Don't Inflate Grades - Inspire Interest!

Happily the suggestion to scale down the requirements for Grade 12 distinctions - reported in local newspapers recently – was a rumour. The reaction to it, however, reflects a deep yet real concern that South African education has already been ‘dumbed down’. The functional illiteracy and innumeracy of many students at universities points to this glaringly. Let me suggest an alternative to grade manipulation based on four key elements of Jesuit education: Prelection, Reflection, Active Learning and Repetition.

Prelection is a buzzword for preparation, a 5-10 minute invitation to encourage and inspire learners to look ahead at what to expect. It offers them the whole picture – how each part fits into a greater whole – and invites them to think critically. Each lesson and each piece of homework fits into a Big Picture. To keep up, one needs to look ahead, try to see the whole.

Drawing upon careful Prelection, Reflection and Active Learning are active involvement in the learning process. The more we think and engage with the process the better. One means of reflection that is useful might be learners keeping a study journal, over and above doing homework exercises, where they reflect upon what their studies mean. Some psychologists have found that we learn:
10% of what we read;
20% of what we hear;
30% of what we see;
50% of what we see and hear;
70% of what is discussed with others;
80% of what we experience personally;
95% of what we teach.
The more we engage in a subject, the more we learn. It seems clear that really successful students are those who can themselves teach what they have assimilated. Another key element is that teachers and learners need to learn how to ask the right questions – of the material and of each other.

Finally, we come to the principle of repetition. You learn by doing something, again and again, to the point where it becomes part of who you are. That’s how one learns to drive, or how an immigrant develops skill at a new language. Boring! I hear you wail. Not so, I would argue, not if each repetition adds a new dimension to what you have learnt. Things worth learning deserve being returned to; important things demand constant attention.

Some astute readers will see echoes of Ignatian spirituality in this process I’ve outlined. They are quite right. When praying we do the same thing as this method of learning: preview, prepare, reflect on what we are to do, engage actively and reflect on our prayer. Quite often, and to great spiritual profit, we keep a journal where we note movements and directions in our prayer. Ignatius’ pedagogy is based on the Spiritual Exercises.

Of course at the core of this method is the presumption of discipline: that teachers will do their jobs properly and that learners will engage willingly. Absenteeism from either teachers or learners and class disruptions simply cannot be allowed. Without a structural or attitude change from both sides even this fine method will fail. But I believe it’s far better to try this approach than to falsify grades.