Why 1st graders don't have grades
The assessment of knowledge at school, of course, is necessary. But it should be introduced gradually: for a small child, comparisons and evaluations can be stressful.
However, the point system is harmful not only for younger students: in 2019, American analysts conducted a global study of student confidence in the learning process. It turned out that children from the United States are the most stressed in the world due to academic performance (only 11% said they feel confident).
Many of us were scolded by our parents for bad grades and taught that “the diary is your face.” But is success really that important? When the main task of a child is to get an A (or not get an A), he will rather cheat, cheat and ask the teacher to take pity on him than sit down to study textbooks. But it is dangerous to do so as it will affect further learning. To avoid this, you need to learn how to study correctly and write written work correctly. It can be very difficult and therefore need help from editius.com/resume-editing-services/ who specialize in essay writing. This is a very good way to study properly so that your progress is really good.
Studies over the years have shown that rewards generally have a negative effect on motivation. In the 1960s, Canadian psychologist Sam Glucksberg challenged students to solve a puzzle against the clock.At the same time, he told one group of students that he was timing just for the sake of interest, and the second offered a monetary reward for the fastest solution to the problem (for the first place - $ 25, and for those who entered the 25% fastest - $ 5). According to the results of the experiment, everyone who knew about the reward, on average, solved the problem for three and a half minutes longer than the participants in the first group.
That is why it is not recommended to introduce a scoring system in the first grade: any insignia (stickers, sweets, emoticons) give children a wrong idea about the meaning of learning.
Instead of all together understanding the subject, students begin to compete for who has the most awards and who is the best among them. This leads to the fact that already in elementary school the class is divided into excellent students and lagging behind, who often believe that they are worse than others, and lose motivation to study.
Faith in success is more important than the result
You will be surprised, but faith in your own success means much more than real skills. In 1982, psychologist Mary Collins conducted this experiment: she asked children who had the same scores in mathematics to independently determine their level of mathematical ability. As a result, children who believed in their giftedness and took on difficult tasks cut off incorrect solution strategies faster and achieved better results than students who knew as much, but doubted their abilities.