Assignment 4

Grades vs. No Grades

Everywhere in today’s society people get judged. Good or bad is strictly connected to your achievements. We meet this way of thinking even at school; good students make good schoolwork and honestly do we not also see them as good people? And is it not a risk that we then look at the not so good students who do not do as good schoolwork as bad people?

I am against the grading of students in primary school and the reasons why are many.

For example; I think that the early years at school should focus more on group dynamics than on the academic subjects (maths, learning how to read and write). It is vital for all people to know how to behave in different situations and how to interact in the “social game” and that is something you must start learning at an early age. In some families children spend a lot of time in front of the computer and do not learn how to interact with other children; this is why it is so important that the schools focus on social skills. I would even go as far as saying that the importance is bigger today than ever before.

To be graded as a slow reader who does not reach a certain level when you are 6-7 years old can be devastating for your self esteem. There is a risk that the child puts himself/herself down and sees himself/herself as slow and this can actually stop the child from learning to read faster. And to kill the desire to learn which so many children have in the early years at school should not really be the goal for the education, should it?

Another risk with grading children in the academic subjects would be that the girls might be favoured. It is a fact that there is a difference in maturity between young boys and girls. Most boys like to play role plays and do not fit in to the “sit still and learn system” as we expect of good students; compared with the girls that like to sit down and draw nice pictures and please their teachers.

Some people will probably say that I generalise too much; that most of today’s children do know how to interact with other children and there are boys that do like to sit and work with some academic schoolwork as well. I am fully aware of this but my point is that these children would probably succeed no matter if we put grades on them or not. If we want everyone to have a chance to participate in the society as grownups we need to help them when they are children and make sure that everyone get what they need. The challenge for the school system is to make everyone to succeed not just the already successful.

I am fully aware of the fact that some parents will get upset with what I claim but we have to be honest; are the grades meant to develop the children’s skills or are the grades made to make it easy for the parents to take part in their child’s development? If the parents instead got more involved in their children’s schoolwork and actually spent some time with their child at school I am sure that grades in primary school would be unnecessary.

Linda Cooper