• consider the extent to which timed examinations are fair
• evaluate the effectiveness of other methods of assessment
• make a judgement, based on the consideration of the evidence and argument put forward.
• timed examinations only assess a portion of the taught content of a course
• how time restrictions limit students’ thinking and ability to develop ideas, adding unnecessary pressure
• revising and cramming means material is stored in the short-term memory
• the added value of work-based and continuous assessment showing what people can really do
• there being evidence that the focus and time pressure in examinations often yield a high standard of work
• the examination being a level playing field where everybody is in the same position and therefore it is fair
• the nature of formal examinations minimising the potential for copying or cheating
• examinations often being marked externally which is fairer than internal assessment.
Category: Education
Should the study of literature be made compulsory in schools?
The benefits of studying literature, to individuals, societies and the world as a whole, are recognised by those who believe that reading literature is essential for human flourishing as fundamentally, it is about the search of meaning through the appreciation of narratives. All of mankind tells stories to make sense of the world, imagine alternatives and explore the human condition. Study of Literature, both as an aesthetic art form or humanities study, is evocative and emotive, and through igniting readers’ hearts and minds, is a powerful medium to build empathy and critical insight into what makes us human, themes of justice, fairness and beauty, and what better societies look like. Given its potential to yield such profound benefits, there are grounds to call for its institutionalisation in public schools as a mandatory subject.
The question assumes that the study of literature is essential for a good human life, in the same way the study of languages and mathematics is. Making literature a mandatory study for all school-going children will yield benefits to them as they grow up, in adulthood and by extension, contribute to better outcomes in society.
Consider this: If the study of literature were to involve cultivating an appreciation for understanding the human condition, the skill of perspective- taking and the nurturing of the dispositions of empathy and emotional maturity, it would be then easy to argue that there are legitimate reasons to ground the recommendation. But what if we cannot elicit such understanding among students?
Are moral values absorbed through fairy tales constitute as literature and are they adequate?
Don’t neglect attention to the context specified – ‘in schools’ and expand on the study or appreciation of literature in general, failing to realise that the question invites consideration of when and how countries and their involved ministries decide to made the study of a subject mandatory within public institutions like schools.