Ranking students in our classrooms causes students to believe they are in a heated contest. Schools are teaching students that learning is a competitive process. Success in education means to outrank their peers, and failure equates to being outranked.
Gavin McCormack wrote a powerful article on the problems our students face due to ranking on July 5, 2019. He states that when you tell a child that they’re the smartest, this serves to isolate them and leaves the rest of the class disheartened. Of course, this leads to an egoistic age, of children developing social anxiety, children striving to be accepted, a quest for fame and glory which we should try to avoid in schools. We celebrate the top successful students but what happens to the ones in the middle and to those whom we are failing entirely who think of themselves as hopeless or worthless?
McCormack states that “The Finnish national curriculum is built around individual improvement and advancement, deliberately avoiding the process of competition in assessment.”
I am reading a lot of articles on the importance of “Social-Emotional” well-being! I believe we have a responsibility to teach mental well-being to our 21st century students! Mental well-being must be part of every school’s philosophy and culture. We must consider the essential intangible skills that will enable students to thrive in the 21st century workforce such as confidence, resilience or compassion, real-world skills!
McCormack states that “In essence, education is a process of empowerment, offering students the tools they need to succeed in society as empathic innovators, entrepreneurs and change-makers.”
We must forego comparing students against each other and instead embrace the unique capability of each student individually!
