Making our examination systems fit for the future

i entered

the all too familiar examination hall

gripping my examination card in my hand

my footsteps echoed as i walked towards

the rows of little

single desks marked out in lines

200 other hearts pounded 200 other pens

poised

200 other dreams hung in the balance

my head was bursting with 20 topics

of which only four would be assessed

i had prepared for what seemed like an

eternity for this day

surely there had to be a better way than

this

surely there was a better way to assess

our students i put these thoughts to the

back of my mind

as i tentatively opened the examination

paper

a sigh of relief my surely

psychic teacher had predicted the

questions that had come up

i opened the paper my pen raced across

the page

and i began to feel elated

surely my dream of going to university

might just become a reality

i’m sure we all have this experience in

common

the exam nerves the butterflies the fear

of failure

the fear of not remembering everything

that we have

worked so hard to remember of all

our hopes and dreams being dashed

in an all or nothing test

we have all learned things that we will

never

ever need to know or remember again

and i bet we’ve all thought how

will these exams prepare us for

our dream jobs my name

is rasheen rice and i am a teacher and

school leader for over 20 years

and during my 20 years experience i have

experienced the great joy

and great sadness that that little slip

of white paper brings to my students

the months of hard work can be dashed

with that little white slip

don’t get me wrong i am not against

examination and testing it’s a necessary

rite of passage

one with our students didn’t get to

achieve this year

there is nothing better than that

feeling of pride and achievement

when your hard work pays off the elation

the achievement it is so good

but what i am advocating for

is a radical makeover of our examination

and assessment system and there is no

better time

to do this than now our current system

of academic testing suits a particular

type of student

the academic student with a good memory

and the ability to write succinctly

within a given amount of time

it suits the student who knows how to

study for the test

the student who has the funds to have

extra tuition

and this system unfortunately widens the

socio-economic gap

it favors those who can afford a tutor

it favors those who don’t have to go to

part-time jobs

it favors those who don’t have to look

after little brothers and sisters

and it favors those who have a room of

their own

a desk and a private place to study

we need a much more equitable

examination and assessment

system one that focuses on problem

solving

and real life scenarios and harnesses

the power of the new and emerging

technologies

that are now at our fingertips our world

has changed jobs have changed

teaching has changed but our examination

and assessment system

remains the same it is long overdue

an overhaul and this revamp

needs to occur not just at secondary

level but across

all sectors of education

why when was the last time

that you were put on the spot to

remember something

that you studied at school

most jobs allow for the opportunity to

reflect

analyze and research before completing a

task

when was the last time that you had to

write continuously for two hours

using only a pen and paper

so why does our examination system ask

our young people to do this

anthony salcedo vice president of

education at microsoft

remarked that he values the

accountability that we need in education

and we need it but what

we need to do is change the way we test

and what we teach

why don’t we test not only knowledge but

skills

such as leadership collaboration

creativity and computational thinking

this would be much more relevant to

society today

especially when you consider that the

northern ireland skills barometer

commissioned by the department of the

economy and the survey carried out by

the university of ulster

says that three-quarters of all

employees

lack the confidence that they can get

skilled employees

the global pandemic has created an

opportunity for us to make this change

it has started a global educational

revolution

and for me two very significant events

occurred

the shift to remote learning and the

fact that teachers were trusted

to create center assessment grades

prior to march the use of technology and

education was there

and being used but no one could predict

what was going to happen i look back in

those days and with a surreal

being i remember vividly standing at the

front

of our beautiful assembly hall

informing a group of socially distant

teachers

on every single aspect of remote

learning that i thought that i would

have two years

to show them how to do this i will never

forget

the eerie silence as the teachers got up

and raced towards their classrooms to

prepare their online lessons

the skill set of the profession has

changed

collaboration on a global and national

scale began

groups like blend ni and ni teacher

collaborate

began springing up this was most welcome

the sense of community collegiality and

collaboration

it was real and we were all working

together

teachers had joined the world of online

collaboration

i knew the winds of change had blown

when a dear colleague of mine an

outstanding teacher

but self-confessed technophobe came

racing towards me in the corridor and

said

i’ve just delivered my first online

lesson you will be so proud of me

for me this was a watershed moment

i felt we had to look deeper into

changing the system for our young people

how we assess work was and as evolving

but now

the technology has caught up lockdown

forced us all to adapt and the

possibilities are endless

of course there are many issues that

need to be addressed

especially with regard to the very deep

digital divide in our society

and i know all about that i’m at the

front line

but we need to work with government in

order to provide the best

opportunities for our young people and

secondly

teachers were trusted to create center

assessment grades

and forget the algorithm disaster

ultimately the grades that the students

received

were the ones that the teachers awarded

now is the time to shake things up with

the advent of new technology

we can create a new fit for purpose

examination and assessment system

one that assesses the skills of

individuals

one that explores problem solving

reasoning

creativity and doesn’t just favor

those blessed with a good memory

john hattie has said that the

coronavirus pandemic

for all its negatives presented

education

with its first real opportunity to put

educator changes in place

now is the time to change

the examination hall that i went into in

1992

and in 2019 are still the same

a teacher from any point in time would

recognize it

let 2022 be different

let’s change our examination and

assessment system for the better

so that is fit for the future

and equitable for all