Narcissism & Assessment

   

 I was at a great workshop, focusing on meaningful assessment and feedback at all grade levels. As I sat surrounded by hundreds of educators, I found myself wondering "How did we get here? How did we get to a place where we aren't testing what students really know in a way that is effective or helpful, but grading is consuming so much of our time and brain energy?" The theme of giving honest and authentic feedback kept rolling past my eardrums and into my mind throughout the day, along with the acknowledgement of a fear we have developed in truly measuring and reporting learning. I believe there are many reasons why at times we shy away from the fact that a student, or perhaps many,  are not making it and why we aren't reporting these results to them. We're afraid. Not of what it says about us as teachers or even about what it may mean in terms of curriculum changes. I believe we're afraid of our students (and in many cases their parents.)
        The students we deal with today are living in a world that literally screams a message of their "importance" .....because these are the days when you can gather Facebook "friends", twitter "followers" and Instagram "Likers" as easily as you can sit on the couch and breathe.
      As I considered the implications of this on how we give feedback and assess student learning I was reminded of an article from TIME magazine last month.

The witty and insightful content of the article is steeped in the truth and research of how we got here. The author explains that in the 1970s, there was a push towards self-esteem and self-worth in educations. The original intentions were pure, or at least remotely innocent, but the results have been long lasting. As the article explains from a physiological perspective, self-esteem without an authentic self-awareness, breeds narcissism. You see, if you are just told that you are amazing and wonderful and even worthy of royal titles like "princess" simply because you exist, you begin to develop an entitlement mentality that creeps into all of your thinking. So, zoom ahead 40 years and we now have sports leagues where all participants walk away with a trophy (even if they lost), people who pour themselves into virtual relationships rather than real ones, and an overall consensus that no one wants to be "judged" by anyone else's standard. 

      So, in turn, this leaves us as educators cowering in the corner. Students are "passing" on that shouldn't be. Parents push back about the value of homework and attempt to justify the behaviors we are "concerned" about. No one wants to be the barer of bad news, but if we don't start giving specific and honest feedback about where are students are in their learning, how close they are to the target, and what they might need to do to make improvements.......it will only get worse. 

     So as not to leave you on an immensely negative note; I believe these children are capable of developing an authentic and realistic view of themselves. One that has an awareness of strengths and opportunities.  I believe they have the capacity to receive a D on an assignment that was truly D work, and become better for it. They will need our help though.