Exam-dependency
Education Reform, ESOL, FE Monday, January 9th, 2006
Devotion to exams and streaming means only that we teach the test. The ESOL curriculum doesn’t call for but implicitly determines the groups that students are placed in.
Better to stream based on academic experience, interest and need i.e. university or school, job-hunting or UK culture, everyday life or university entrance. If we produce students dependent on exams for confidence then we create a culture lacking in self-reliance but one full of instituional-reliance and expert-dependency. A dangerous proposition.