Learning through play has been proven to be important for young children.
This being said, testing in schools is still commonplace but many teachers feel that it needs to be done away with.
Recently teachers in Australia spoke out against testing for children under the age of eight.
Members of the State School Teacher’s Union say that more focus needs to be placed on play-based learning and less on examinations.
Countries like Finland, which consistently top the polls in education, show that testing for young children is not necessary to provide quality education.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite and schools that use play-based learning rather than exams have proven to excel in academical success.
Speaking to ABC the president of State School Teacher’s Union Pat Byrne said;
“There are a whole range of social skills and practical skills that children learn through play. The outcomes in Finland for example, have consistently been the best in the world.
They don’t have that regime of standardised testing. They don’t have the focus on measurement and accountability that we have in the UK, the US and in Australia. None of those three countries are among the top performers.Yet in Australia, the word ‘play’ has become problematic in many schools.”
I have noticed Irish schools taking steps to become more like our Nordic neighbours when it comes to our teaching approaches but we still have a ways to go.
Over the last few years Ireland has been rated as having one of the best school systems in the world but I feel we need to rethink how we assess students especially those in primary school.
It’s like the old saying goes – if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. Likewise, if we test all children by how good they are at maths and memorising facts those who might be more geared towards creative and linguistic skills may feel that they are falling behind.
I completely agree that there is no need for exam-based teaching for young children and that they should be allowed to explore their own unique skill set through a more open approach to learning.
