During my childhood, exams didn't seem to make much of a difference. Now they do. Now each exam is a survival point. Firstly, the pressure of getting past through preliminary exams, then the main exams and the last interview part. I admit, I haven't dreaded exams as much as I did during Architecture school. It was horrible back then. April and May felt like the longest months. The juries were terrible. All of them. Always. Now, one reason could be because I deterred the evaluation system and the other was, the jurors never seemed to like the designs. No matter how good the concept or the rendering or the technical details like including ramps throughout the building spaces. I used to be really miffed with the jury members because it seemed pointless that they would only always appreciate great scale models and not the design. Of course, there are exceptions. I really admire my first year Architecture Design teacher who looked beyond presentation and into the actual designing details. He encouraged and most of all, was vocal in his appraisal of the students' work. He seemed like a close confidante, one we could talk to without feeling being judged. Very rare teachers like him in Architecture schools. He had a calm temperament and that seemed to have a positive effect on all of us. I remember this one study tour to Ahmedabad wherein we documented temples and step-wells and explored the old city and had fun, without being stressed about the documentation. And after returning back to school, the presentation was another beautiful exercise. Its always wonderful to have a teacher who diminishes the barriers of overt idolization. I have to say I never came across another cool teacher like him with whom I shared my book reads.
Now that I've my exams tomorrow, I feel a little stressed not about the exam, more worried about getting up early mostly. I have learnt to maintain a calm composure over the years. I don't fret over exams or post-exam-result nerves now. Its alright. Its important to grow over our fears. Conquering this trait seemed like an impossible task many years ago, now I am over it. What bigger exam can we face than braving this life, right?
True...I have always debated over our system of education....importance to marks...exams...As if we are going to be judged based on how we perform in that one or two hours under high pressure and nervousness. And good teachers break that barrier and make us feel so comfortable remaining in this system..Your thoughts are so close to an article i wrote recently on education.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much more than rote learning that we could emphasize on in our system. Sadly the standards have fallen so low. There's not even enough reading and writing in schools these days. An objective based system will ruin learning and interpretation capabilities of students.
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