Don’t grade children as poor during exams-Expert advises teachers

A CHILD development expert, Mrs Judith Mensah-Newlove, has asked teachers not to grade the performance of children in examination as poor or deteriorating, since these do not encourage them to perform better.
Instead, she proposed a narration of the child’s achievements, strengths and weaknesses with emphasis on improving on those weaknesses with the help of the parents and teachers.
Mrs Newlove-Mensah said this at a day's workshop organised by “Babi World” for some teachers at the pre-school level and some selected junior high schools (JHSs) throughout the Accra metropolis.
She explained that describing the overall performance of a child as poor or deteriorating because of the child’s position in an examination was the worst thing a teacher could do for the child in such a situation.
Mrs Newlove-Mensah also urged the teachers to treat every child as their own biological children, adding that “your personal interest in the child would bring out the best in him or her as this would come in the form of motivation to urge the child on”.
She pointed out that at the pre-school level, the child must be allowed to express himself even when the child made mistakes, describing the child as a natural learner who had the capacity to absorb whatever they were told.
Mrs Newlove-Mensah was, however, quick to add that those mistakes must be safe for the child. “Children learn while having fun, but this should not be to the detriment of the child such that would hurt the child,” she said.
She encouraged the teachers to adopt the Montessori system of teaching and learning as it concentrated on the development of the child while learning with aids as against the Froebel system of learning which concentrated mostly on the teacher.
Explaining further, she said the Montessori concept stressed the importance of adopting the child’s environment to his developmental needs and levels.
Touching on teachers who solicit money from parents to organise extra classes and to give them special attention, she said that would only lead to the neglect of some of the children in the classroom whose parents had not been able to see the teacher to present special gifts to them.
She said teachers must be motivated by their products. “Even though teachers must be well paid, the biggest motivation must be to see the children who pass through your care succeed,” she added.
The teachers were also taken through classroom management, how to maintain discipline in the classroom and how to build a professional image for the teacher and the teaching profession.
Some participants the Daily Graphic spoke with said their responsibilities as teachers were basically to shape the world of the child and make him or her develop in a very friendly environment.