Who is Testing Whom?

As could have been predicted by those who know these things, I now have my children out of school. As I said in the previous post, this was a matter of necessity due to my mother's health more than me making some type of formal stand against the system. And it seems that I don't even have to make a such stand as the "professionals" are doing it for me. They have decided to fight the Government on the Key Stage exams. About bloody time, too.

It was first time I watched a child really fall apart with the Key Stage exam when I began noticing that my youngest was becoming a very unhappy, argumentative and clinging little boy. I asked other parents if their children were experiencing the same thing and they said yes to various degrees. Then my 6 year old told me that he was being kept in at his break times and a bit during his lunch times so that he could finish his work and be prepared for these exams. He came home with two revision booklets that he was supposed to work on during the holidays. I was floored. HE IS SIX!!!!

Beyond the age issue comes the real question: Who is this test for? It is not for the students. It is for the school and is the measure by which they are ordered in the League Tables. More importantly, the Key Stage 1 exams which are given to all Year 2 pupils in England are not formal written exams. The grades are based on what the TEACHERS feel the child has accomplished. So why the pressure cooker? If you can't teach them basic reading, writing and maths in the 3 years before the exam, why try to force it into them the last term before you "mark" them?

Furthermore, if it is the TEACHERS doing the grading, isn't it rather cruel to the Year 2 teachers to take the flack for the failings of the previous years educators? How can the burden of fixing two failed years of education be placed on the shoulders of a small group of Year 2 teachers and assistants? Like all things in the education system, it is not properly thought through or implemented.

"So what is the answer, O Wise Woman?", you might ask. My answer for education is the same for riding horses. Do Less: Achieve More.

My children's curriculum was loaded with lots of things for them to do and accomplish, but how much has any real value? From what I have discovered, not much was learned or valued. Since I have been homeschooling for over a year now, I don't feel that I am such a novice at this business. I can see what the children are needing and I fill that gap. What I have learned my children need are the basic skills that make any and all real education possible.

My children can now add and subtract and understand that although this is abstract it is also concrete: it matters a lot that 2 + 2 = 4 especially when it is your allowance (money) involved.

My children are becoming very good readers which has opened up to them a new world of discovery: The Public Library. Because they can read and read well, more of the world's wonders (astronomy, history, geography, Star Wars, art) are available to them and filling their minds and their curiosity.

My children are now able to write properly which means they can use a pen and a piece of paper and explain, discuss and tell what is in their imagination and knowledge. Time spent learning how to form letters correctly builds an ability to spell independently of a spell check and allows them the opportunity of self expression at a moment's notice.

They are doing less by the standards of the National Curriculum and the various Key Stages, but they are learning so much more. They have a new appreciation of their world. The games they are playing are far more complex than those of other children. My elder two have begun to make games that they want to share with the world: one is a fantasy story and the other is a war game based on WW2. They are finding that maths is fun because it has a purpose. It is as if someone has lit an educational fire beneath them.

Okay, so it works for them, but will it work for everyone? No.

"No" is not a politically positive word. In fact, it is very negative. And that is the problem with education currently. No one wants to say "No." Politicians are elected on their promises of fixing the education system. Tony Blair & Barack Obama both achieved the highest office in their respected countries on the basis that they could solve the mystery of bad education. Everyone knows the system doesn't work, but no one is brave enough to say, "STOP!"

The education system must stop. We need the education system to stop. Completely. Then we need to figure out exactly what the purpose is and how best to achieve it. The banking system failed and the governments stopped it. They are now putting things in place so that such a disaster can't happen again (yeah, right). Assets were frozen, liabilities were weighed and job loses happened. It wasn't and isn't pretty, but it is necessary. Banks aren't the only industry to have experienced this -- telecoms and dot-coms have all gone through the same process. Why should education be any different?

The system isn't failing, it's dead. It is at the original position of 'would someone turn the light out when they leave'. There is no amount of testing at any age of any pupil that will resurrect it in its current form. There is no amount of psychological anguish that justifies a system that fails not only a community, but a country and world as well. There are no amount of prayers to God to save a child who truly does not understand what he/she has been taught for YEARS (!) that should allow this system to continue.

Education will not be saved by the politician, but by the parent. Education will be saved by the people who do not value their offspring as a political commodity, but as the future. Education will be best served when it is not the master of the society's ideals but the servant that fulfills them. Education must cease to be the goal and become the tool.

Our children's future must be removed from the ambitious, trough seeking politician and returned to those who have a vested interest in the success of the child. Am I saying that education should become a parent run business? Yes. And with all the checks, balances and financial wherewithal that responsibility brings. Children are not yet the property of the government and we must being to realise that.

Again, this is not incredible insight. It is just a voice in the wilderness stating the facts. Britian built the world in the Industrial Revolution and created the modern lifestyle with the emphasis on well learned basic educational skills. I am not ready for the slums of Manchester again, but if we don't teach our children to read, write and do maths, the slums of world will be on our doorstep.

My answer: Do Less. Do it right. Take time so that there is understanding. Know the reason why you are doing what you are doing.

DO LESS: ACHIEVE MORE.