The value of grades in school. Do school grades matter? If you do not give grades, children will stop learning

Any parent wants his child to have good school performance, gain new knowledge and have a positive disposition of teachers and the school principal. But do good grades really matter to a child? Is it necessary for teachers to set the child as an example to other students? Will striving to get a gold medal in school really help in life?

Study takes a lot of time

Of course, it's nice that the student gets an A at school, but the constant cramming of the material, doing homework and additional classes with teachers take a lot of time. The child literally has no way of knowing real life use your theoretical knowledge in practice. And is there a desire? All resources go to what teachers would like and get praise from.

In this case, the child falsely perceives reality, he receives "respect" without actually bringing real benefits to people or himself. In life, it is much more urgent to spin, to find a way out of hopeless situations, and in case of failures, do not lose heart, and continue to work productively!

Good grades are not always success in life

That is why very often C students, truants and hooligans succeed in life! An irresponsible attitude to learning develops in children the talent to squeeze the maximum out of themselves, to find the necessary information quickly and imperceptibly, to get their triples without knowing it and get a deuce!

Moreover, the negative reaction of teachers again prepares children for reality. If at work a person (in the past a gold medalist and a favorite of all teachers) scolds him, or simply the work does not work out, in most cases such a person simply falls apart and his productivity drops to zero. While the three-year-old in the past, already accustomed to criticism of teachers, on the contrary, is activated and will find a way out of a difficult situation!

The opinion of the teacher is not equal to the assessment of knowledge

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that often school marks- a purely subjective opinion of the teacher, often not related to reality. Lesson not learned or not done homework does not mean at all that the child is (sorry) stupid.

School grades don't matter

Actually answering the question “Are grades important at school?” Shift7 will answer - no, grades are not important. What is important is the child's real ability to find a way out of difficult situations, to solve the tasks set not by pre-prepared "formulas", but to implement ingenious solutions. The ability to tolerate criticism from elders will also greatly help in adult life!

In conclusion, I can say that everything is fine, but in moderation! The best option would be to find a balance between cramming and sloppiness.

I am absolutely sure that one of the worst things in schooling is a grading system. It's hard to imagine anything more traumatic than constantly being compared to other people and publicly voicing negative marks.

What is dangerous school system assessments?

First of all, grades seriously harm real achievements in adult life. If I, as an accomplished professional, suddenly began to compare myself with others, I would immediately go into depression.

I always look not at others, but at what I was half a year, a year ago. I evaluate what project I have developed during this time, how cool I came up with and implemented something. Why, then, should my child compare himself with another person, and according to some rather subjective parameters?

Considering grades in the diary as an important indicator of success, moms and dads make a serious mistake. In fact, they are trying to convince the child that all his value is determined by the mark. Moreover, this mark is put up by a “foreign aunt”, who does not know him well, and her opinion can hardly be considered a standard.

The child believes that what strangers think of him is much more important than himself, his talents and interests. With this attitude, parents convey to their children that the most important thing in life is an external assessment.

It's hard to come up with The best way raise an insecure person without own opinion and the right to choose interests. Remember: by presenting complaints to a child about a low grade, we begin to form in him a dependence on someone else's opinion - contrary to our own.

In my opinion, in school education, in general, it is impossible to really assess the success or failure of a child. For the most part, it has no practical application nor objectively measurable results.

Estimates are a state instrument of control

Why is evaluation bad in the first place? For 10-11 years, the child is systematically taught that his opinion of himself is not important. Only the opinion of outsiders, "specially authorized" people, expressed in the form of a mark, matters.

What is this mark - “excellent”, “good”, “satisfactory”, etc. - does not matter. Any of them shifts the focus of the student's attention from his, as it is called in psychology, "internal reference" (based on his own values ​​and opinion about himself) to what others think of him.

That is, the grading system equally harms both excellent students and losers. When parents pay too much attention to grades, scold, criticize, children feel betrayed. It seems to them that for the mother, the opinion of the teacher is much more important than themselves.

And there is some truth in this. By being too attentive to someone else's assessment, we partly betray the child and form a loser out of him.

Pride and low self-esteem are two sides of the same coin.

There you are real example from my daughter's life.

If she is in primary school managed to read half a book, while a desk mate reads one page, this is not a reason to give her 10 points (according to Russian system- "perfect"). My daughter has just been reading for six years, because she took speed reading courses and overcame several hundred books during this time. And the neighbor did not read 10 books. She learned letters at school, reads only two years - and then according to the old method.

My daughter has the skill of extracting correct information and correct wording. While the other child is thinking about how to answer the question, she will speak clearly and clearly. But still, this is not so much the merit of my child as correct technique training, i.e. spent on individual sessions 10 hours and $100 invested in it. And the problem of her neighbor is in the wrong training.

Traditional assessment in this situation will hurt both girls (and their self-esteem). These are not their own results, but the results of their mothers' different approaches to learning.

And it turns out that my girl can completely unjustifiably begin to consider herself superior. Pride, which has arisen from scratch, will hurt, first of all, itself. And the other child will listen from adults (more often from parents): “You don’t pull, you study poorly, you are stupid, you are not what you need to be.” As a rule, such remarks will be born by sick pride of parents: their child must be the best!

It turns out that the child experiences psychological pressure not only at school, but also at home. Even if you don't give negative ratings out loud, kids are pretty quick to stick these labels on each other. But worst of all, they stick the labels “stupid”, “incapable”, “not like that” on themselves.

Such a negative internal evaluation it is extremely difficult to fix: then it will not be easy to make the child believe in his own strength, to convince him that he is talented and can achieve everything he wants in life.

Fear of negative evaluation - comes from school

What is the upshot? When a child becomes an adult, he simply will not have his own opinion. To him, someone else's assessment will be more important than his own opinion about himself.

Adult fear of negative evaluation is usually formed during school years and it is parents who attach excessive importance to school grades.

Why torture a child if at the age of 30 we don’t care if we had a triple in chemistry in the eighth grade? It does not affect adult success or failure in any way. Like a great grade 20 years ago, it doesn't guarantee love or success in business.

Very often, people who have really achieved success in life, rich people, studied extremely unevenly at school. In interesting subjects or with good teachers, they probably had high marks. In boring subjects or with mediocre teachers, they did not have to count on praise.

And this is a healthy approach, because the really rich and successful people become those who know how to focus. Those who choose two or three qualities and develop them as much as possible. Those who strive for averages in all subjects grow up to be average. Without much achievement in life.

The strategy for success is to develop your strongest quality and "buy" the weak one. Make money from your strengths - and pay people to do for you what you can't do.

How school grades affect character

There is another very serious problem. In order to receive social attention at school, the child must be either an excellent student, a genius, an Olympiad winner, or a bully and a loser. A good student or a C student loses socially: they do not notice him. And this is a problem for children. They subsequently form grey mass- thanks to the system of school assessment.

All of the above does not mean that the success or failure of the child can not be assessed. But life itself must evaluate them. For example, when a child wins (or loses) in sports, this is the correct assessment, based on the result of his personal achievements. He begins to realize how the assessment depends on the amount of effort, time spent and other investments.

Alternative Methods for Evaluating Children

When grandma starts reprimanding one of my girls for bad grades and she gets upset, I tell her: “Okay, you’ll get an excellent now. And as an adult, how will these excellent grades help you earn an extra thousand dollars? Explain to me the relationship between this subject and your future earnings.”

And then my children begin to think: “Mom, what about in adult life? What do you need to know and do to make the project a success? How do adults make money? What does it take to become a professional to be invited to Good work? And this is a different position, a different worldview.

It is best to demonstrate my attitude to the assessments clearly. For example, let's take a circle of beading.

Each girl makes her own decorations in it. She chooses interesting samples and works at her own pace. Someone will make one product, someone will make ten during this time, someone will make a simple one, someone will make a super-complex one. The result is obvious, and the process is a pleasure. And in the end, the child will evaluate himself, motivate himself and convince himself to try harder, be more patient or choose tasks more difficult.

Another example is the circle of computer animation. The occupation is creative, it requires perseverance, attentiveness and non-trivial solutions. When a child starts showing his friends ready-made videos, this will be the best assessment and strongest motivation for him. Why else any assessments from the outside?

How to develop a correct attitude towards school grades in a child

No need to scold him, no need to humiliate him about low grades. He needs to calmly explain:

First, this is his assessment only on this moment. She will change later if he wants to. You just need to put in more effort.
Secondly, it is for the most part an assessment of his behavior and the compliance of the answers with the instructions in methodological guide teacher. That is, for a good grade, it is important not how much you know, but whether the teacher liked your answer, whether he agrees with your opinion.

Of course, it is formally forbidden to give grades not for knowledge, but for behavior, but teachers do it anyway. The child must understand that evaluation does not define him as a person. Does not affect the attitude of the parents who love him. And there are more important things than what other people think of him.

Yes, everyone needs a result in the form of a certificate, in the form of admission to a university, in the form of test scores. The subjective opinion of the teacher is not so important if the result is achieved. And this should be said all school years.

In general, I am categorically against the assessment system as such: life is better than any teachers in evaluating the result. The school evaluates the wrong results, according to the wrong criteria, and often it is done by the wrong people. So why injure a child and spoil his childhood? Why harm your children?

All parents want their children to study well. In our understanding, “studying well” most often means getting “five” and “four”. IN Russian school it is customary to put marks at each lesson, for homework, for oral answers, for independent and test papers, from primary school until the last call.

In many countries, such a system has been abandoned, and marks are given only for verification work- Tests and exams. What is better? Maybe it’s worth keeping the child in good shape, encouraging him with good grades and whipping him up with bad ones? What if he suddenly relaxes and fails to pass the test decently? Or still give the opportunity to study in peace ... So, what is good and what is bad in daily assessments?

And in order to make reading the article a little more fun for you, it will be accompanied by photos of various entries by teachers and students in diaries and notebooks. Sometimes they are shocking, sometimes funny, but, believe me, they are all very original. Well, anything can happen.


How do grades motivate students?

It is believed that, having received a bad grade, the child will think about the level of his own knowledge and want to improve it. That is why the first estimates in primary school schoolchildren receive not for knowledge, but for handwriting and cleanliness in notebooks. It was at this time that the attitude of children to grades began to form.

The fact is that not everyone can immediately write beautifully and accurately. The endless struggle of the child with naughty pens and notebooks, with his own temperament and natural data begins. To this struggle is added the disapproval of the teacher and the reproaches of the parents. Other children can, but why don't you try?


But the child would be happy to try, but miracles do not happen in a second. Today he wrote a little better than yesterday, but still not as perfect as classmate Masha Ivanova. And again he gets a triple.

As a result, instead of correcting the handwriting, the child does nothing because he does not believe in success. This becomes a habit, an absolutely indifferent attitude to grades and to learning in general is formed, which is very difficult to change.

What should parents do if already in the lower grades they see a problem with handwriting and constantly lower grades?

First, wait to rebuke the child.

It is better to support him and cheer him up. Explain to him that bad grades do not mean that he is not able to learn and that he will never succeed. It’s just that you can’t immediately, you need to move slowly, and sooner or later your grades will also improve.

Second, don't overreact to every evaluation.

Of course, you need to fight against dirt in notebooks and crooked handwriting, but consider the characteristics of the child. Perhaps something you can just close your eyes. Pay attention first to knowledge, and secondly to handwriting. Decide what is more important to you. Some adults never learned to write legibly, but that doesn't make them dumber.


Can grades be only good?

Grades for knowledge are, of course, more important for the educational process. The older the student, the more subjects appear in the program, and all these subjects are necessarily evaluated.

The child has just studied at 4 and 5, and suddenly “triples” appear. What's happening? The parents are unhappy, the child is upset. Do not rush to blame the child for laziness or blame everything on adolescence. Try to remember yourself and your friends. Did you understand and love all subjects equally?


Of course, there are children who school program easy and simple to digest. They equally understand the Russian language, algebra, chemistry, English and biology. It happens that way too. But far from everyone. There is no need to set talented children as an example, driving your own child into uncertainty. It is better to talk about what exactly does not work and do not like.

If a child is a pronounced humanist, he may not respond well to exact sciences. Or vice versa - mathematicians hardly talk about literature. In this case, you can focus on what really works. The rest is kept at an average level. Of course, “twos” should not be allowed, this will definitely not improve the certificate and will not help with admission.


If something does not go catastrophically, it is better to agree on extra classes to not launch the item permanently. But don't get hung up on ratings. "Five" in history, literature, Russian, but "three" in chemistry, algebra and physics? Well, what to do. Choose humanitarian professions with your child.

Own rating system? Why not?

In order not to worry about every lower grade and understand how success is at school, you can agree with the child on a scale of important, less important and not at all important. Based on this scale, build not only your attitude to grades, but also an understanding of the educational process in general.


How to do it?

Decide what the child chooses among school subjects. Throw all the main forces in this direction. Here, follow the grades, do not miss anything important, upgrade your knowledge and skills. Other items, even if they take only second place in importance, still keep it under control, try not to run it. At least in order to pass the exams and get a decent certificate. The rest of the scores - for forgotten notebooks, blots, carelessness, and so on - do not discount completely, but do not make a tragedy out of each.


Of course, the choice of the field of knowledge should not be done in the first grade. Typically, a child's inclinations become clear closer to high school. Before self-determination, it is worth strenuously engaging in humanitarian, precise, and natural sciences to better understand yourself and your goals. The main thing that would be good for both children and parents to understand at school is that grades are far from the most important thing in education. Understanding is more important!

“Study excellently and then you will be able to succeed in life” - there is hardly a person who was not told this way in childhood by parents, acquaintances, teachers.

Many at one time believed and worked hard for a gold medal and a red diploma, firmly believing that they would be professionals in their field and would be able to earn huge money. And when it came time to look around and draw some conclusions, it turned out that their work is a set of routine tasks for which they receive average salary, have no particular prospects, and their knowledge is highly specialized. At the same time, one of the losers and hooligans will definitely appear somewhere on the horizon, who did not show any hope in their youth, now having their own business, real estate and a beautiful wife. Why it happens? Where did the mistake happen and why do good grades not affect success in life?

To answer these questions, we have identified several theses:

1. No prospective employer will ask you about your grades.

In progressive modern companies, no one is interested in how you studied at school or at university. You will not see the “progress” columns in any resume or questionnaire, but work experience and your skills will be of interest to everyone. Let's say more, computer skills and any achievements in sports or other competitions will have a much greater impact in obtaining a position than excellent marks in the test.


2. You will forget everything you have learned.

First you will forget everything you learned for exams at school, and then at the university. Some time after graduation, you will realize that all your knowledge base consists only of excerpts from different areas. The only thing that saves in this situation is that in the first months of practice you will restore and acquire more professional skills than in all the years of study. So was it worth it to strain and be so nervous for so long?

3. Chasing A's can ruin your health.


People who were not exhausted by exams and sessions simply do not exist. And usually you get not only moral, but also physical exhaustion. Sleepless nights, worries, constant cramming and incessant chaos are all normal for a student. Because of chronic stress reduced productivity and material acceptance. It won't take long to get sick here. Although, haven't you noticed that many of their excellent students often catch a cold?

4. You will not be able to devote time to communicating with other people.


Naturally, and when to meet friends and make new acquaintances, if tasks for independent work an unending stream? everything about her is taken away free time. The most significant value of the university is the opportunity to make useful contacts. Here you can learn how to communicate with a variety of personalities, develop skills for interacting with other people and make not only good friends, but also partners. Remember, prioritizing your life is very important.

5. Everything that will generate income, you will study outside the university

Unfortunately, it so happened historically that the modern education system is not aimed at developing students' interest in certain subjects, but at killing it in the bud in everything. Heads get hammered theoretical knowledge which will never actually be applied in practice. To achieve success, first of all, hobbies will help. It will turn out to master and apply in a career only what will be interesting to you.

Despite all of the above, most students continue to study hard and try to "knock out" only top marks. This is quite understandable, because many of the myths are imposed by universities themselves.


For example, at the university they will definitely tell you that:

  • only the holder of a "red" diploma will be able to succeed in a career

This thesis works exclusively within the walls of the university. Beyond them, this statement is a myth. Excellent grades they will not help, because the employer is not interested in how you passed your exams, it is important for him what you know how and how well. It is not for nothing that most graduates at the beginning of their journey will hear and be forced to apply the phrase for themselves: “Forget everything you were taught at the university.” Only by practicing, you can get real knowledge in a particular area;

  • experience and competence of a specialist depends on the duration of work

These are echoes of the Soviet times. Even in our time, at a factory, a state enterprise or a private company, you can find an employee whose work experience spans decades, these are the forefront of labor, their age has already exceeded retirement age. Such a specialist is considered very valuable. At the same time, few people care that this person, most likely, is on “you” with a computer, has heard little or nothing about the latest in his field of activity or simply already has a lot of diseases or abnormalities due to his age. It is clear that only a graduate of the university young specialist and you should not be equal to such experienced workers, although, even without work experience, he has much more knowledge and skills.


Modern students are many times more valuable than retired employees. And it's not about age at all. Honored workers do not want to develop, they believe that they already know their profession well enough. This leads to inefficient work not only of themselves, but of the entire enterprise as a whole. Such employees will not be able to train the younger generation. This is all to the fact that the competence of a specialist does not depend on the duration of work, but on personal characteristics, such as flexibility, craving for self-development, proactivity and the desire to gain diverse experience;

Again, this is true only for university students. This cannot concern practitioners due to the fact that the possession of some professions cannot be assessed at all. For example, an artist at the university masters drawing techniques, but teachers will not teach creativity, imagination and the ability to express themselves on canvas. These are personal qualities that are individual for each person and how they manifest themselves will depend on how successful he will be;

  • there are authoritative people whose statements are undeniable

This is a frequent occurrence in universities where teachers have been working since Soviet times. Usually they know several reputable scientists, whose opinion is considered the only correct and undeniable one.

Modern students should always remember that only by analyzing, reading and learning how to more information(fortunately now this is not a problem), you can comprehensively and in detail understand the subject of study. Mindlessly following established theories will not develop the ability to analyze and have one's own opinion;

  • stick to the rules and you will succeed

Most teachers will not allow even a step to deviate from generally accepted norms. It is necessary to apply knowledge in practice only in the algorithm in which they taught at the university, however, for some reason, no one mentions that all great people became such because they broke the rules? They broke stereotypes. We don't want you to go all out right now. It's about that always try to have your own solution to the problem, do not go with the flow. Learn only to have a theoretical knowledge base, then create innovations.

We understand that having criticized the modern education system and established principles, we must offer alternative options. Of course, many of them are unlikely to be appreciated by those who are bogged down in generally accepted rules, but we are sure that they will be useful to those who are ready to take risks and achieve unprecedented heights in life.


Don't waste time on unnecessary items. If you want to be a chemist, is it really that important for you to go out of your way to write an essay in literature and get a high score for it? Focus your energy as much as possible only on what you really like, what you enjoy. Other subjects are important to study for general development but not for overall result in the certificate.

Start gaining experience as early as possible. Ideally, get a job or an internship in your second year. So you will be much more likely to take a worthy position immediately after receiving a diploma.

Make useful contacts. Do not waste time, communicate. Anywhere. Find friends, acquaintances, partners. Among them there may be influential people, and if not, then you will still get invaluable experience in communicating with people.


Enjoy life, do not forget about rest. Don't miss parties and other university events. This will bring not only pleasant memories of the fun student life but it will also make you active, liberated and self-confident.

Walking along the school corridor, she asked everyone she met the question: “Why do we need grades at school?”. At first, the question caused a slight stupor: “It’s obvious!”
Then - some reflections: “But really - why?”, Then - a variety of answers (from “So that parents know what to scold us for” to “Grades are needed in order to know which of the teachers to give a good salary , and who to scold at the teachers' council). The most unexpected for me was the answer of a seventh-grader: "What for? To go to university and get a good profession."
But in fact, according to our deuces and fives, we are evaluated when entering a university or some other educational institution. When applying for a job, they look at our diploma or certificate and draw conclusions with whom they are dealing. After all, the employer, opening our insert with estimates, immediately draws conclusions about what we are capable of and whether he should actually deal with us. At home, looking at the diary, our parents decide whether to praise us or punish us. From our assessments, it is decided how the evening will go. Will we wash the dishes or go for a walk with friends with ease in our hearts. Or, even worse for us, whether we will go to our grandmother in a remote village for the summer, or we will be sent to the sea. Our friends often ask: "How are you doing with your studies? Zapor or not?". And then the girls will begin to torment their young people with the same questions. And what is the answer to that? To tell the bitter truth and lose your credibility as an "A" student in her eyes, or lie about your deuce in algebra and be cute and fluffy. And these questions are from relatives or just acquaintances on the way home on the bus: "How are you at school?". What is the answer to this? And why is everyone so interested in it? Are we really "appreciated" by everyone: mothers in childhood, then a beloved girl, and even a boss at work.

If we take a dictionary and stop at the letter "O", then the word "assessment" in pedagogy is the opinion of the teacher (another verifier) ​​about the level of knowledge of the student (the quality of his work) expressed in a number. I mean, it's just an opinion. An opinion that affects our entire subsequent life. And it’s clear that we can’t change this in any way, and even as a great minister, we can’t cancel school grades. And, on the other hand, why? After all, with good grades, our life will go uphill. Our mother will adore us and buy us a lot and allow us different things, while saying to her friends: “She’s studying well with me,” while experiencing great pride. And it's always nice to please your beloved mother. Our friends will also be proud of us and cherish our friendship, because who, if not us, will help them in difficult times and let them write off. Beloved, in turn, will brag about the fact that she has such a good "I". Well, let's not even talk about work. After all, the respect and good attitude of the boss did not interfere with anyone else, and the bonus at the end of the quarter would not be superfluous.
It turns out that our life begins with school and in the future depends on it, or rather on ourselves. After all, what will be our life, what will be the opinion about us, attitude towards us and our financial condition depends only on us and no one else. Already at school, we decide our fate, we decide it thanks to a simple five-point system. What will it be like? Everyone has their own. The main thing is to "evaluate" everything correctly.

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