British Op-Ed: "It's Amazing the Young Pass Any Exams"
It would seem, gentle reader, that problems in education are not solely an American dilemma.
Do read this British opinion piece. Here is a bit of it:
Britain has always loved a moron. ...I think there might be some charming appreciation of failure lurking beneath the common veneer of national ambition, and yet, whatever the reasons for it, in this country we are comforted by idiocy to the exact same degree that we are almost repulsed by intellectuals. Perhaps that's why this year's school exam results - arriving in brown envelopes up and down the country today - will create a fuss only if they show an improvement in the tendency towards success. There can't be many countries on the planet where moronic behaviour is so rewarded, or where morons have occasion to have such pride in what they don't know. ...Difficulty has become a problem. Nobody much likes difficulty any more and nobody believes in it. Difficult history and difficult philosophy? Gone, so far as the common reader goes. The difficulties of religion? Gone, to be replaced by a happy-clappy brigade of people motivated by "personal growth" and self-healing. We live in a society where everything has to be watered down in order to be made palatable for those who dread, more than anything, the deplorable, old-fashioned tasks of having to wait or having to think. Instant gratification is the poisoning of endeavour, and we live in a society that is either in thrall to the sparkle of know-nothing success - the Beckham creed - or is titillated by the deadpan amiability of failure. When young people consistently believe in those things, above all else, the world goes crooked beneath their feet, and it means we have failed to engage them with a system of values that highlights the forward-thinking and rewards perseverance. |
Few things in print are as boisterous as a really vigorous British editorial! Go read the whole thing.
As for the content...Now, come on, surely the British don't glorify failure! Then again, you'll remember last month's news that some British teachers want to ban the use of the word "fail" and replace it with "deferred success."
So what about those grades in question -- this year's British A-level grades? (The exams you have to take -- and pass -- to go to college.) Here's the story from the Times of London, amid rather acrimonious allegations of diminished standards, grade inflation, and "dumbing down."
Ah, the joys of testing and evaluation!