TRANSCRIPT:

You’re listening to The Parents of Hardworking Teens Podcast, episode 116 - how you can join me in turning exams into a strength and an opportunity to shine for your teen and for their whole school. So they’re having smarter conversations in class, so that their scores climb in terms of rankings and scaling and so that they’re surrounded by a can-do mindset and positive, successful environment around exams and assessment. 

Hey VIP’s! I hope you’re as excited as I am for this episode from the intro, and if not, I really hope you will be by the end, because the difference it can make to your teen, when everyone around them - or let’s be real - most people around them - are on the same page, with the same mindset, that can have a big impact.

As you hopefully know, I am going to be delivering school information evening talks to parents and students. 

One for students and parents of Years 7 to 10: on how to Build confidence, success and independence in assessments and exams. Because that’s the biggest thing I hear from parents - is that they want their teen to feel confident and successful.

And then the other for students and parents of Years 11- 12 or 11 to 13: on Exam Mastery: How to Turn Exams into a strength, (rather than a stress), without just cramming more content, studying into the small hours, or sacrificing their mental health or life balance.

And I’ve also had for a little while now a Teacher Professional Development training entitled: Boost your students’ exam results and confidence. So that we have the full complement of support and training in place.

Because this is what I want for students. I want them to be confident and successful in exams. And I want parents to also feel confident and competent in supporting their teen through them. We know that things are more positive and productive when everyone’s singing from the same sheet and pulling in the same direction.

My ultimate wish is that students and parents see exams as an opportunity to shine.And here’s why: Because right now, for most students, parents and schools, exams are painful.  

I used to have a boss when I worked in conservation before I got into teaching who’d always refer to grasping the nettle and I think this fits. Exams can sting, and if your teen is following any kind of academic path, that path is lined with nettles. 

Because for MOST students in most syllabuses and subjects: 

1) Exams are the biggest source of stress, fear, anxiety. Fear of the unknown - what will they ask, what do they actually want?  Fear of running out of time.  Fear of not doing well (knock on consequence - opportunities/confidence).

2) Exams are often their lowest performing type of assessment, even though the final exam is often worth the biggest chunk of their overall grade or result.

AND 

3) in my experience - exams are the litmus test. If students can be successful in exams then they can be successful in almost all other types of assessments. Because exams require so many of the skills that your teen needs for any task or assessment, for so many areas of their study. 

Dissecting the question, being able to put together a succinct yet sophisticated response, meeting the demands of the mark scheme. And if they can do that with an UNSEEN question, an unseen set of marking criteria and do it all under time pressure, then everything else will feel like a walk in the park. Maybe not a walk in the park, but certainly if they can do these things in exam conditions, then they can do it anywhere else. 

So let’s talk about point 1. Exams being a significant source of stress because I know there is an argument against exams. That if they’re causing so much anxiety and stress, then maybe we should get rid of them.

And I can understand that. 

But I also think that ONE of the reasons that people - parents, students, researchers, maybe even some teachers believe that, is because exams are often the type of assessment where students do worst. Of course we would want to get rid of the weakest link or the area that causes most stress and least marks. 

Now very honestly and openly, I do not spend a lot of time and energy reading all the research or opinions as to whether we should scrap exams or not. I know that might not be great seeing as I do so much work around them. But here’s why. I would rather spend my time and energy helping students and parents see exams more strategically and accurately, understand them and how to succeed in them. 
I want to treat not the symptoms, but the cause of the issues.

Plus, I do believe there is some value in setting teens up for success in situations where there is pressure - time pressure, and pressure to perform, then I’m focusing on helping them and everyone around them succeed in this. Because what’s the reason that students are feeling so much stress and anxiety around exams? It’s the fear of the unknown - not knowing what the questions will be, what topics will be asked, and not knowing what’s required- what will get marks. And the pressure of exams - the time pressure and the pressure to perform - when they want or need a certain grade. The pressure to be successful.

Because, as time goes on and I get more and more into all of this, I am also beginning to actually see the features and characteristics of what exams really are as transferable skills. 

In life, in a career or profession:
We need the knowledge behind it or for it, AND the skills to execute.
In some ways exams are a judgement of how well students can do those things.
Because exams are not just testing subject knowledge. They’re testing students’ abilities to apply that knowledge to the way the question is asked and exactly what is required in the response.

For example, a lawyer needs to understand all of the legalities AND be able to understand the needs and requirements of their client and how to take their knowledge and apply it to serve them.

A builder needs to understand building concepts, regulations AND have the skills to understand what the client wants and they use their practical skills to deliver it to them.

This is the equivalent of learning the subject content. Dissect the Q - what is it asking and predict the mark scheme to give the examiner what they want in the way they want it. In the most efficient, clear and succinct yet sophisticated way.

I’ll jump to point 3 here - that if they can do this in exams they can do it for everything in their study. Essays, research projects, data analysis, writing the content for presentations.

And from what I can tell, exams are not going anywhere soon. In fact with AI here to stay, I can only see exams increasing as the difficulties in validating essays and coursework is getting so much more difficult. And I’m certainly not against AI either. That is also here to stay and not going anywhere. 

And given all of that, and from everything I’ve seen and experienced - as a student, as a teacher, as an external examiner, panel member and moderator, there are definitely ways to make exams a more positive, success-filled experience, and have them be an exercise that builds confidence and self belief rather than dents and erodes it. 

Not that that means students should be or need to be getting A grades every time. Though for some, it might. For others it might simply be a case of getting through them without the stress and anxiety and melt-downs. 

For others it might be about having a better life balance whilst still getting the results they want. For others it might be about knowing that their result actually reflects their ability and effort - whatever THAT might be. For others, it’s about actually feeling successful and building that self-belief.

It also doesn’t mean that they are going to LOVE sitting exams. I don’t think any amount of training or confidence level will do that. 

But I do think it could be a more positive and productive challenge. Like when you turn up to a workout and the exercises that are on the board are ones that you know you’re good at and that you enjoy more. Yes, the workout will still be hard, but you’ll feel good about yourself while you’re doing it and you’ll likely be ahead of the pack.

Or, when your teen gets put on their favourite area or task at their job - like if they prefer being on the counter instead of the floor in the cafe, or they prefer being on the drinks station in Mcdonalds. Yes, it’s still work, but you’re using the skills that are your strengths or that you enjoy, and that you know you are less likely to make mistakes on, more likely to get praised on and just feel confident in.
  
Because of course, there will still be some level of stress and pressure. I used to get a real buzz when I was doing cafe work, and I’d be on juices which I enjoyed, and it got really busy and you’d be under pressure, make sure you didn’t make mistakes, work fast. It was tiring, sometimes it got a bit stressful if you were getting hassled about an order, but it was a good level of challenge, pressure. It was hard work and you’d be tired at the end, but it also felt rewarding.

This is what I want for students. To rise to the challenge, feel good - most of the time -  through it and achieve what they want out of it. And I want to empower parents to help their teen make that a reality. So that we address point number 2: and have that biggest % of the final grade be in a type of assessment that is a strength for them - them being your teen and their school - not the one type of assessment that’s always lower than the other types of coursework. 

That the biggest source of stress turns into a source of success.

If we intentionally choose to and then take practical steps to turn exams into an opportunity to shine, build the skill of sitting exams into a strength, perhaps we can turn some or I would like to think - many - of the negative aspects into positives. And I want to help as much as I can with that. Because this is something I consider to be MY strength, my wheelhouse. 

Understanding how exams work, distilling every aspect of them and reverse-engineering and systematising it all to help enlighten parents, train students and skill-up teachers. I’m grasping the nettle and wringing it with both hands, to hopefully make it all a lot less painful for everyone involved-  so that the path is so much more enjoyable to walk and leads to an amazing destination. 

If you’d like to have this happen for your teen, then I’d love to deliver one or both parent-student presentations or the Teacher PD for their school. 

Please let their school know about these information evenings, by sharing the webpage www.rocksolidstudy.com/schools with the relevant person - a deputy principal, head of year, or curriculum leader. 

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Have a brilliant rest of your week and I’ll see you back here next time