An assessment should be to measure the depth of knowledge and its connectivity to other subjects as well as its practical applications to a real-life situation. And this has to be assessed in a condition where children have to answer all the questions. Thus, examinations are necessary.
However, a child finds examinations tough, when the questions maybe application questions or which were not expected by the child. An examiner can question a child from any aspect and application of a subject. Children must be prepared for them. But when are children ready to answer any question?
The answer is simple: Children are ready for any questions when they have a total and clear understanding of the subject. Or in other words, when children know the elephant better and beyond its eyes, ears, nose, trunk, and tail. It is only when a child learns about an elephant in total and connects each part to its functionality as an elephant, will his/her learning be complete. But, when can that happen?
The first condition of total learning is when children do not learn to answer questions. If children are taught to answer questions, they will learn about the eyes, the ears, the trunk, and the tail. But they will forget about the elephant. There should be no attempt, by a teacher to teach towards answering a question. Instead, the teacher should teach into the deepest conceptual knowledge and to connect it to the whole subject. The teacher should not give homework to retest the child working on the same questions based on what he/she learned in the classroom or in a tuition centre. Whereas, what would have been much better was allowing the child to test by himself/herself what he/she had learned in a classroom. And, where he can test? It can be anywhere- in a lab, in a workshop, in a life situation, or even while playing. So, learning plus doing and then applying to the life is the ideal way of learning. If children learn without doing, then they can never know applicability of what they have learned. So, what is the purpose of homework?
Homework, if given, needs to be restricted to 10 to 20 minutes. And what is that 20 minutes homework? Anything the child has learned needs to be experimented. Then, the child needs to write it down – write what he/she did, and how he/she felt. Writing is very critical. Scribble it first. Children can scribble down the important points with pen or pencil or even on an I-Pad you notice while they are doing or practicing what they have learned.
Later, children need to convert the scribbling into a script or a story. When children write down their own stories of what they have learned, I believe that learning becomes more perfect. After you have written down the story, the child needs to act on it wherever he/she gets the opportunity to present it either by writing, by acting, or by speaking. Thus, learning becomes even more perfect. The child learns how to explore what has been learned. This is the way I presume good learning and question the relevance of homework as long as homework is something that the child can practice by himself/herself by observing, creating scribblings, drafting scripts, and then presenting. If not, then homework is boring and monotonous which kills the brain power of a child.
Now questions like: “What about mathematics? What about theories? What about drawings?” can arise. “Shouldn’t children practice on it?”
Every mathematical equation can be taken to a workshop and can be practiced there. Isn’t that how it happens in the real world? And, after it is practiced, the child needs to prepare a script on the equations. On doing so, he/she will remember what he/she has learned forever. Thus, unless he/she has not practiced mathematics in a workshop, in a real life, even in a kitchen; then, all those theories and equations he/she has learned will be forgotten soon.
Therefore, I come back to the question, do we need examinations? Yes, we need examinations. But a child should not study for questions or to find answers for questions. On the contrary, a child should always study a subject in depth, connect it to its practicable applicability by doing it, create his/her own scripts, and present it.
