Today's discussion was fascinating as the proficiency scale has been a contentious issue with many teachers across the province. Given that I was not taking the assessment class with Kevin, some of the points brought up with classmates gave me much insight regarding the proficiency scale. Some include how the scale paints broad strokes of a percentage so students know how well they are doing without showing them a percentage. The proficiency scale prevents students from stressing over percentages and allows them to focus better on the learning rather than the exams. Another interesting view on the proficiency scale is how we assess students. We favour early assessments less at the beginning of the year, and students will be able to bounce back and not let a bad mark drag them down. Once again, this helps with learning as students will feel more motivated instead of seeing a bad mark from the beginning of the year ruin everything.
The other exciting idea introduced was Alfie Kohn and his strong view against competition. With the discussion in class, I have also concluded that he is very extreme on this point of view, making it difficult to agree with his point as it is very radical. Kohn's view ties into how I think the extreme political left and extreme political right are similar. Both sides agree to their ideals so much that they prevent dialogue from happening to anyone. Kohn makes me feel that he is so extreme that he will refuse to dialogue with anyone with a different idea. While he makes good points, the extremeness pushes me away.
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