Permit me to reminisce. Remember the good old days when you’d have a plateful of delicious food presented to you, you’d get your camera out (hopefully removing the lens cap) to take a photo, later bringing it to the local chemist, who would develop the photo for collection a week later? Then you’d go to each of your friends’ houses to show them the photo of that meal, inviting them to like it and provide a suitable comment?
Nope, me neither. Imagine the simplicity of those days before Instagram.
Social media has the potential to play a positive role in our modern society. Keeping in touch with distant friends via Facebook is certainly more manageable and I’m a better teacher today because of the generosity of teachers sharing lesson ideas on Twitter.
During exam season, however, things can spiral out of control for a growing number of students who have a public voice on social media and a sense of entitlement based on expectation rather than effort. On a personal note, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and I haven’t always seen eye to eye (*understatement*).
Exam reaction ‘embarrassing’
However, I think that the annual knee-jerk critical reaction to whatever exams are presented by the exam authority is a disgrace. Social media outbursts from ill-informed teachers and underprepared students, coupled with the ludicrous and relentless “lower-the-pass-mark” online petitions, are an embarrassment. I’m convinced that to remedy this unjustified annual outcry, teachers need to continue to model professionalism and prepare students on the course content.
Teachers have taught the “3Rs” (reading, writing and arithmetic) for decades. Can I suggest we tackle this worrying trend by training students in three more?
* Our students must be responsible: every student should put in the effort to learn and revise well - just as we have a responsibility to deliver every bit of required content using all the skills that we have honed over the years.
* Our students must be resilient: they need to be willing to face the challenge of tackling a problem set in an unfamiliar context - just as we should embrace clever exam questions that encourage deeper thinking by preparing them with such questions in class when we can.
* Our students must be realistic: they need to recognise that the value in accomplishing something challenging - a difficult exam does not equal a bad exam. These qualifications must maintain standards. If they’re tough, they’re worth gaining, worth celebrating and worth the subsequent entrance to university. We need to “sell” Highers as worthwhile because they’re demanding, and make clear that Advanced Highers are rigorous - but are also helpful pathways to studies beyond school level.
Breathe out. Rant over.
Chris Smith is a maths teacher in Scotland who writes a popular weekly maths newsletter. He tweets @aap03102
