Charles Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus, The University of British Columbia
[permission to reproduce granted if
authorship is acknowledged]
It is
important to give prominence to literacy and numeracy because they are so
fundamental to learning in school and out. There are, however, many important
contributions of schooling that are not systematically measured across the
education system.
Consider the
school system where I live. British Columbia’s school system is designed to
“enable learners to develop their individual potential and to acquire the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy society and
a prosperous and sustainable economy.” To that end, it strives to develop
educated citizens who are:
·
thoughtful,
able to learn and to think critically, and who can communicate information from
a broad knowledge base;
·
creative,
flexible, self-motivated and who have a positive self image;
·
capable
of making independent decisions;
·
skilled
and who can contribute to society generally, including the world of work;
·
productive,
who gain satisfaction through achievement and who strive for physical wellbeing;
·
cooperative,
principled, and respectful of others regardless of differences; and
·
aware
of the rights and prepared to exercise the responsibilities of an individual
within the family, the community, Canada, and the world.[1]
In recent
years, the British Columbia Ministry of Education has revised the provincial curriculum
to better reflect these goals. Now it is time for the Ministry to revise its
assessments to align with its vision of the educated citizen and the curricula
designed to help students realize that vision. To that end, the Ministry should
develop and implement a new suite of provincial assessments:
Print
and media literacy:
Literacy is the foundation for school success and success later in life.
Literacy is essential for developing numeracy, critical thinking,
problem-solving, and almost every other human capacity. When students do not
acquire a strong literacy foundation early in their school careers, they are
more likely to experience failure in school and lack the foundation for
productive, adult citizenship.
Using
communication technologies is ubiquitous. Misinformation and dis-information are
major societal problems. Being media literate is as important as being print
literate and is as crucial to critical thinking.
Numeracy:
Understanding and
working with numbers is fundamental to everyone’s life. Thought and action
depend on understanding and using numbers. Deciphering a recipe, reading a
climate graph, computing interest, sequencing an argument, dancing, playing an
instrument, and constructing an historical timeline are illustrative activities
that require an understanding of numbers and the ability to apply them.
Critical
thinking: The
ability to formulate a question, analyze an argument, ask and answer
challenging questions, judge the credibility of sources, make inferences, and
identify unstated assumptions are among the abilities that critical thinkers
possess and use in every aspect of life.
Communicating:
Representing and
presenting ideas, arguments, and emotions in ways that are coherent and
understandable to others are essential to effective communication.
Social
and personal competence:
We use our abilities to self-regulate, empathize, motivate, read social
situations, and develop relationships to work with others productively, settle
disputes, and cooperate with others every day.
•
about
how well students have mastered the curriculum.
•
about
equity among sub-populations of students.
•
to
parents about the progress their children are making.
•
for
developing policy, allocating resources, and providing opportunities for
professional learning.
•
about
how well the education system is fulfilling its mandate.
•
to
improve public confidence in the education system.
Provincial
assessments that give teachers information about their students provide an
opportunity for a rich discussion among educators about their own expectations
and those of others. In these
discussions teachers can learn from one another about their instructional
practices, what Andy Hargreaves calls the “derivatization” of the classroom. If
each teacher operates within her/his own bundle of expectations for students,
with no reference to others inside and outside the school, there is no reason for
the teacher to challenge her or his assumptions and expectations. Such
discussions are essential to the collaboration among professionals that can
lead to greater equity of performance and, ultimately, outcomes.
There is
much more to schooling than what we currently measure on a system-wide basis. Schools
develop capacities for thinking critically, for communicating ideas and
emotions in a variety of media, and for developing us as human beings and
teaching us to relate to others respectfully . . . and much more. Those
capacities matter and they should be measured systematically.
[1]
Statement of Education Policy Order, OIC 1280/89. British Columbia Ministry of
Education. https://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/PubDocs/bcdocs/365524/oic_1280-89.pdf