The Educated Kiwi
Posts tagged ncea
Close Up: NCEA vs Cambridge exams
Sep 19th
YouTube – Close Up: NCEA vs Cambridge exams.
At our Home group meeting yesterday the conversation swung to assessment in schools. I must say I have not been a huge fan of NCEA but in saying that I do firmly believe that it is up to us as teachers to make it work. In saying that the comments on this youtube video do give a bit of a picture, as to be motivated to comment generally shows a strong feeling. A quick search here gives a bit more insight into this issue. I wonder how much truth there is in this comment
Why is St Cuth’s thinking about changing from NCEA? Simple, the rich parents who might send their girls there have lost confidence in the NCEA and are sending them to Dio or Corran etc. The loss of confidence has nothing to do with the NCEA but more the political point scoring running along in the media. I suspect the same is true, even of Avondale College.
But from the Westlake Boys High School page there is reasonable explaination and it seems that they find for boys it is a successful qualification.
I will continue to look into this issue and I must admit I do find it strange that the majority of schools doing cambridge to do the ‘best’ for their students are in direct competition with each other for numbers so the media and perception are obviously a part of the truth to the issue must lie somewhere in the middle I guess.
Free us from exams
Sep 8th
Exam week is again upon us and I read with interest the discussion on the New Zealand History Teachers association blog-
We believe the exam component is important to maintaining both credibility and a sound basis for future study. There is no evidence that Universities or Polytechnics are abandoning exams and we owe it to our students to prepare them, especially at Year13, for the realities of tertiary education.- CBHS
I always struggle with this concept of the importance of exams for these reasons-
1) I liked Bursary. As a student it was easy to follow and I knew what to aim for. As a teacher it was easy to teach, the students liked the abc grades and were interested in the supporting topics that allowed them to work on their skills.
2) I don’t do exams. Basicallly in the rest of my life I have never and probably will never do an exam. The feeling that I would present something that has not been checked by someone else and collaborated on goes against how I succeed and the real world works.
3) Just because University does exams doesn’t make it right. I had a disappointing time at uni (the classes that is) and was essentially just another paycheck so the chancellor could build more lecture theatres. It wasn’t until third year that things were interesting and by then we collaborated on our projects.
4) Credibility just reeks of marketing speak. “If parents don’t see marks then we won’t be valued as a subject” surely it is time to say we can actually change this system a bit and improve it rather than just doing what we know and have always done.
I am reminded of the statement that there will never be change until a catastrophic event forces change. I just thought we might be able to learn from History and be a bit pre-emptive with this subject.
Essay topic on classroom wall reads-
What events led to Charles the First making the decision to go to war. What were the political, social and economic implications of this decision.
All we need to do is substitute Charles for George W and we have an instant hot topic.
Or am I just being hopeful?
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