I prepared, administered, and evaluated many an exam in my day in the classroom.
Not one student ever stated they were exceptional test-takers.
Not even mediocre test-takers.
Every child was nervous, felt pressured to succeed, and then experienced the shame of disappointment when they didn’t perform as well as the standards stipulated.
For marginalized students, these side-effects were always magnified.
I speak to many families today who are preoccupied when their children score below class average (a misleading number derived by disparate variables).
The comparisons, the competitive environment, and the requirements demanded of children within the school setting are impractical, at best, and outright laughable, at worst!
Mandatory tests cause extreme stress in many students who are not natural producers of memorized or drilled content. Tests are NOT a reliable reflection of a child’s knowledge and abilities, and, for many, they are inaccessible!
This is true whether exams are administered in school or within our cozy homes.
I don’t want to conform to demands that derive from absurdly ableist perspectives.
Homeschoolers of disabled children, in particular, have been moving away from institutionalization, challenging existing educational conditions, and forging their own way for many years. We are not prepared to revert to conventional practices within alternative education.
This was our “why” for choosing to homeschool in the first place!
Related Articles:
- The Benefits of Home Educating a Disabled Child
- When a Parent Just Knows: Making the Decision to Educate at Home
- Lean Into Home Education: Making the Decision to Homeschool
How can you dismantle authoritarian and ableist education through your homeschool? Do you want to talk through some strategies?
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