Day 30: Whose future is it anyway?

What would you do (as a teacher) if you weren’t afraid?

     So I read a blog post this morning (http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/sep/27/secret-teacher-parent-pressure-entrance-exams-grammar-schools?CMP=new_1194) , in which a teacher talks about what is wrong with education today.  It's about standardized tests, unrealistic expectations, parent pressure and children's unhappiness. All topics that are close to my heart.
     Then I moved on to the comments and found myself face to face with the opinion of someone who clearly has no idea what he is talking about. This person claims that teachers are being paid to make the students pass the (standardized) test and that's exactly what they should be doing.  Never mind the fact that not every child develops at the same pace, has the same talents, the same support system or the same background. Or the fact that teaching is about passing on passion, encouraging curiosity, awakening creativity, pushing for persistence and building of character.

    Of course, what is really wrong here is the system. If I weren't afraid, I would prohibit all standardized tests and exams. I would look at a student's portfolio and reflection and at the teachers' comments about the student. Education should be about the learning and about the enjoyment of learning, not about a test score. My students need to become confident enough to see themselves as learners on a continuum. They need to determine their goals, and together we need to find ways to get them there. More traditional ones and less traditional ones. The goals are a moving target, and are not necessarily subject related. They could be just as well about social skills, study habits or emotional balance than about speaking French or understanding a native speaker. But they are what it's all about, both for me and for them.
     Being a parent myself I understand how stressed parents can get about the future of their offspring, but we tend to forget that the world in which our children will function as adults will be  a very different world from the one we live in today. By holding on to relics of the past (like standardized tests) we are not doing our children a favor. The world today is a fundamentally flawed place and we need to give every child a chance to contribute their particular piece to the puzzle, if we want change for it the better. We need a lot of different pieces, so if we standardize them, we won't get very far.
     Parents would like their child to do better than they did, but in the same way. I believe all children can do better than their parents, but only in their own unique way, which unfortunately for many educational systems, just may not be measured through standardized tests. It's their future and we have an obligation to teach them how to live in a responsible, creative, sharing way. And we don't need standardized tests for that.