Reading the article by Peter Elbow, “Ranking, Evaluating, and Liking: Sorting out Three Forms of Judgment”, had me rethinking how I feel about grades and grading. I have always been one of those people who “chased the grade”. I didn’t really focus much on what I was learning or why; I was much more concerned with making my parents and teachers happy, getting into a good college, and with everyone thinking of me as the “smart one”. It was how I defined myself as a person, sad to say.
As an adult, I have completely changed the way that I think about school and grades. It probably has something to do with me being more mature and having a bigger picture of what I feel the purpose of education really is. I have never worked harder than am I now in my current classes, even when a “grade” is not at stake. I read the articles assigned because I want to learn from them, not because I am afraid of what will happen if I don’t. I am working hard because I see a purpose behind what I am doing. I am striving to improve my understanding and to learn to become a better teacher. It is work and learning with a purpose.
How can we instill this ethic in young students whose only focus is on the here and now? Whose concept of working for a better future is not fully defined? How can we instill this in people who are not interested in the specific subject that they are learning, even though it is something that they need to learn so that they have the foundation to continue on to more individualized pursuits?
Elbow spoke of using a system of “H” for Honors, no rank or “S” for satisfactory, and “U” for unsatisfactory. He mentioned his use of a grid system to provide constructive feedback without the need to rank students. He spoke of the evaluating of concrete behaviors that the teacher sees as essential or beneficial to what is being learned, but not over-evaluating, which can distract from the real purpose of the exercise.
I really like the idea of using this system. It gives feedback for those who want to know that they are “okay” and not failing without knowing it, and possibly help them to strive to rethink and learn more and maybe get that “H”. It also gives those with the “U” the opportunity to rethink and relearn and try again until they correct what needs to be corrected.
Those that are getting the “U”s and even the “S”s, are more likely to strive to learn by what they have done, change, revise and grow from the experience. People who get the grade (D or F) are more likely to just give up and decide that they can’t do it, and accept that as a possibility. But what have they learned from that?
It makes me wonder how I would have changed if I had gone to school using a system such as this one. Would I actually remember more, have learned more, and retained more of the subjects that I just forgot about as soon as the class was over?
I agree with Elbow's way of evaluating students and communicating in terms of 3 simple categories; Honors, Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory. When used on a regular basis, this is an efficient way to stay in touch with indivual students and their current learning goals. It is a short-cut through rubrics and provides information for achieving day-to-day learning goals.
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