Reading, Writing, and Multiple Choice plus other stuff

[m.bockermann at t-online.de]

Hi everybody!

I was offline for a couple of days, so I summarize several answers in one post.

This has turned into a really fascinating debate. And quite helpful for me on a personal level, too. I'm a "Referendarin" a teacher-in-training. In addition to teaching in school we attend theory seminar where we discuss all kinds of questions regarding schooling and education. Since German school kids did so poorly on recent international (for example PISA) we frequently discuss solution our "Kultusminister" (cultural minister who is also responsible for education) and other officials come up with. Some of these are... controversial, to say the least. In any case it's interesting that some of the "solutions" are inspired by aspects from other school systems, like that of Britain or the US for example. Defenders of these ideas sell them as innovative, critics claim they are just meant to save money.


Barb wrote:
If only it was a priority to politicians to make certain that 
students who need remedial help aren't left behind and students that 
are advanced don't languish, bored, in settings that waste their 
potential, because of the theory that students of a like age should 
stay together.  Instead we just get saber-rattling and jingoism.  
They're probably afraid that a better-educated populace would know 
better than to re-elect them.  Never let it be said politicians 
don't have priorities: to keep their jobs.


Me:
Here in Germany, every of our countries has its own educational system (which has been much criticized, but introducing a common one is as likely as the world peace breaking out tomorrow). Anyway, in my native Northrhine-Westphalia they continue to introduce "Gesamtschulen" common schools, where pupils attend a single secondary school and share most classes, like in an American High school. Many politicians would like to replace the traditional three-folded secondary schools Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium where children are grouped according to their ability with the common schools. Critics however describe the same problems that you do, making me doubt the concept even more.

It seems to me Barb, that your children would do better in a school with higher requirements.

Does no other school system here demand that student repeat a year if they grades don't suffice? As far as I know that is the case in the US, but what about Britain or other nations? While the rules to "staying seated" have been loosened here in Westphalia, the end of each school year is still dreaded by many students whose grades won't enable them to move to the next year or maybe change to a school form with lower requirements. It's hard for them and their parents. Now that I already work in school, I learned that it is hard for their teachers as well to put them back a year. On the other hand I *do* believe that in the longer run it is better for them personally and for the schools generally.

Concerning multiple choice tests: they are an *absolute* no-no here. There must be nothing worse for a young teacher than to confess that she sees some merit in multiple choice questions. Educational suicide. The powers that are regard them as boring, bad, preventing pupils from expressing themthelves.... Me? I would not have them for everything, but I don't condemn them like that either. Well, you'll never find me fanatical about anything, HP being an exception. (-;


I don't recall who wrote, regarding mimeographs:
They would look out over a sea of faces and see the whole class sniffing their tests.

Me:
Oh, I recall those! They got less and less at the end of my career as a pupil but I dare say, photocopies will never give me that sense of nostalgia. (-;


Catlady wrote:
Most of the non-native English speakers write better spelling, 
grammer, and style than most of the native speakers ... I had no idea 
that you weren't a native speaker until you said so just now, but I 
would have counted you as one of the native speakers who do write 
well.

Thanks. (-: And thanks too, to the others who answered to that question.... I had wondered for a long time.


Torsten wrote, regarding new German spelling:
And then try to get used to spellings like "Seeelefant". *_*

My personal nummer one on the hate list is "Stängel" instead of "Stengel" (stalk). *shudder* I know its not as impressive as "Seeelefant" but in biology class I need it more often and it's so.... ridiculous. Logical, yes. But in my part of Westphalia (East-Westphalia Lippe) we draw our vowels a bit too long anyway. Somehow that makes it worse. )-: 

Actually, the new rules are not bad. For example they reduced more than 50 (!) rules for commas alone (*not* counting exeptions) into half a dozen. The problem remains that my internal editor that insists on old spelling resurges every time I stand in front of a blackboard. )))-:


Torsten added later:
Again, when I was a pupil (damn, writing this makes me feel old) our non-language 
teachers could decrease our marks if we made too many mistakes in our writing in any 
test. So if a maths or biology test required a lot of written answers and you totally 
messed your grammar and spelling up, you could get a worse mark than someone who 
had the 'facts' just as correct at you but wrote correct German, even if there was no 
problem understanding your answers despite your mistakes. Don't know if they still 
have that today, not that many teachers seemed to enforce this back in my days.
Back then we all thought this to be unfair - "It's a MATHS test after all, not 
German!" - but now I think it's a good thing, if there's consideration of special cases 
like formerly foreign pupils.

Yes, they still do it. It is especially in the final three years of the Gymnasium (the secondary school form with the highest requirement). How much it is enforced however, depends on the spelling and grammar abilities of the teacher. And yep, pupils *still* hate it. And I still believe it's a good idea.


Kenneth, thanks for your list of grammar rules. Wonderful! Delightful! Did you make those up yourself?

Greetings,
Ethanol