Whenever I think of standardized testing, my mind always goes back to this and thinking this was going to happen:
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6 days ago
4 comments:
So this reminded me of an aptitude test that I had to take in high school. It had questions like, "Do you like putting things in boxes. A)Very much B) Yes C) Indifferent D)No E) Not at all" and "Do you like looking at fires"
I don't remember what the test said that I should do with my life and I threw it out when I got home. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that a test can say what fields a person should go into. A test cannot truly measure your skills. And who cares if I like putting things in boxes, or how much a like staring at fire, or mowing the lawn (yes, that was also a question). Its not like all people that stare at fires should be firefighters, or just because I like mowing the grass I should go into landscaping. People have too many different aspects to be put in boxes like this, even if we are indifferent to the boxes.
I think it’s fun to take these kinds of tests, even if they don’t necessarily reflect what I should be doing with my life. When I took these tests in school, the tests would always say I’m a creative, arts person. I would always be like Meg, and say NO WAY as I’m not artistic at all. But now, after choosing my career path and being immersed in literature daily, I realize that literature is actually a form of art. As I try to write a short story, I have to be artistic with language and ideas. While interpreting poetry or any piece of fiction, I have to be creative in figuring out meanings and themes. I actually enjoy being artistic with literature, so maybe these tests aren’t always as wrong as they seem. I think they are a good dictator of personality types that match with certain jobs.
I agree with Meg. I don't think that aptitude tests should play a significant role in determining what to do with the rest of your life. These tests remind me a lot of the ones in Cosmo like "What's your type of boy?" or "Are you clingy?" If you're not a human being with less than average intelligence, you can probably figure out which answers will earn you a certain result. Obviously we know all the tests, including aptitude tests, are structured this way, but one test really doesn't take into account a slew of other factors that determine you future career or your future mate.
Because the aptitude test tells me I should be a lawyer doesn't mean I'm going to take it as the future set in stone. I may use this to look into the field of law and determine if it is something that I would consider pursuing, but that's probably the extent of it.
If we're looking for something that is "literate" in predicting future careers for us, we might want to turn to a psychic. Unfortunately (or not), psychics don't really get to go into schools and tell our children what their lives hold in store for them. But I'll admit here that I see value in psychics. Not to predict the future so much as to provide a means of self-reflection. Though in school, these tests might just be a waste of time, maybe a few students actually stop and reflect about whether they want to be a firefighter or a homemaker. I like think aptitude tests are akin to psychics, they're mostly inaccurate and generalizing, but that doesn't mean that we can't learn from them.
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