“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” -Marian Wright Edelman.
The past decade of education has trained students and teachers to focus on grades rather than learning. Unfortunately, grades are generally an account of points earned through various activities that are influenced by artificial deadlines, grade inflation, extra credit, and subjectivity. It’s time for us to change the student mind-set currently focused on reaching a particular percentage and instead empower them to take charge of their learning and measure their own success.
Education is not about gaining grades. Grades are only numbers. I used to hear this often from students: “I didn’t do very well on the test. Is there any extra credit I can do to raise my grades?” Or: “I’m so close to a B in class, how can I earn some more points?” Less often did students inquire about improving upon a particular component of the unit’s content.
Grades are short term important, while knowledge is long term important. Grades matter at certain times and are essential to making bigger steps in your academic path. Knowledge matters consistently through time, and helps you get good grades, but knowledge is also an authentic reflection of your genuine learning.
Grades are important yes, but they cannot determine one’s intelligence. Grades show teachers how well you are able to retain information; they are an example of who sat down, put the effort in and studied and who didn’t. Yes, it may be easier for an “intelligent” person to get good grades, but someone of mediocre intelligence can also get good grades with hard work.
While grades don’t show how smart someone is, they still play a huge factor in many aspects of a person’s life, such as what colleges they can get into and what their GPA is. However, grades have nothing to do with how smart a person is. Intelligence is not measured by a student’s memorization skills and effort level, and it should not be treated that way. Students need to know that grades are just numbers used to classify people and are ineffective in separating smart people from others.
Knowledge is an important attribute that students develop in learning communities, enabling them to succeed in their education and careers.” Grades measure your performance in school, while knowledge measures your performance in life in general.”
By: Mrs. Arlene Q. Agustin | Teacher I – Social Studies | BATAAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL – SHS | Balanga City, Bataan
