"The Last Judgement" (2021) by Michelangelo
According to Grant, "When we succeed in changing someone's mind, we shouldn't only ask whether we're proud of what we've achieved. We should also ask whether we're proud of how we've achieved it" (160).
Do you think our society is a "bottom-line" society that cares more about what is accomplished than it cares about how it is accomplished? For example, is too high a value put on grades and on test scores and too low a value of less easily measurable qualities like attitude and character?
Or would reliance on evaluation of these qualities be too highly dependent on personal prejudices and biases of the evaluators?
Do most students care more about grades or about learning?
In my schooling experience, the teachers care about teaching, but they are forced to focus on test scores and how fast they can get through a certain material. There is such an emphasis on good test scores that students will study and study only to forget the information right after the test. I have been a straight A student all throughout high school, but my career path does not depend on my grades or my GPA. I am a Music Ed major, so my knowledge of instruments is more important than the A I got in calculus. The "bottom line" is get good grades so the school gets funding. The "bottom line" should be to learn as much as you can to prepare you for the future. I will admit that evaluations of this would vary from place to place. Education is valued differently in each state. I have a bias against Oklahoma's public education system. Student wise, I know people who only care about getting to the finish line, just getting a passing grade. I know people who are only happy if they have a perfect 4.0 GPA. Grades are important for getting into a good college, but why? Should colleges not look at a student's willingness to learn and better themselves. Grades can be a representation of that, but I know plenty of naturally intelligent people who get good grades but lack motivation. I am not saying that we should not look at grades, but we should not look at only grades.
ReplyDeleteLibby Revel
Libby,
DeleteMy schooling experience was like yours. I believed my high school teachers cared more about getting through course material, and our scores on assignments and/or exams, rather than us actually learning the material. In particular, I had a chemistry teacher who was so determined to get through the course material according to his syllabus, rather than ensuring that we were retaining information properly. I had a poor attitude in high school, I cared about receiving a passing grade and that's it. Now that I’m in college, I care about receiving good grades and learning as much as possible about my major. I believe students are more concerned about passing classes than learning.
-Caitlin Lynn
Whether it is companies, schools, or even goals on a personal level society cares only about results, generally speaking. Given the school example, schools weigh things like test grades and GPAs so heavily that someone is not able to move onto the next level if their grades are below a certain point. Schools say things like attitude and character are important but will there be any consequences for this? Not unless it is an extreme case and it is only in the case of negative behavior resulting in a punishment. Society in most cases is also not concerned about how people got to the results, students cheat to get good grades, companies bend rules and cut corners to create a bigger profit, and people take the easiest route to achieve a goal even if it is ugly. The point is that society cares much more about results and the so;ution to fixing this issue is very complex. Circling back to the school example, basing school on a balance of character, attitude, and understanding of concepts is difficult as school is a place to learn and understand material so creating a system of evaluation for character may lead to students graduating who have great character but their understanding of subjects is far below what it should be. I do not have a firm answer for fixing schools to focus on grades and test scores less but I do believe that it needs to change to some degree.
ReplyDeleteOur current society is solely about the “bottom-line.” Many wealthy individuals got to where they are today by stepping on others. Many companies rely on labor exploitation to sell the cheapest products so that they can get more business than those who work ethically. It is possible that focusing on how someone got to where they are would encourage personal bias, but it is shameful to ignore the background of those who have achieved success. The mindset that we should focus on what is accomplished rather than how you got there is being taught within our school system. Too many students believe that their grades are more important than learning the material being taught, which is only confirmed by the school. If you do poorly on your exams, it is believed that you are not capable of doing well in the class, or even school as a whole. If a learning environment was more accommodating to those who struggle with tests and homework, we would see many more individuals achieve success within the classroom. Encouraging the attitude that students are not defined by their homework is a good place to start. Strong character is not something that can be graded, only taught.
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ReplyDeleteThe current state of society tends towards being a “bottom-line” society. The reason being that, in most things in life, appearances are valued above character and general effort. When a person has high grades or a high position at work, people tend to assume they are hard-working or smart solely because of the connotation of their situation. It is not often that people tend to think about how the person acquired the job or their high grades. Because of this, many tend to do the minimum to maintain the appearance they desire without actually learning or putting in genuine effort. This often can result in people lessening the effort they put into maintaining things such as a good character because, many times, it does not come with the social currency that the former holds. This can put pressure on students to value looking good as opposed to being a good person. It would be in the best interest of many people to reevaluate their mindset regarding these situations. To become the sort of person who puts their character and education above the concern of one's public perception.
ReplyDeleteI do think that our society is one that cares more about accomplishments than how it is accomplished. As Allyson wisely stated above, “appearances are valued above character… ”. Students get involved in things simply to fill up their resumes, and sometimes they might not necessarily care about the organization but instead about how it will make them appear. Some may get their sense of worth from good grades and high test scores. This happens because parts of society emphasize that to be a successful human, you have to be the best at everything; meaning straight A’s and a perfect test score to get the highest scholarship. What isn’t often promoted is general passion and good character. Also not promoted is actually learning a subject rather than studying to make a good grade. I have been guilty of this. In some classes, I struggle to learn the material because I don’t want to mess up my GPA for the future. This ends in me getting the grade I desired but quickly forgetting the material. I recently have been trying to convince myself that if I’m curious about the subject, genuinely wanting to learn the material, most of the time I get the grade, and I remember what I learned. I believe that many people have a fixed mindset regarding education and achievement. If you’ve struggled with grades in the past, it can make you feel like you're unable to learn. The truth is, almost everyone is able to learn and improve with effort. I am trying to encourage myself to learn regardless of grades but it can be difficult due to the culture of achievement that we live in.
ReplyDeleteI do feel that it would be slightly difficult to evaluate qualities like attitude and character with the personal prejudices and biases of the evaluators… Our principles of good character/attitude can vary from person to person.
-Jillian B
I do think that we are a bottom-line society. We spend so much time thinking about the outcome of our projects. We are busy all the time. We generally only care about the shortlist of a person’s accomplishments rather than the struggles we had on the way to those accomplishments. This is unfortunate because we cannot understand a person and all their intricacies from just their accomplishments. This is hindering to both our personal growth gained by learning to appreciate all aspects, both good and bad of others, and the development of meaningful relationships with others. Meaningful relationships are built by through the understanding of the nitty gritty aspects of a person and hard work by both parties. I do think too much emphasis is placed on grades. I would personally like to spend my time learning about the things that interest me rather than stressing about the grades I receive on assignments. My goal in college and life is to learn in a way that allows me to apply the knowledge gained therein for the benefit of others. I cannot do this without having an intimate knowledge and understanding of the material taught to me in the classroom. However, I understand that in we generally measure progress in numerical fashion. This cannot be accomplished without the necessary evil of grading and testing.
ReplyDelete- Jordan Odell