Banish Assessment Anxiety

Deeper learning is by discovery, not delivery – David Geurin

Mid-year assessments arrive all too soon in our school calendars. Teachers are frantically setting exam papers, parents are trying hard not to add unnecessary pressure by hovering over reluctant children with their adult expectations of achievement, and children are facing the biggest fear they know – failure! Failure to please, failure to achieve that which is perceived to be the goal – perfection!

Studies show that test anxiety can set the tone for young children in terms of self-judgement, future aspirations and fears – especially when they feel that they’re letting down those who matter the most – their parents or teachers. For some, this exam paralysis will persist throughout their academic career and may even have a long term impact in other areas of their life, including relationships and mental health difficulties.

It begs the question, what are we actually teaching? To a large degree, we’re teaching our children to hate learning – a function for which their beautiful young brains are naturally wired. So, with this in mind - and an intention to ensure deeper learning, we embarked on the bumpy road of change – one which would take us down an avenue of investigating how best to assess the skills our young Grade 4 and 5 pupils have learned, as opposed to how much content they can remember and regurgitate, while at the same time alleviating stress and creating a sense of fun and anticipation.

The skill-based assessment project week was launched. Teachers collaborated and planned for weeks to ensure that the Grade 4 and 5 assessment week would be one which not only gave children an opportunity to show what they could do, but also to engage their eager brains to acquire knowledge as they investigated.

The paradigm shift was not easy at first. Parents were concerned as to why their children had so little to learn, pupils were uncertain as to what this week would entail and teachers were planning, preparing and researching to ensure that the week would be successful.

Scenes of excited Grade 4 pupils trying to figure out why a heavy balloon-sized ball of ice doesn’t sink, or why a tangerine with its peel on will float, but without a peel will sink, met me as I wondered down with some members of senior campus management, to see what they were up to. They were investigating why an iceberg would prove to be such a formidable opponent for the ill-fated Titanic. The chatter was exhilarating – not because of the activity, as much as the wonder and enthusiasm about the learning that was happening. This was exactly what we had hoped for - for fear to be banished in this assessment

process, and for the fun of learning to be renewed instead.

Just a few doors down, our usually bouncy and boisterous Grade 5 children were completely engaged in their research tasks, barely looking up as we entered. iPads and contextual resources were being intensely scanned as they contemplated evidence for clues about the mysterious, yet fascinating people of the ancient African kingdom of Mapungubwe. Before that, they were applying their knowledge of bones as palaeontologists, to reconstruct a mystery prehistoric creature from a set of “bones” with which they were presented. Archaeologists, palaeontologists, scientists, statisticians and researchers – they lived a number of lives in the few days of their assessment week.

What these young pupils learnt was probably exponential, and their teachers were able to assess their acquisition of skills without fear and unnecessary anxiety – a most worthwhile investment in the education of future leaders, thinkers and problem solvers.

Perhaps I might take the creative liberty to paraphrase: “A small step for assessment, a giant leap for education”