Life is stressful. NAPLAN is just a taste of what’s to come

Do we really want our children to be mollycoddled into mediocrity by being spared the ‘stress’ of NAPLAN testing, asks Lucy Carne. Kids need quality and strict education to prepare them for real life.

Back when I was in school _ in the era of overhead projectors and one television on wheels pushed between classrooms _ tests were an everyday occurrence.

Our no-nonsense teacher Mrs Lyons would march into the classroom with a wrist full of rubber bands, a sharply ironed pencil skirt sitting exactly on her knee and after throwing open every window regardless of whether Brisbane’s August Westerlies were blowing, would launch into the lesson and invariably a snap test.

There was no empathy, no special considerations.

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She paced in front of a blackboard and taught. We listened, she tested, we passed or failed.

Results were shouted across the front of our papers in large red pen so we all knew what each other got.

There was no gentle softening of reality so we could feel better about ourselves.

Our numeracy and literacy-based curriculum never included such things as wellbeing and self-care.

Generic photo of happy students in their classroom wearing their school uniform

The closest we got to that was an explicit documentary on childbirth — a highly effective contraceptive — that caused two girls to faint with loud thuds on the science lab floor.

But times have changed.

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Last week more than 260,000 Queensland students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the annual National Assessment Program — Numeracy and Literacy.

Once again rose the pained cries of children being damaged by exam stress.

Some kids were so anxious they feared they would “never get a job, have money or buy a house” if they didn’t perform well in NAPLAN, according to research by the University of Queensland.

While other Brisbane schools circulated a viral letter that has been doing the rounds for years, reassuring children that NAPLAN doesn’t decide “what makes you exceptional and unique”.

“Remember that there is no ‘one’ way to test all the wonderful things that make you, YOU!” it exclaims.

Other parents opted to withdraw their children from school for the week as a philosophical objection to testing.

One of the Matific questions being used to prepare students for NAPLAN testing. Picture: Supplied

One mother justifying why she took her children camping during NAPLAN wrote on Facebook: “I see it as a social responsibility to all children to tell the government that what is important in education has nothing to do with testing, ranking or comparison and everything to do with developing a strong sense of self and belonging.”

Here is a NAPLAN question from the Years 3 and 5 language convention section that is traumatising our children:

“There is one spelling mistake in this sentence. Write the correct spelling of the word in the box. He has bloo eyes.”

You can’t sit out life because it’s too stressful.

So what becomes of these helicopter-parented children when they face the complexities of the adult world?

What happens why they must take a driving test, apply for a mortgage or sit a job interview?

This snowflakery robs children of resilience and autonomy.

The purpose of NAPLAN was to bring to light gaps in learning and skills.

Parents, who once had little idea of how effective their local school’s teaching was, now have the power to make informed choices about where to send their kids.

Children once poorly-served by teachers and left to slip behind can, thanks to NAPLAN, be helped.

Of course, NAPLAN, has been manipulated by some.

Schools have requested underperforming students skip class during the tests, while over preparing high-performing students to help boost the school’s results.

Some schools sacrifice subjects such as health and PE and creative arts to focus only on teaching the test.

Teachers are punished and their jobs put at risk if schools don’t perform well.

Supermarkets sell NAPLAN study guides and an industry of private coaches have capitalised on parental fear and ambition incited by high stakes testing.

Parents encourage their children to approach NAPLAN with an open mind and see the fun it while testing their skills. Picture: News Corp

Key results from last year’s test showed that while Queensland’s reading skills had increased, our writing scores went backwards in every year level.

But blaming NAPLAN for poor performance is like blaming a mirror for flaws.

Standardised testing gives us a snapshot of learning but it doesn’t give us a panorama view of about education.

Many brilliant teachers in our schools would already know what their individual students need to help them advance.

Rather than parents wrapping kids in cotton wool or pressuring them into high performance, they should encourage their children to treat NAPLAN as a bit of fun and then talk to their child’s teacher about what skills are needed in their learning.

It is by no means a panacea for the faults in our education system, but to scrap NAPLAN would only set our children back even further.

Robust data from NAPLAN — particularly when all testing is to go digital next year — offers the opportunity for huge statistical analysis that helps prevent the one-size-fits-all curriculums and allow learning to be individually tailored to best suit the student.

Isn’t that what we all want: for our children not to be mollycoddled into mediocrity but to have the best opportunity for quality education that prepares them for real life?

And Mrs Lyons, if you’re reading, please come back, our students need you.

Lucy Carne is editor of RendezView

@lucycarne