It was indeed an impressive site. Walking into the high school gymnasium, my eye was drawn to the expansive table on the stage with a multitude of shiny trophies, medals and plaques speaking to a long history of award giving and receiving. There was a large screen hanging from the ceiling behind the table and two podiums were placed on the stage to the right of the hardware. Many chairs were set up in theatre style and the lights were dim except for those shining brightly on the reason for the invitation-only evening.
Earlier in the week my daughter received an envelope indicating that she had won “something” and we also received a phone message requesting our parental presence. Yes, she is an accomplished, hard-working and bright student enrolled in a challenging academic program and her interests lie in social studies, politics and language arts. We figured that she had probably won the Grade 12 Social Studies award or the Language Arts award since we assumed that one letter equalled one award.
Two staff members were the Masters of Ceremonies for the evening; the screen projected the video presentations and pictures of the students receiving awards and bursaries. Behind the scenes, three more staff members ran the audio-visual portion and almost every teacher on staff was in attendance, alongside the principal, to present the award for their subject area to the winner. Food and drink had been ordered for the parents and students in attendance. I could only imagine the time, effort and resources that went into preparing for the more than two hours awards ceremony: striking an awards committee by staff, regular meetings detailing the back and forth of deciding who would win what award, verifying grade averages, the letters home, the arranging for the engraving of the students’ names onto medals, plaques, trophies, certificates, the preparation of the audio-visual content, the MC programme and syncing the awards presentations to the audio-visual on the screen. Without a doubt, it was an exceptionally well-prepared and well-executed production.
I sat there in the audience feeling incredibly conflicted because not only was I aware of how many of my colleagues took time away from their busy schedules to put this evening together, but I was also questioning what this all was for and why we are still highlighting a select number of students in this way. It seems to be of a different era in a more competition-based education that we somehow can't shake because of tradition and possibly because of fear of parental outcry. Honestly, we're still awarding “outstanding female and male students of the year” based on gender. Why? There are so many awards now too, and I sense it is a well-intentioned and genuine effort on the part of staff to try to include more of the student body and recognize a greater number of students for skill-specific and subject-specific accomplishments. Does the increasing number of students we include in the award-winning circle only further highlight those students outside the circle?
"...what if all the time and resources spent on this one awards evening went towards professional development, training and updating knowledge of technological advances and more interactive ways of approaching teaching and learning?"
Our daughter, upon receipt of her invitation letter, hoped to win one of many coveted scholarships awarded that evening, in order to attend the university of her choice. That was her priority and a pragmatic one at that given the cost of post-secondary education. It saddens me that we, as a society that purports to value education, cannot fund every student that wishes to attend and complete a post-secondary program. Newfoundland now offers to replace student loans with non-repayable educational grants for their high school graduates. In one bold and brave move, (and I would argue, an innovative approach to funding education and investing in positive economic outcomes and spinoffs), the province eliminated the need for chasing scholarships, taking out student loans, and thereby foisting financial hardships on families and students. Until other provinces follow Newfoundland’s lead, graduating students will look towards scholarships and student loans for financial support of their education goals and I completely understand why that is.
One other note about innovation. I can't help but wonder, what if all the time and resources spent on this one awards evening went towards professional development, training and updating knowledge of technological advances and more interactive ways of approaching teaching and learning? How many more students would benefit from a more technologically engaged staff? Could we reach more students when we direct them to the most recent findings/events/tools to further fuel their own interests and passion?
By the end of the evening, our daughter was called up to that stage to take home five awards and one scholarship. Was I proud of her? Absolutely. But I was proud of her anyway and the awards didn't change that. Moreover, her accomplishments are her own and when it comes to her education, especially at this stage of the game, it’s a highly personal endeavour. Every student in that school is on a personal trajectory of learning. Why we take that into the public realm and turn it into a competition amongst peers once a year baffles me. When we speak of student-centered education, I can't see how this reconciles with our values. The message we send to the students who do not receive an award is that, in the end, we are going to show you how you don't measure up. There is also the matter of how this all plays out amongst the younger siblings of the students who win awards and the pressures placed on their shoulders. It is another level of competition that I may explore in a future blog post. As a parent of an “award-winning student” and at the risk of being accused of someone who is ungrateful, I’d like to see us--educators and parents--call for an end to the old practise.
Earlier in the week my daughter received an envelope indicating that she had won “something” and we also received a phone message requesting our parental presence. Yes, she is an accomplished, hard-working and bright student enrolled in a challenging academic program and her interests lie in social studies, politics and language arts. We figured that she had probably won the Grade 12 Social Studies award or the Language Arts award since we assumed that one letter equalled one award.
Two staff members were the Masters of Ceremonies for the evening; the screen projected the video presentations and pictures of the students receiving awards and bursaries. Behind the scenes, three more staff members ran the audio-visual portion and almost every teacher on staff was in attendance, alongside the principal, to present the award for their subject area to the winner. Food and drink had been ordered for the parents and students in attendance. I could only imagine the time, effort and resources that went into preparing for the more than two hours awards ceremony: striking an awards committee by staff, regular meetings detailing the back and forth of deciding who would win what award, verifying grade averages, the letters home, the arranging for the engraving of the students’ names onto medals, plaques, trophies, certificates, the preparation of the audio-visual content, the MC programme and syncing the awards presentations to the audio-visual on the screen. Without a doubt, it was an exceptionally well-prepared and well-executed production.
I sat there in the audience feeling incredibly conflicted because not only was I aware of how many of my colleagues took time away from their busy schedules to put this evening together, but I was also questioning what this all was for and why we are still highlighting a select number of students in this way. It seems to be of a different era in a more competition-based education that we somehow can't shake because of tradition and possibly because of fear of parental outcry. Honestly, we're still awarding “outstanding female and male students of the year” based on gender. Why? There are so many awards now too, and I sense it is a well-intentioned and genuine effort on the part of staff to try to include more of the student body and recognize a greater number of students for skill-specific and subject-specific accomplishments. Does the increasing number of students we include in the award-winning circle only further highlight those students outside the circle?
"...what if all the time and resources spent on this one awards evening went towards professional development, training and updating knowledge of technological advances and more interactive ways of approaching teaching and learning?"
Our daughter, upon receipt of her invitation letter, hoped to win one of many coveted scholarships awarded that evening, in order to attend the university of her choice. That was her priority and a pragmatic one at that given the cost of post-secondary education. It saddens me that we, as a society that purports to value education, cannot fund every student that wishes to attend and complete a post-secondary program. Newfoundland now offers to replace student loans with non-repayable educational grants for their high school graduates. In one bold and brave move, (and I would argue, an innovative approach to funding education and investing in positive economic outcomes and spinoffs), the province eliminated the need for chasing scholarships, taking out student loans, and thereby foisting financial hardships on families and students. Until other provinces follow Newfoundland’s lead, graduating students will look towards scholarships and student loans for financial support of their education goals and I completely understand why that is.
One other note about innovation. I can't help but wonder, what if all the time and resources spent on this one awards evening went towards professional development, training and updating knowledge of technological advances and more interactive ways of approaching teaching and learning? How many more students would benefit from a more technologically engaged staff? Could we reach more students when we direct them to the most recent findings/events/tools to further fuel their own interests and passion?
By the end of the evening, our daughter was called up to that stage to take home five awards and one scholarship. Was I proud of her? Absolutely. But I was proud of her anyway and the awards didn't change that. Moreover, her accomplishments are her own and when it comes to her education, especially at this stage of the game, it’s a highly personal endeavour. Every student in that school is on a personal trajectory of learning. Why we take that into the public realm and turn it into a competition amongst peers once a year baffles me. When we speak of student-centered education, I can't see how this reconciles with our values. The message we send to the students who do not receive an award is that, in the end, we are going to show you how you don't measure up. There is also the matter of how this all plays out amongst the younger siblings of the students who win awards and the pressures placed on their shoulders. It is another level of competition that I may explore in a future blog post. As a parent of an “award-winning student” and at the risk of being accused of someone who is ungrateful, I’d like to see us--educators and parents--call for an end to the old practise.