As the Fairfax media reports that more parents than ever were withdrawing their kids from the annual NAPLAN tests I wonder if these tests are even assessing the right things in school.
Now I realize the importance of literacy and numeracy – of course I do.
But, these tests only measure outcomes.
If we only assess the outcomes, we often misunderstand or completely ignore the causation.
What if we saw these “outcomes” as a by-product of genuine engagement and wellbeing in our schools?
What if – instead of striving to enhance scores, we sought to enhance the wellbeing of our kids (and teachers!).
What if – instead of trying to compete with our Asian neighbours in the numeracy league tables, we attempted to genuinely engage our students in a way that develops critical and creative thinkers with a real lifelong love of learning.
To be frank, engagement and wellbeing are pre-cursors to real achievement, but all too often we pursue achievement at the expense of our kids’ (and teachers’) sense of engagement and wellbeing.
I recently discovered this Gallup poll that aims to chart the levels of hope, engagement and wellbeing across students in Grades 5-12 across the United States.
In Australia, I know ACER have this survey on engagement as well as their wellbeing survey and I think it would be in your school’s best interests to know how your students are tracking in this regard.
Author: Dan Haesler, he is a teacher, writer and speaker at the Mental Health & Wellbeing of Young People seminars He writes for the Sydney Morning Herald and blogs at http://danhaesler.com/ and tweets at @danhaesler
Totally agree! Trouble is we are constantly being compared to other countries.
There’s got to be a better way of making sure our schools are doing a good job. In particular, our Grade 3 children are put under more pressure that they can handle – they don’t need to be undergoing this kind of testing at 8 and 9. And it certainly isn’t contributing to a child’s overall wellbeing – in fact I have seen the opposite on many occasions.
Thank you Dan! I have been sprouting this ever since the NAPLAN tests came in. I work with parents and I do a little exercise with them in regards to, on a number line 1-10, where they would like their young person to be academically when they finish school, and then do it again using their mental health and well being. Many parents (and definitely governments) forget about this very important area, which I think is crucial to developing engaged, healthy young adults, especially given the 1 in 4 rate for young people to develop a mental illness before the age of 24. Love you articles – I wish more people in power read them and took more than note!
At Stewart House School we focus on teaching social and emotional skills to assist children to have a positive outlook on life and make helpful decisions about their own futures. A healthy sense of wellbeing or “the cup half full” mentality assists children’s learning in all dimensions of their lives including academic skills.
I’m not a big fan of the NAPLAN at all, but in 2012 thought I’d get my year 7 daughter to do it this year to see where she sits and how she is going. Believing she was doing better than previous years (she struggles with her spelling and grammar). I’m in two minds if I should’ve done it. The result is her seeking assistance at CAMHS (Child Adolescent Mental Health Service) to be assessed for a learning issue and counselling for anxiety in communicating with adults (although very good with those close to her). She opened the results before she came home and was left quite upset when she saw her class mates crying over their results that were MUCH better than hers! I am a youth worker in Health and focus on my children’s mental health and well-being above anything else, but this day broke my heart when she handed it to me stating that she was dumb and hopeless in school. How did I respond? I asked her what if there was NAPLAN for Art, Music, Drama OR SELF AWARENESS/ Well-being how did she think she would go…….”Really well” was her response!
The principle was not too impressed when I asked how this could happen to her. She has had the same teacher for 2 years and has been using avoidance strategies to get through (flying under the radar). This school doesn’t give homework, so it’s hard for me to know what is going on and I was being told she struggles at English but she is doing well.
She is staring high school next year, I am hoping to get her support to give her a positive start, but that hinges on the assessment coming up with something. Or was it just poor teaching? She was already kept back to do first year twice for learning issues and was assessed then, but that school had no record of it when she changed school.
What’s the moral of my post. The school/teacher was not doing her job with my daughter, but I have now a child who thinks she is less than she is, starting high school on the back foot and I have had to work very hard for her to have a high self esteem over the years, not to now have the NAPLAN bring her down. I will never get my child to do another one….ever! Both my children struggle at school with their English, both my kids are artistic and musical, great at communication, know them selves very well. Where is the test for that?!
I went into her school to work specifically with the year 6-7 girls and found many issues of low self esteem, relationship issues (with parents, peers and teachers), bullying and much more. I believe mental health and well-being is vital, but also knowing the performance of our teachers and school is also. Still in two minds! If a child can opt out then it isn’t a true reflection of the standard in the school, but who wants to put children through the pressure of achieving and comparing them selves to their peers? It is much more than comparing with other countries, what is it doing to our children?
A BIG deal was made by the students about NAPLAN in my daughters school…..this is NOT ok!