A testing question

The testing of pupils from a young age is something that I have strong opinions on.  Following a conversation on twitter I have left the following comment on Julia Skinner's post Why Do We Do It?

I would love to hear others views on the subject.


It's funny Julia, as today we had another conversation in university about the connection between the child, the teacher and the curriculum.  It was suggested that the curriculum leads the teacher.  I argued against this idea as I don't believe a good teacher is led by a curriculum.  I believe that a good teacher has the confidence and conviction to lead learning in the direction dictated by the needs of the child and the curriculum is there for guidance rather than to be used as a bible.  I do agree that it takes more than confidence and conviction to be able to do this; it also take experience.

Yes we need to assess learning and keeping a record of this is also very important yet the form of assessment is often what infuriates me.  The stories that the media focus upon give the impression that testing is a government tool that is batted about to suit the latest initiative whether that be in a supportive role or to highlight failings.  My main arguement is that teachers are the best placed to assess their pupils and they are also the best placed to judge which form this assessment should take.  Are government set assessments inclusive? Do they take a holistic view of pupils and the individual progress they have made?  The child who performs well may not be being challenged and yet they will be rewarded for their hard work.  The child who has overcome many hurdles in their learning and achieved a great deal can have their self esteem dented by a poor score.  Carol Dweck speaks of the harmful nature of misguided praise and I think testing can be a perfect example of when this can occur.

A video of Carol Dweck speaking at the Scottish Learning Festival 2009 can be found here.