Where do I start?.....

Personally, education is more than just a stage of schooling in anyone's life... It is a passion, and a form of lifestyle that truly illuminates the spark of learning. I love the whole concept of teaching and learning and its reversed effects on people. Young individuals especially, take a stand when being educated on subjects that excite them. But presently, there is a lack of differentiation in teachable lessons and a continuation in less-motivational academic material. Students need to flourish and educators need to help. It is not enjoyable, if you read dry text in class that could be easily done in the quarters of ones home. It is not a passion, if you listen to an authoritative figure that is demanding you recite relay-able information constantly. And finally it is not fair, if you and everyone else around you is being tested on the same course content, at the same pace and in the same method.

Everyone has had the tests where they have no idea what to write, or are totally confused with the layout. Some teachers ultimately forget how to relate to course content to the assessed results. This not only hinders students from using their unique styles of showing their knowledge, but creates utter confusion combined with a lack of self-confidence for when they can't seem to get it right. Teachers and educators alike, need to adapt and shift these outdated FOR assessment standards and apply themselves into making curriculum applicable, enjoyable and broadly-oriented. Showing someone what you recently apprehended is a form of practical learning, but is also a form of teaching. Both go hand-in-hand, and always will, so long as any one person wants to adapt to our modern world. 

The whole issue that passionate educators and nosy parents face, is the end all question; "So what is my child's grade?" "How do you know this?" "Where are you getting these marks from?", I understand the struggle as a timid student, as my mother used these same questions for the majority of my life (Dan's Mom, 1999-present day). Many teachers fear these parent-teacher discussions and often fall back on the traditional testing style to save any effort. I could imagine it is exhausting to constantly try and shift things into a new modern direction for assessment, but simple changes in interesting assessable criteria is the most important start. 

While taking my University Education course, I read an article by Earl and Katz (2006), that really sparked the questions of what counts as productive assessment FOR learning. They claim that many of these FOR assessments can be altered in ways that can be creative, culminating and resourceful. But, most of the time teachers find themselves constrained for time and simply can't stray from the norm... It is unfortunate to see, as there is a large shift between educators that use the past traditional styles of teaching and educators who are trying too hard to make every lesson unique and their own. Of course, nobody really likes writing down those word or number drills over and over, unless you're good at it... But this teaching model is still being using to this date. It works, for memorization purposes only, and doesn't really help with the real world scenarios. So, by adding in more applicable content for examples and assessments, students and teachers alike can improve on this markable criteria while justifying that this fosters learning for future application. 

Many teachers find that the FOR assessment is anything from a typical test, progress quizzes or even final paper. This is untrue, and many assessments to evaluate a students academic whereabouts can be shown through a productive or interactive assignment that genuinely flourishes the comprehension of the content being taught. Students dread those final assessments or evaluations, as they do not want to seem as though they are failing in courses that they really do find intriguing. In contrast, sometimes the only issues are that the in-class content is what needs to be altered or made more interesting. Teachers can sometimes lose their ways and become kinaesthetically less interactive or disinteresting, which therefore disinterests the student. Becoming a passionate teacher is tough, but to interest students in what you are teaching, you must first show this excitability through the way that you teach. This involves some dramatic inspiration so that the material seems acceptable enough to study, understand and practice. As quoted by Geneva Gay (2007), "Motion and movement, music, frequent variability in tasks and formats, novelty, and dramatic elements in teaching improve the academic performance..." Of course, if a student finds material boring then why should they study to succeed in a subject that is depressing and unambiguous? They won't... They need implicit learning to really grasp the understanding of curriculum. This needs interest and therefore, needs an educator who is capable of sparking ambitious learning. Not just teachers who expect high results from her class, based on easily markable assessments.

The end all goal I am trying to stress here, is that let us all find a way to become interested and passionate about educational subjects. As past, present and future teachers, we ought it to ourselves to think empathetically when evaluating how to teach and how to learn. By meta-cognitively adapting ourselves in ways that progressively alleviates the struggle of mental blockages. We can pass on these skills FOR learning, that can help any student suffice FOR assessment. 

Figure 1: (Bostes, 2012)

Assisting educators by teaching how to assess is an important concept to keep in mind. The more critical and reflective the education system can become, will result in more examples and possibilities of what works. Assessments FOR learning are the basis for a students grade, and the reason being is to track their progression through the curriculum. So if you are left with teaching policies that must be followed, why not benefit your students from them? By being proactive and planning ahead, a teacher can really take advantage of assessments in a positive matter for both the individual and their educator. The parent could even be blown away as well! So long as the assessment matches the rules for grading criteria, let's make learning and assessment an enjoyable part of education. Let us bring together learning and real-world applications and educate the children to become lifelong learners. 

References:

Earl, L., & Katz, S. (2006). Assessment for learning. Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind. Retrieved from https://lms.brocku.ca/access/content/group/EDUC4P18D02FW2015MAIN/Readings/Earl%20_%20Katz.pdf

Gay, G. (2007). Preparing for Culturally Responsive learning. Journal of Teacher Education. Retrieved from http://mrc.spps.org/uploads/preparing_for_crt-_geneva_gay-2.pdf


Youtube Video's:
Formative Assessment/Evaluation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvXS2x3UhQU
Ted Talk: Ramsay Musallem - 3 Rules to spark learning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsYHqfk0X2A

Image Source's:
Assessment For, As, Of Learning: http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/science/science-k10/syllabus-assessment/