EDUCATION

GRADING
AND
As I read on, a particular passage seemed to me to be making
a statement incredibly bold, but perhaps, vastly shared by many
as well, especially in these times when examinations have just
passed: Here in college, [imitation] was more sophisticated, of
course; you were supposed to imitate the teacher in such a way
as to convince the teacher you were not imitating, but taking
the essence of instruction and going ahead with it on your
own. Tat got you As. Originality on the other hand could get
you anything from A to F. Te whole grading system cautioned
against it.
Terein lays the dilemma: are grades a motivator or a defler
of creativity? And the fulcrum of the entire issue is this; will
studying hard to get good grades ever serve you outside of the
lecture-hall and the university campus grounds? Tis perhaps
is too great and encompassing a question to answer in a few
paragraphs; but we will try to explore it nonetheless.
If grades are a hangmans noose around originality, then are
they really worth it? Education seems stifed when it is reduced
to a few lines on a Curriculum Vitae, whereas it should be
taken as a life-changing inspiring medium which allows us to
mature, to learn new skills, and teaches us critical thinking. But
when stress and expectation take the place of real education,
then is the grading system really a mechanism which should
still be so paramount? Te reality is that grades are ofen not a
holistic measure of what a person is truly capable of or whether
they are actually competent at doing their job. Big companies
like Google stress that their employers must have a certain
Googleyness as they themselves call it, the thing which makes
you, well, you, something which cannot be identifed from a
grade point average (GPA).
However, pragmatically speaking, grades are indeed
something that employers look at when it comes to most
occupations. Tey are not the only thing that is scrutinised,
but they are a signifcant factor. We must keep in mind that
even if grades are not an apt refection of the originality of
an individual, they are a refection of some qualities which
necessarily are a part of high achievement, such as self-
discipline and skilful time-management; all good traits to have
when pursuing a career. In the U.S.A., major law frms and
businesses are constantly on the hunt for the countrys highest
GPAs; to them, it becomes a matter of reputation and therefore
a matter of prestige.
In conclusion to this small and excessively generalised
overview, which will hopefully still instigate the grinding
of mental gears over what we should really want out of our
University experience, we can say that those who actively and
vigorously pursue high grades have every cause for doing so.
Yet, it would be a grave mistake to equate a students worth
with their test-score sheet. Grades mean something, but do not
mean everything. Tis is, perhaps, a valuable thing to keep in
mind at these times.
GERALDINE SAMMUT
LAST SUMMER I HAD THE UTMOST PLEASURE OF READING ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE
MAINTENANCE BY ROBERT M. PIRSIG. AS I FERVENTLY TURNED PAGE AFTER PAGE, THE
NARRATOR EASED INTO THE SUBJECT OF GRADING WITHIN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.
IMITATION VS ORIGINALITY
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