Schools nowadays rely more on a conversation between teacher and student, to decide whether a child is ready for pre-school. In general, school admissions can be a testing time for both parents and children. There is immense pressure to find the right school for the child. There is even more pressure to ensure that the child clears the admission test. The word assessment itself can create tremendous anxiety in parents and students. The conversation is a departure from the conventional method of administering written entrance tests to all the children seeking admission.
Here are some reasons why conversation is a better tool than written tests:
Conversation can assess listening and speaking skills
Conversation or interaction is simply the best way to check the listening and speaking skills of the student. It also helps assess student understanding. Educators possess the skills to assess how well a student understands what they are saying, based on the responses that the child gives. Conversation engages the child on many levels: the child has to listen attentively and respond appropriately. Assessments based on this can be very informative. Non-obtrusive conversations can also give the child more opportunities to express himself.
The conversation is less intimidating than a written test
It is less intimidating than a written test. It requires no preparation on the part of the parents or the child. Educators are already proficient in the skills that are necessary to engage children in conversation and make them feel at ease. This gives the child the freedom to be herself. Conversations are more personal than written texts which usually follow a set pattern or format. This is something that the child may not be familiar with. Do we really want pre-schoolers to prepare for standardized written tests before they have even learnt to write properly?
Interaction helps build relationships
Conversations show students that they matter and this, in turn, can lead to better relationships between them and their educators. The entrance test is also a means of building a relationship and mutual understanding between the school and the parents. Such conversations with students honour that the important fact that relationships matter. This, in turn, will lead to better student learning. Parents seeking admission to a school need to accept the ideology that guides the school. They also need to decide if this is what they really want for their child or not. Conversations at the time of admission help the parents to get a better picture of what the school is offering their child. They also give the school a profile of the parents.
Shows different levels of learning
Conversations allow students to share different levels of learning. These interactions compel students to think on their feet or to extend their own thinking. Conversations also provide information about how students think and the kind of ideas they are capable of. Dialogic exchanges can provide a spontaneous and telling glimpse into the understanding of a student and how developed it is, through the ‘back-and-forth’ that takes place. The child does not know that an assessment is taking place. This makes it an experience where the stakes are low. By contrast, a formal written test with marks and scores can be a completely different and also nerve-wracking experience.