I’m fortunate to be learning with students who came from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and knowledge. My classmates and I had a very interesting and informative discussion regarding Meaningless Assessments and Overlooked Assessment Principles. We have shared sentiments regarding our experiences with Assessments in the Philippines and it’s sad to say it wasn’t a good one. It seems that most of us went through similar experiences of having teachers who lacked the skills to utilize assessments. Most of us finished schooling not knowing the importance of assessment because it was not taught to us.
When I left the Philippines and started teaching abroad, that was the first time I became aware of how important assessments were in students’ and teachers’ growth. There are many things that I do now as a teacher because I learned the value of assessments. I’m fortunate to be working in a school whose educational leaders see it’s significance and encourage their teachers to make the most of it.
Later after that, I was chosen to be our Grade Level Leader and I made sure that we would regularly meet to use assessments to reflect on our practices. My team found it to be very helpful and so it’s always been in our grade level calendar since then.
It makes me wonder if today’s Filipino teachers are still as inept as the teachers in the past. If so, how are Filipino students going to succeed on the 21st century? Will they be prepared to compete globally?
