Being literal has its good and bad days. My son taught me this the other day when he had a test about vocabulary. He had to memorize a group of definitions for the upcoming test and sharing was one of them. The phrase ‘oneself’ was used to explain how sharing was the process of giving to others the same amount as oneself. When he got his test the word ‘oneself’ was replaced with ‘yourself’ and he ended up getting the question wrong. Was it the school’s fault for teaching my son to learn in a way that requires him to only memorize the necessary answers for testing or the genetics I passed on to him? I might need to sit down and explain the fundamentals of thinking outside the box.
Yes, I am quite literal most of the time when I do just about anything. It is very possible I cursed him with that particular gene. More to the point, is it right to have a school teach for what will be tested? I say no.
To teach what is needed for a test is ludicrous. If I was taught about a war in 1776 without knowing why it happened so I could produce the proper answer on a test does not sit well with me. Standardized testing might be to blame in this instance. Our children are subjected to testing on a regular basis; however, they are only taught what will be on those tests. Is it fair to them? No.
What happened to the days when Teachers used a learning curriculum as a guideline instead of something carved in stone? Maybe someday we will learn from these new mistakes of teaching only the test and actually broaden the mind of the young again.
