Assignment 4

Grades in Primary School will not have Positive Effects

The introduction of grades in primary school in 2007 was part of an educational reform carried out by the relatively new government; the Centre-Right Alliance. This reform was rather natural when considering the grade systems in other European countries, which have, for a long time, graded pupils in primary school. The reform does not only say that pupils will be graded in the 6th grade, but will, if the school chooses to, also evaluated them of their academic progress and behavior from 1st grade. Can we not let children be children as long as possible? This educational reform will only help to introduce an even higher stress-level into our children’s lives, and will not have the positive effects the government has hoped for.

First of all, let us consider the written reports parents will receive withholding their children’s academic progress and behavior in the 1st grade. The pupil will, if he or she does not behave in a proper way, or perhaps have trouble reading or writing, receive criticism for this from a very early age. This will, in most cases, have a negative impact on the child’s further studies, as commendation is necessary in a child’s progress for building up a positive self-image. We are all aware of this; if children do not receive positive response on what they achieve, they are not likely to perform any better in the future, as they have lost all their self-esteem.

Another argument is that grading in primary school will only create higher demands on children, whereas the stress-level already is too high among them. Children are already comparing who has the strongest father or the biggest car with each other, due to the fact that their parents are comparing themselves to others. The introduction of grades and written reports of academic progress will carry the same effect, and thereby increase the competition between the pupils as a result of the comparison of the grades, and an obvious line will be drawn between the smart ones and the stupid ones.

Some people might claim that the earlier grading in school is good to make pupils realize that they are on the wrong track, and also for making ignorant parents realize that their child has problems with learning or behaving. They claim that the teacher reports should be seen as feedback. But consider how unfair this would be to a child with a poor ability to concentrate during the early years in school. If the children that possess some kind of problem with learning to read or write or behave well in class will receive negative feedback, they will not be able to get rid of the problem. Children need encouragement to improve their learning, not criticism.

There are obviously some benefits from introducing grades in primary school and written reports from the 1st grade, but only if the child receives the feedback in the right way. There will be pupils who will be psyched up by the higher demands and perform even better, but there will also be children who cannot stand the pressure and therefore only feel bad about falling short on the expectations laid upon them. Grades in primary school are thus not a foolproof reform, and will not have positive effects in Swedish schools.