Growing up, students have been ranked and recognized according to their general average. Whoever gets the highest grade gets the top 1 “First Honor” title and bragging rights. This practice has given the young pupils the idea that they need to be more competent and participative in the class if they want to have their name on top of the list. In short, they need to study well. They need to exert effort.
Growing up, the way I view second honors down to the fifth one is an “almost there” category. It means you are good in school, or that you have been performing very well. Only that there is someone else in your class who does it better than you. It is not “that someone is better”, but “someone is doing double time than you do” which means you can also do it as long as you put more effort and being more active. The thing is, by the start of a new school year, teachers are “remembering” those who belong to the top five last year, and take care of them so they can maintain that standing.
Growing up, I enjoyed sitting in the front row during recognition ceremonies. Our parents those days had much of going up and down the stage to do. I was not able to understand fully what the recognition is for. But I know that my classmates somehow look at me as intelligent, and so do I when I look at my seatmates during the commencement program. We are all intelligent. And the feeling to be called “first honor” is truly rewarding.
Now that I am a grown up, the system in grading and recognizing the students have changed. Based on the grade range, one can be “with high honors” as with the rest as long as your grade falls on the same range category. The number of students who can get the title “with honors” or “with high honors” can be predicted but cannot be certain. And so is the number of chairs to be arranged during the moving up ceremony or graduation program.
Now that I am a grown up, and a teacher myself, I understand how my students regard the pride and honor of being on top. I can see how they work to reserve that seat during the recognition program. But instead of working hard to learn the competencies and acquire the skills, their focus is on the numbers. They wanted to have a high grade but they did not care about the quality of their output. The performance is mediocre, but they expect the skyrocketing grade. Despite the presentation of rubrics and assessment tools, students would invest on “effort” to get an additional point. “Bisan sa effort na lang sir…”
The ranking itself and the recognition is a game changer. It is a great practice that we recognize students for their hard work and performance. As I realized, ranking affects how the students give effort in school. The ranking today gives an equal bragging right to the students whose grade has a three-point difference. Much more than bragging rights, I am hoping that students of today realize that being competitive does not end in ranking. Hard work and being competent are lifelong skills that they must learn because the person whom you sit beside with today during the recognition ceremony may be the person who will be sitting in front of you in the future.
Teacher Jared 