SEA change — are we ready?
By Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma
As a parent of three children who not too long ago were beneficiaries of a primary school education in Trinidad and Tobago, I know firsthand the inevitable and glaring challenges that the proposed changes in the assessment structure of the SEA examination will bring.
I must emphasise that I am totally supportive of the holistic/all-round development of young children. I acknowledge the role of Physical Education (PE) and the importance of citizenry development. I recognise the need to appreciate the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) — after all, we live in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multiracial society in which the richness of the VAPA cannot be denied.
I am of the firm view that at the moment Trinidad and Tobago is suffering from a severe case of "ethical deficiency" and any move to sensitise the most impressionable in our society of the need to critically examine their moral, value and ethical systems will no doubt encourage desirable character development.
But I know also, only too well, of the many shortcomings of our education system. Two main ones come to mind in the context of the proposed changes: teacher favouritism and school facilities, inclusive of teaching/learning skills and competencies.
I know that teachers are humans and by definition are subjective beings. I know how easy it is to allow subjectivity to influence assessment and no matter how often a teacher says "I treat all my students fairly", this is further from the truth than they would have us believe.
I am sure that measurement and evaluation experts will design assessment tasks and respective rubrics to assess these "new" areas of performance, but in the absence of a truly stringent and random monitoring body/structure to oversee the specific assessment practices of resident class teachers in these "subjects" we run the risk of a repeat of what currently obtains in the School-Based Assessments (SBAs) at the secondary school level.
While we may not want to admit it, in every school/class there are "favourite students" and, quite interestingly, "favourite parents". Many teachers have perfected the art of exercising favouritism in a cunningly undetectable manner. "Favourite students" and children of "favourite parents" can easily benefit from an extra mark or two, or more, in an end-of-term test. "Non-favourite students" and children of "non-favourite parents" are not so fortunate.
For end-of-term tests such discrepancies might be ignored or overlooked but when it comes to assessing PE and VAPA for a contribution of 20 per cent or 40 per cent any suspected discrepancy, however small, should not be allowed to happen and may not be casually ignored by parents. It is simply impossible for a teacher who exercises favouritism in the assessment of weekly tests and end-of-term tests to shelve this habit when called upon to assess the performance of students in areas that are far more subjective than mathematics or science.
In respect of the second shortcoming, the question is: what qualifies as excellent work in PE and VAPA? Who has the credentials — training, track record and personal attributes — to assess, in an academic sense, another individual's morality and value system?
My own experiences with and observations of teachers have revealed that many of them have questionable value systems and moral positions, particularly when it comes to dedication to duty and genuine commitment to students.
I am of the firm view that in the current primary school environment teachers do not have the competence to teach and to assess students' levels of achievement in areas such as character development and morality. I am absolutely certain, too, that any number of hastily planned one-day workshops cannot sufficiently train our primary school teachers to effectively teach and assess in these areas.
In addition, many primary schools are plagued with infrastructural challenges. How many primary schools in Trinidad and Tobago have a proper playground for students? How many classrooms have we heard of that are cramped, that have floors and roofs falling apart? Where are students in schools like these going to train for PE? Do we have trained physical education teachers in all primary schools? Do we have trained VAPA teachers in all primary schools? Do we have musical instruments in all schools? What about art rooms and art supplies? Dance rooms, props, costumes?
Both PE and VAPA are highly kinetic aesthetic disciplines and any attempt to teach these without the proper facilities, resources, expert trainers and the appropriate pedagogical approaches will reduce the effort to a meaningless theoretical endeavour. The practicality and dynamism which naturally characterise them will be lost.
Even though it is quite possible for students to be unfairly assessed by their teachers in disciplines that are more quantitative or objective, it is far easier for this practice to thrive in disciplines that are qualitative and/or subjective — a very real issue that must be addressed in the context of the proposed change. It is an issue that is in itself, an ethical one.
• Dr Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma is a lecturer at UWI, St Augustine
I must emphasise that I am totally supportive of the holistic/all-round development of young children. I acknowledge the role of Physical Education (PE) and the importance of citizenry development. I recognise the need to appreciate the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) — after all, we live in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multiracial society in which the richness of the VAPA cannot be denied.
I am of the firm view that at the moment Trinidad and Tobago is suffering from a severe case of "ethical deficiency" and any move to sensitise the most impressionable in our society of the need to critically examine their moral, value and ethical systems will no doubt encourage desirable character development.
But I know also, only too well, of the many shortcomings of our education system. Two main ones come to mind in the context of the proposed changes: teacher favouritism and school facilities, inclusive of teaching/learning skills and competencies.
I know that teachers are humans and by definition are subjective beings. I know how easy it is to allow subjectivity to influence assessment and no matter how often a teacher says "I treat all my students fairly", this is further from the truth than they would have us believe.
I am sure that measurement and evaluation experts will design assessment tasks and respective rubrics to assess these "new" areas of performance, but in the absence of a truly stringent and random monitoring body/structure to oversee the specific assessment practices of resident class teachers in these "subjects" we run the risk of a repeat of what currently obtains in the School-Based Assessments (SBAs) at the secondary school level.
While we may not want to admit it, in every school/class there are "favourite students" and, quite interestingly, "favourite parents". Many teachers have perfected the art of exercising favouritism in a cunningly undetectable manner. "Favourite students" and children of "favourite parents" can easily benefit from an extra mark or two, or more, in an end-of-term test. "Non-favourite students" and children of "non-favourite parents" are not so fortunate.
For end-of-term tests such discrepancies might be ignored or overlooked but when it comes to assessing PE and VAPA for a contribution of 20 per cent or 40 per cent any suspected discrepancy, however small, should not be allowed to happen and may not be casually ignored by parents. It is simply impossible for a teacher who exercises favouritism in the assessment of weekly tests and end-of-term tests to shelve this habit when called upon to assess the performance of students in areas that are far more subjective than mathematics or science.
In respect of the second shortcoming, the question is: what qualifies as excellent work in PE and VAPA? Who has the credentials — training, track record and personal attributes — to assess, in an academic sense, another individual's morality and value system?
My own experiences with and observations of teachers have revealed that many of them have questionable value systems and moral positions, particularly when it comes to dedication to duty and genuine commitment to students.
I am of the firm view that in the current primary school environment teachers do not have the competence to teach and to assess students' levels of achievement in areas such as character development and morality. I am absolutely certain, too, that any number of hastily planned one-day workshops cannot sufficiently train our primary school teachers to effectively teach and assess in these areas.
In addition, many primary schools are plagued with infrastructural challenges. How many primary schools in Trinidad and Tobago have a proper playground for students? How many classrooms have we heard of that are cramped, that have floors and roofs falling apart? Where are students in schools like these going to train for PE? Do we have trained physical education teachers in all primary schools? Do we have trained VAPA teachers in all primary schools? Do we have musical instruments in all schools? What about art rooms and art supplies? Dance rooms, props, costumes?
Both PE and VAPA are highly kinetic aesthetic disciplines and any attempt to teach these without the proper facilities, resources, expert trainers and the appropriate pedagogical approaches will reduce the effort to a meaningless theoretical endeavour. The practicality and dynamism which naturally characterise them will be lost.
Even though it is quite possible for students to be unfairly assessed by their teachers in disciplines that are more quantitative or objective, it is far easier for this practice to thrive in disciplines that are qualitative and/or subjective — a very real issue that must be addressed in the context of the proposed change. It is an issue that is in itself, an ethical one.
• Dr Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma is a lecturer at UWI, St Augustine
