Are we taking the humanity out of Education?
This week I was shocked to see plans for G.C.S.E students to receive their results through an “App!” I first viewed the headline in passing through a news alert on my phone. Phones are convenient and indeed a channel to the world. We all use them a little too much! We are all guilty of enjoying the instant gratification that our “mini computers” provide, whether this be the ability to swipe to purchase an item on “Amazon,” access an instant weather report or check our social media; we cannot deny the reliance on modern technology.
However, I can’t help feeling that some things need to have a more personal approach. Do you remember collecting your results? At the age of 49, my G.C.S.E Results Day is a vague blur but I clearly remember queuing for my A Level Results and I remember the teacher who gave them to me, congratulated me and spoke to me about my next steps!
As a teacher, I have witnessed the importance of speaking directly to my students on results day; I have felt the joy of celebrating as the student thanks you for supporting them and the importance of being able to offer support and guidance to those students who have not got the results that they had hoped for. This cannot be served by a cold application on a screen!
During an online tuition session one of my Year 11’s told me that they had been invited to receive their results through this app. They said that they had declined as they wanted to receive their results with friends in school. I too can understand this, as I have had the experience (as a parent) with my own children. We went with my daughter to collect her results on a glorious sunny day in August 2020, and it was so important for the cohort who had not sat the physical examinations -through no fault of their own- to feel the sense of achievement and to get a recognition for being resilient through disrupted schooling and patchy online classes. Photographs were taken and they were able to mark the moment of leaving this chapter behind. They could now move onto a brighter future, post pandemic. Last year, my husband and I had to pleasure of taking our son for his results. Having sat his GCSE Examinations, the nerves were very real. He performed beyond his expectations and it was so important for him to talk to his teachers about his achievements. The hard work that precedes these days warrants a moment to reflect and appreciate everyone’s role in getting to this point.
Schools are often described as “Examination Factories” and “League Tables” and “Academisation has damaged the real care and understanding required to nurture our impressionable teenagers. There is much talk about the state of our young person’s mental health and I would argue that teachers are still doing their best to humanise what is a very merciless system.
The plan to roll out this application after the trial period is another step towards abandoning the importance of human interaction and relationships. It may be convenient for those who cannot attend results day or those who simply don’t want to, however, this year most young people have a choice to attend. If we go down this route, I fear that this is yet another step towards an emotionless system that treats our children as a number on a spread sheet!
What do you think?
