There are 559 straight A+ students nationwide this year compared to 300+ last year. A great jump. Just like the Sejarah results in my school....44+% A in 2010 compared to 66+% A in 2011.
A few questions came to my mind:
1. Did the students suddenly become smarter or all along this batch of students are that excellent?
2. Does it mean that whatever the MOE thinks has been implemented in school is really showing its fruits now...therefore whatever it is....is a great success?
3. Last year's Sejarah question was easier compared to other years. Factual application in Paper Two was lesser and more room was given to critical thinking style questions where any answer as long as it is rational is acceptable. Was this done on purpose?
4. By churning out so many As each year, does it mean our society is getting smarter? That means the coming work-force will be filled with think-tanks?
5. What does As mean to students now? Without As they are no good? Is this producing a healthy society? (I apologize that I am one of the people in charge of churning out As and I confess to putting great pressure on the students).
My view:
1. Comparing my school with many other schools, my students definitely have great thinking and learning skills; thanks to the drilling from the teachers from day 1 in school. So many of the excellent results are genuinely excellent.
2. Being with the students for at least a year...most of the time two years, I know a goat from a sheep. I know a mediocre from an excellent student. As much as I am pleased for the students, I do worry also about the quality of their academic ability.
3. I think the mediocre students may suffer in college especially if they are enrolled in professional courses that require brain work. They will graduate eventually in the field they study but will they be excellent workers or mediocre?
My wish:
I wish I am not pressured to produce A students. I wish I can spend more time with the students to explore History as it should be instead of just touching the tip of the iceberg. I wish we focus more on fun in learning instead of learning for excellence. I wish all of us are less kiasu...SIGH ...dream on...
My worry:
What if this is election results? It means that putting the same amount of effort and the same amount of drilling .... I may not get the same type of result because next year is not election year!!!!!
This means I will be questioned and grilled as to why the students couldn't perform as well as the previous year. A decrease in percentage would mean that I have not put enough effort in; therefore I will be made to stay back to give extra classes, more exercises etc etc...in other words I will be punished to ensure that the percentage goes up again. PANIC!!!!!
Hahaha...I'm being over-dramatic but it can happen. So please wipe that grin off your face.
As KC advises, CELEBRATE the victory now! YES!!!! I will not think ahead but celebrate the good results now.
3 comments:
all the kambings (and the biri-biri) congratulate you. relax, enjoy & celebrate the result now. No one knows what next year will bring so make the most of it!
A very thoughtful post teacher. Yes indeed, sometimes this is just the case. But you are awesome teacher!! May God continue to bless you and our fellow Puterians!! Go Puteri!
Next year's result will drop?? What goes up must come down... laws of gravity and none of us can defy that for as long as the earth keeps spinning on its axis.
But on a more sombre note... I agree with you. Excellent results in SPM does not indicate much. It's hard to tell a goat from a sheep, a lembu from a chicken these days. You want to see how wide a range it can be.. check out their 1119 and the GCE (O) equivalent. An A can be an A but the same A can also be a 4B or 5B or less. That speaks volume doesn't it, about the real quality.
And yes you are right too about the false sense of confidence that it plants in the students... kids no longer know for sure whether they are apples or mangoes... and that gives a false sense of purpose.
My kind of students are not like yours. Some still do relatively well. And for those few who had to do F6, they had a rude shock after their results came out... a 6-7A(s) student... you would expect that they would at least clear their STPM. But sadly.. some actually flunk 2-3 subjects, the saving grace being Pengajian Am... That's the reality of Malaysian education today.
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