- During your own education, how has your "intelligence" been assessed?
- How has this affected the educational opportunities you have been given?
- What judgments have people made about you that have been affected by an assessment of your "intelligence"?
- Do you consider yourself to be a "learner"? why?
Assessments and Judgement
In my own education, I was frequently assessed for intelligence. My teachers administered the standard quizzes and tests in the classroom, but also we had batteries of standardized tests all through grade school and high school. I recall I did fairly well in language, but was always coming up short in math. This caused me to have special tutoring from the state to bring me up to par with my classmates. There was a mild stigma surrounding children who needed this - we even had to leave the school building! It was a state-run program, but we were a Catholic school, so there was some stipulation that we had to be physically separated.
As I entered high school, my "one-sided intelligence" persisted, and I was still doing poorly in math. This ended up affecting the availability of elective courses for me - a limit on arts and no Latin for some reason. This, despite my creative ability and high scores in language arts! I muddled through, achieving highly in the areas I was good at, befuddling my principal. If I was "so good at" English, why could I not "do" algebra? There was a sense I was lacking, or that I was stubborn, that they just had to hit the right conditions and I would magically keep up with the rest of my class.
I knew I was "bad at math", and this was told to me over and over. I recall feeling more shame over not fitting in that at not learning mathematics. Equal achievement at all subjects meant one was "well-rounded" and thus intelligent. There was a definite sense of possibility included in the concept of "well-rounded", like those who were that were intelligent and thus liable to be successful. And yet here I sit, with a Masters' and 6 years teaching college classes ;)
Effect on opportunities
Ultimately, I don't think this limited me, even though it was stressful at the time! I would have liked to take Latin for goodness' sake, but I can always do that on my own. When I was in grade school I felt very judged for my lack of "ability", and I felt very bad. My best was never good enough. I wasn't considered unintelligent, but I was considered at a deficit. This continued through high school, but luckily I started reading about education and worked through that. By the time I hit college, no one gave a hoot about that, so I took my remedial math courses and did well (for me) in the real math requirements. Then I kissed it goodbye.
Now, even though I don't do more than arithmetic on a daily basis, I think I have a healthier relationship with math. It taught me about the shortcomings of standardized assessments. I work with many students who are convinced they are "bad at writing"; my experiences have definitely informed my pedagogy! I emphasize practice of basic writing concepts as tools that they can use across many different situations. My lessons are built on the first 4 stages of Bloom's taxonomy and the necessity of work, rather than talent.
Am I a "learner"?
Definitely yes! I love to learn new things and find uses for them. I think of my learning capacity as a candy dropped on the carpet - I pick up all sorts of bits. To reinforce what I take in, I will do casual research on it, write about it, and talk about it. Sometimes, this is for the sheer joy of learning. Other times this is my "homework" to self-train as a teacher. Throughout my childhood, curiosity and critical thought were encouraged. I think I kept that, and try to share it with other people on a daily basis.
