Two Powerful Quotes about Children and Child Development

“There is a real trade off between our teaching which points children in the right direction, and the children's own exploration which might let them get to places that they won’t get just from what a teacher told them.”

Alison Gopnik Ph.D

“Child development cannot be understood outside of a historical and cultural context.”

Smidt (2006)

I selected these quotes because I felt the experience was awesome, many valuable lessons have been learnt in such a short space of time and in order to keep some of these lessons before me as I progress, I literally need to position some of these learnings at the forefront of my mind.  I do hope you share the same.

Testing for Intelligence - Japan

Standardized tests provide valuable information for designers, researchers, the national community including educational official, teachers, parents and even students themselves. 

In my country - Trinidad and Tobago standardized testing in introduced twice to our children at the elementary level - at standard 1 and at standard 3 (grade 2).  I do not know in your system what standard 1 will equate to.  At standard 1 level children are assessed in the areas of mathematics and language arts and at the standard 3 level (grade 2) in the areas of social studies and science.  As such our schools are to some extent ranged on the basis of National Tests Scores so schools are making a concerted effort to improve students overall performance.

However, the Japanese do not utilize standardized test as a criterion for the self evaluation that Japanese schools conduct.  In Japanese public schools, elementary and lower secondary students do not take high stakes tests nor are they assigned to schools by achievement.  It is between lower and upper secondary that the pressure begins in order to secure entry into the top universities.  However, competition still exists for the most prestigious universities in order to secure the top jobs in government and industry.

This is interesting and it ought to speak to us and what we do.  Japan is a very industrialized country.  It is the only member state of the G8 from Asia, it is very populated and they are known for high life expectancy and low infant mortality.  What really can our early childhood professionals gleam from this?  I believe that we should ensure that our early childhood setting do not compromise our children’s educational achievement.  We must ensure that our settings are geared to and sustain the development of inquiry minds because that will position our children to be owners of their learning.  It will arouse and sustain their curiosity, thus awakening children’s quest for knowledge. However, our teachers must be able to facilitate the process, teachers educational development must continue, professional development sessions are necessary and regular assessment of the entire process is required - it should be assessed, feedback must be made available in a timely manner and corrective procedures institued in order to propel our children's progress. For all of the above to become reality funding is critical.

Reference

Rotberg, I. (2006). Assessment Around the World. Educational Leadership. Vol. 64. Issue 3.