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Friday, October 28, 2005
Encilla: Making the grade
By Robert Encilla
Musings
"Seeking clarity defines the underpinning of academic proficiency that serves us long after we graduate. But Einstein himself would readily defer to imagination as the more reliable recourse for progress."
TUCSON, Arizona -- This morning I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with my daughter's first grade teacher. It was the first of several scheduled conferences which allow parents an official peek into their children's academic progress.
I was pleased to learn what I already knew: Maya is a precocious six-year-old with a sharp intellect. She holds her own in every subject deemed relevant in today's testing-crazed civilization. As parents, Ginny and I don't lose sleep over Maya's ability to process information.
Not surprisingly, the learning aspect I consider more significant failed to show up on the report card. I wanted to read about how well my little girl interacted with her peers. I wanted to know her level of curiosity given the safety of her environment. To me, the kinds of questions she asks are far more telling than the set of rules and directions she's required to memorize. I hope her school recognizes students who think outside the box.
My brain unleashed an internal monologue around a heated subject. Student assessment based on a uniformly structured measurement tool could work efficiently if we all learned the same way--and at the same pace. With all the data we now have about multiple intelligences and various learning styles, teachers have a greater responsibility than ever to understand how students think.
Don't get me wrong. It's very important to think accurately, which is a time-honored practice every school must promote. Seeking clarity defines the underpinning of academic proficiency that serves us long after we graduate. But Einstein himself would readily defer to imagination as the more reliable recourse for progress.
The big picture requires us to rely on our creative abilities to balance our desire for accuracy. Every competent artist knows there is more than one answer to a problem. Persevering to validate multiple alternatives is the key to success in this department.
Another facet of learning I find significant is the ability to balance cooperative aptitude with fundamental self-reliance. We have to be able to work with a team if we are to succeed in the community. Conversely, we need confidence to work independently when a situation requires it. It's the responsibility of our institutions to instill these core values.
The winning days of teacher-centered curricula are numbered. Children are much more diverse--and distracted--by forces unheard of in previous generations. More and more children are less likely to sit still to absorb a stagnant lecture on something devoid of personal meaning. Lessons must be flexible and alive in order to accommodate different learning modes, while questions must be as open-ended as possible. It's a sure way to keep boredom out of the room.
I marvel at Maya's ability to draw and paint. As a young artist, her developing craftsmanship reveals the standard of her age, but it's hard to deny the acute perceptiveness demonstrated in her sense of symmetry, detail, and emphasis. It shows the power of her observation, which is a noteworthy by-product of intelligence rarely measured in traditional report cards.
I have made several mistakes in my own tenure as a school teacher, not the least of which was to assume that I had all the answers. My best teaching occurs when I do the least talking--taking the time to know my students' individual needs, and then showing them the necessary resources that assist them in solving a problem. A subsequent, detailed narrative evaluation of their work seems most suitable.
What I've discovered is that with some guidance students are quite capable of finding the answers on their own. Given this breakthrough, letter grades and percentages don't begin to paint the entire picture and rarely do our children justice.
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A Filipino-American who co-owns a drama and art school in Tucson with his wife Ginny, the author has performed internationally as a singer, actor, director, guitarist and pianist. His website is at www.studioconnections.net
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (October 28, 2005 issue)
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