Grading System.
The issue of grading students has always been widely discussed by specialists in this field because it appears to be a crucial question in students’ motivation. Some opinions of experts go for the importance of grades because they stimulate students to learn and devote lots of attention to studies rather than doing other things which have nothing to do with education. Other experts disagree with that, and argue that grades kill all the desire of students to learn, and it would be so much better if students had to study on their own good-will, without being graded for that. Jerry Farber in his “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System” and David Rothenberg in his “Learning in Finland: No Grades, No Criticism” explain their points of view on the grading system. Their opinions about the grading system are quite different, therefore in order to evaluate them, it’s important to investigate them.
David Rothenberg in his article focuses his attention on the higher education in Finland. For a person who was born and brought up in the United States, this system seems wild because Finns don’t get graded for their work. They don’t have to finish their assignments in time. They are allowed to focus on other activities which they find important even if they didn’t finish some project which has to be done right away. A striking thing about the Finnish higher education is that it goes very smoothly and no stress is given to students. They have lots of time to contemplate on their assignments and finish them when they find it necessary. David Rothenberg was shocked by this system in the very beginning. It’ completely different from the American system where there is lots of competition and much attention is devoted to grades. In the Finnish system of education, everybody has an opportunity to show his work and doesn’t have to compete with anyone. Even though this grading system seems very favorable for students, from David Rothenberg’s point of view, it’s not efficient by any means. As the author marks, the students don’t get motivated to study. They are not ever asked questions during classes. In most cases, the professor is lecturing and they listen but they don’t participate in any discussions or disputes. In order to check the efficiency of this system, David Rothenberg decided to ask the students some questions on the material which they have passed already. He was astonished to discover that the students did not remember any information which he just told them. Therefore, he could make a conclusion that the Finnish grading system had many disadvantages. One of the disadvantages was that it didn’t stimulate students to listen to what was being told at the lectures. Since they knew that they could have other priorities, listening to the material carefully did not occur to them. They simply did not place studies as their highest priority. Another disadvantage the author noticed was that this system created completely colorless graduates who afterwards went to work. Even though the degree they had enabled them to get a high salary and occupy a high position, they were not able to work efficiently because they were not used to competition. Besides, their knowledge was not as good as it would be if they were devoting lots of time to studies. Some jobs don’t require making decisions very fast, and therefore those graduates can apply their strategy of completing the assignment which they got after lots of contemplating. However, in many jobs fast thinking and good skills are a key to success but students who were used to such slow learning at the university will hardly be able to meet such standards. David Rothenberg marks that “the need for its citizens to compete successfully in trade, manufacturing, and other areas may make this leisurely path toward education a luxury that the nation can no longer afford, at least for all its students.” (Rothenberg, 2) Therefore, this system will have to be changed in the nearest future. The author argues that it’s very important in the grading system to promote competition.
Jerry Farber in his “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System” expresses a completely different opinion about the grading system which is the most efficient for students. He believes that the focus on competition and grades in the American school system is too exaggerated, and it needs to be decreased in the nearest future. As Jerry Farber marks, grades don’t really stimulate students to study: “Ask yourself: did you need grades to learn how to drive? To learn how to talk? To learn how to play chess—or play the guitar—or dance—or find your way around a new city? Yet these are things we do very well—much better than we handle that French or Spanish that we were graded on for years in high school.” (Farber, 1). Grades can very possibly even kill the desire to study in a person. When a kid is constantly under the pressure of grades, he doesn’t have a chance to devote time to those subjects which he really considers necessary. For example, he is afraid to get an F in algebra, and he ends up studying it all the time. However, it’s very possible that he will not need it in the amount as he studies it at school. He may become an artist in future, and he will need only the basics of it for everyday life. Even if a person has to deal with algebra later in life, he will have no problem studying it again. He will achieve much better success when learning on his own because he will not be under the pressure of grades, and he will be learning this subject only because he needs it for his work. As far as Jerry Farber concludes, the only motivation a student has comes from his own self. Grades will never motivated him, they will only put pressure on him. The author disagrees with David Rothenberg in his opinion that grades and competition are beneficial for students. As Jerry Farber mentions, the students learn so much better when they like the subject and not when they are graded for it. They don’t have to be pressed to learn because it doesn’t help at all. In any case, they will study well only those subjects which they are interested in. What is important for the student is the knowledge he gets and not whether he pleases the professor with his answer or not. Jerry Farber also argues against the role of grades in providing self-discipline to students. He is sure that grading has nothing to do with self-discipline: “Self-discipline isn’t staying up all night to finish a term paper; that’s slave work. Self-discipline is revising one paragraph fanatically for weeks—for no other reason than that you yourself aren’t happy with it. Self-discipline is following a problem through tedious, repetitive laboratory experiments, because there’s no other way of finding out what you want to know.” The author also mentions that the grading system is in many ways close to making students study as slaves. They have to study subjects which they don’t like only because they are afraid to get bad grades. However, it doesn’t always bring any positive results because lots of students refuse to study under pressure and get bad grades. The students can be considered lazy by their professors but it’s not the real state of things. As Jerry Farber states, “Do you think you’re a lazy student? No wonder! Slaves are almost always lazy.” The author disagrees with David Rothenberg’s opinion about the importance of grades in the life of students. He sharply opposes to this system, and struggles for the introduction of “credit system” in colleges.
It’s impossible to define the correct approach about the perfect grading system which ought to be used in order to provide maximum efficiency for the students. The grading and competition system is very efficient in many ways because it actually stimulates the student to sit down and study the subject. However, its disadvantage is that the student is constantly under the stress. Besides, his abilities are measured by the grades he gets even though this can be not the case at times. The professor might just not like the student and put him lower grades than he deserves. This will completely ruin all the motivation for the student, and he will not want to study anymore. The Finnish system of grading has an advantage that students devote lots of attention to all the activities which they consider important, without the need to worry about the deadlines of their projects. However, this system has an important disadvantage- it does not motivate the students to learn fast and get more and more knowledge. Studies become not the first priority for them. In order to get the most efficient grading system, it’s necessary to combine both approaches and take advantage of their good features.
