What do you remember from your time in school?
Classes and homework, most likely. But also tests.
Tests are a fundamental part of the education experience. They’re the prove it moments. The opportunities to show what we’ve learned by answering a set of specific questions.
This is especially the case later in the education experience. Test scores define grades, provide us admission to the next level of learning and even certify us to practice certain professions.
Tests require preparation. They demand focus. And they can cause students great amounts of stress and anxiety.
Why is that? Because of the high stakes, for sure. But also because of the lack of control.
In most testing environments, we don’t know what’s coming. We might have some ideas as to the topics and general focus. But we don’t know the exact questions we’ll be working with until we’re in the moment.
This makes the build-up process somewhat of a toss-up. Studying involves internalizing information, practicing sample questions, and taking educated guesses as to the actual questions we’ll see in prime time.
It also changes our expectations of the learning experience. We focus our attention solely on the topics that might be on the test. We synthesize most of the information we learn in the waning hours before the test. And we take our performance from the test as a full indication of our potential.
We might succeed in this endeavor. But we’re ultimately setting ourselves up to fail.
You see, the test-intensive education structure is focused on the wrong things. It looks solely at the outcome, at the destination. And it gives that outcome, that result, an inordinate amount of weight when it comes to opening doors to our future.
This setup sends the wrong messages to students.
For one thing, it systemizes gratification. We’re raised to believe If we do one thing, we’ll get something else. Yet, outside the classroom, doing one thing only gives you the opportunity to get something else.
The world is notoriously random and irrational. Building an expectation of fairness and gratification in impressionable young students is downright reckless.
But perhaps more importantly, this focus on outcomes undercuts the very efficacy of education.
You see, learning is more about the journey than the destination. Sure, it can provide great benefits — such as the ability to make more informed decisions and live a more prosperous life. But ultimately, learning is a process. One that is built up gradually over time.
A heavy-handed focus on a few specific data points unravels the entire ball of yarn.
Now, instead of focusing on steady, incremental growth, we emphasize a feast-or-famine approach. We encourage students to pack their brains with information right before a test, data dump it during the exam, and then quickly forget what they’ve just memorized.
The sheer ridiculousness of this cycle is clear. In fact, it’s valid to ask if students really learn anything at all through this process.
The answer, too often, is no.
And that’s a problem.
Because the world needs us to keep learning. It needs us to continually embrace the pattern of growth.
Not just for us to leave our mark on society. But for us to simply survive the day-to-day.
For every day is a series of tests. From the moment we wake up to the moment we hit the pillow, we face a series of new situations and challenges.
These tests don’t follow an academic course structure. We can’t do much to anticipate them ahead of time. We walk into them blind.
It’s on us to build off what we’ve previously learned to handle these situations well in the heat of the moment.
Sometimes we’ll pass with flying colors. Other times, we won’t.
But regardless the result, we can learn from the experience. And use the information we’ve gleaned to prepare us for the next challenge we face.
This is incrementalism at its finest. It’s a full-bore commitment to the journey over the destination. And it’s critical to our daily existence, no matter our walk of life.
We must get on board with growth mindset. Our future depends on it.
So, stop thinking in terms of big moments and gratification. Of tests and grades.
Look at the big picture. Embrace the process.
The journey will be more rewarding.