself you will learn naturally to do it well." - John Adair

I think I've been too harsh.

The way things are now have been the outcome of a century of reinforcement.

It requires a total restructuring of the mind of many and the system if anything were to change.

Wow.

We have a heavy task before us.

Go to the University

This is a common topic I reflect about and I'm reflecting upon it again.

I believe teachers in the University teach less to the test than teachers in the Government schools because there is no nationwide level standardised testing.

So if you want to experience the kind of learning that is beyond the examinations, do try to come to the University.

The sad thing is that the kind of training we receive earlier on does not prepare us for University kind of learning and many people who grow up on a diet of spoon-feeding, struggle to think for themselves when there is no spoon-feeder.

I really hope things have changed from my time and the climate of government schools are not like what I experienced during my time.

I'm grateful for my teachers in University who champion the open-book examinations because they believe in testing for students' thinking ability, something that form their instruction. They teach to make us better thinkers and better people.

And they reduce my stress levels by so much, because, I do not have to focus all my attention on memorisation of facts.

I look back at one of the module I have taken that has transform the way I view products. I am less inclined to waste and to purchase things since being convinced in my heart and mind that we must be better stewards of what earth has provided us with.

I believe this is true education, an education that transform your life and lifestyle.