I used to dread assessments. The reason was the pressure these assessments put on my shoulders as a student that I needed to perform my best to get high scores so that my family would value my existence, so that my relatives would not look down on me, and so that my classmates would not bully me.
If only there was one teacher who explained well what assessments were for (for improving teaching and learning process), this pressure could have been shaken off my shoulders even at a young age. Perhaps, I did not grow up as a competitive and a grade-conscious person.
So now that I have learned this: Assessments are developed to help stakeholders gather evidence of learning to provide information for the purpose of the Assessment Cycle (Gravells, 2016):
- Identifying needs
- Planning learning
- Facilitating learning
- Assessing learning
- Evaluating learning
I will surely pass on this new habit of mind to my learners. I will instill in their minds the significance of assessments, and hopefully, these learners would let go of competition and of the mindset of finding identity in school performance.
It is time to change the perspective of learners about assessments. Perhaps, once, you also dreaded the surprised quiz that your elementary teacher gave. I hope that when you read this, you will know that assessments are not meant to categorize you as an inferior or a superior learner. Instead, I hope you realize that these are created by stakeholders in order to address your individual needs as a learner.
Better Teachers 