Quality of Work
School work is not a chore
In many instances, we have have undersold the value of an education to our children. For your child to consider the quality of work she is producing she requires a deeper understanding of the purpose of education. It is remarkable that many students see school work as just one more chore. Do the dishes; clean the toilets; do my math. The purpose is often described to be, "To get a good grade." It is requisite on us to communicate the real purposes of a quality education to our children.
Knowledge, understanding and skills
When your child is engaged in her own education she is able to develop a breadth of knowledge that includes the essential facts, formulas, and data necessary for an understanding of the content. She needs to know the vocabulary for understanding our history, the steps of the scientific process, and the formulas for solving geometric problems.
As your child develops a deep understanding of important topics talk with her about her insights and discoveries, the connections she made, the conclusions she has drawn, and the generalizations she has made. A surface level familiarity means little, but a deep understanding allows your child to analyze, generalize, and communicate at a meaningful level. When discussing school assignments and projects, do not talk to her about the grade she achieved. Instead, talk to her about what she now understands more clearly or deeply than before.
Have conversations with your child about how the skills she develops at school will allow her to accomplish complex and worthy tasks. The acquisition of these skills will allow your child to develop sophisticated problem-solving capabilities. She will be able to design and conduct scientific experiments, compose a political essay worthy to be published, or solve differential equations.
Classwork and homework should serve one of two purposes. Either it is assigned in order to support the development of deep understanding, essential knowledge, or strong skills; or it is assigned so the child can demonstrate his understanding, knowledge and skills.
Questions to ask when striving for quality
Sometimes, the only question asked about homework is, "Is it done?" If a child is to improve the quality of his work, he must ask questions such as these:
Does this work demonstrate my depth of understanding?
Does this work demonstrate my breadth of knowledge?
Does this work demonstrates my skills in this area?
Grades are used as a measure of understanding, knowledge, and skills. They are a very poor measure. But. they are what we use because there is no good, simple measure of what we are truly trying to accomplish. In actuality, we only reveal the true purposes of education through our conversations with our children. It may seem that the deeper intent is obvious or implicit in what we say and do. But, for many, many students it is important that we have conversations that make the real purposes explicit.
In many instances, we have have undersold the value of an education to our children. For your child to consider the quality of work she is producing she requires a deeper understanding of the purpose of education. It is remarkable that many students see school work as just one more chore. Do the dishes; clean the toilets; do my math. The purpose is often described to be, "To get a good grade." It is requisite on us to communicate the real purposes of a quality education to our children.
Knowledge, understanding and skills
When your child is engaged in her own education she is able to develop a breadth of knowledge that includes the essential facts, formulas, and data necessary for an understanding of the content. She needs to know the vocabulary for understanding our history, the steps of the scientific process, and the formulas for solving geometric problems.
As your child develops a deep understanding of important topics talk with her about her insights and discoveries, the connections she made, the conclusions she has drawn, and the generalizations she has made. A surface level familiarity means little, but a deep understanding allows your child to analyze, generalize, and communicate at a meaningful level. When discussing school assignments and projects, do not talk to her about the grade she achieved. Instead, talk to her about what she now understands more clearly or deeply than before.
Have conversations with your child about how the skills she develops at school will allow her to accomplish complex and worthy tasks. The acquisition of these skills will allow your child to develop sophisticated problem-solving capabilities. She will be able to design and conduct scientific experiments, compose a political essay worthy to be published, or solve differential equations.
Classwork and homework should serve one of two purposes. Either it is assigned in order to support the development of deep understanding, essential knowledge, or strong skills; or it is assigned so the child can demonstrate his understanding, knowledge and skills.
Questions to ask when striving for quality
Sometimes, the only question asked about homework is, "Is it done?" If a child is to improve the quality of his work, he must ask questions such as these:
Does this work demonstrate my depth of understanding?
Does this work demonstrate my breadth of knowledge?
Does this work demonstrates my skills in this area?
Grades are used as a measure of understanding, knowledge, and skills. They are a very poor measure. But. they are what we use because there is no good, simple measure of what we are truly trying to accomplish. In actuality, we only reveal the true purposes of education through our conversations with our children. It may seem that the deeper intent is obvious or implicit in what we say and do. But, for many, many students it is important that we have conversations that make the real purposes explicit.