The quote and the thanks

The quote that I chose is: A child can ask a thousand questions that the wisest man cannot answer ( Jacob Abbott)
Thanks Erika and Cassie. I have learned so many good ideas and information from your blogs. I liked the stories that you shared with us during this course. I reflected on myself when I read your stories to see how I can integrate myself in the future. Looking forwards to learning more about you in the other courses.

assessing children

In my opinion, children should not be assessed. Children are always having great potential and they all develop at different stages in their lives. Some children’s cognitive development happen earlier than some any other children. However, it does not mean that they are going to be behind other children all the time. It is unfair to test children at certain point and label children according to the result that test shows. Children are labeled by that test would carry much burden in their school life. I do believe that testing the intelligence is not a smart idea to help our children integrate in their lives. Children’s development means more than just cognitive aspects. Those who have cognitive  development delay may have a better performance at social development.

In China, as our educational system is mainly focused on academic development, most families and schools, they only care about how great children’s academic study is at school. In primary schools in China, children would have unit test every 2 or 3 weeks, some schools might rank children according to their scores. Children are so nervous all the time, as teachers would announce the ranking in front of the whole class. I do not think it is a healthy way for children to motive themselves to learn. Parents would be upset about the scores too. However, instead of being upset about the ranking system, parents would be upset about their child’s poor performance in those tests. During the middle time and the end of the school year, there would be a big test that the whole city would have a same test, and students would be ranked among the school, the district, and the whole city. It is really hard for children to reflect on their lives at school. They cannot really enjoy their childhood when they are at school age, as they have to study at home and at school all the time. They do not really have free time to explore their world or experience and try various hobbies.

My concern to China’s testing system is that the system would destroy the personalities of our generations. On the other hand, the new generation, I see some good signs. The new generations they start to focus on their hobbies no matter whether their academic score is high or low. They have more access to the information of the world, so they do not want to live the life as what their parents had before. They want to have a voice in their own life and they want their voiced to be heard. They have better conversation with their parents to fight for their rights to enjoy their life in a healthy way.