Literacy in Subject Areas: The Curious Case of Missing Marks
This post is dedicated to Esha’s mother and all my students' mothers who battle guilt every day despite having done their very best for their children.
I love Monk. It’s exhilarating to watch someone put together clues that aren’t laid out for the common man to see. It takes expertise, patience, and the right investigations to uncover who committed a murder. Although Monk is projected as a supremely smart individual, I have never fully bought that as the reason for his greatness. I believe he is, with all his failings, curious, bull-headed, hardworking, and fascinated by unsolved problems. Perhaps this is my ploy to be able to relate to him because I am nothing close to smart, but with all my failings, I have been raised to work harder than most people on an average day. And I am known to have an unhealthy obsession with not letting go of something until I figure it out.
I also relate to Monk because, just like him, my job gives me opportunities to get to the bottom of unsolved mysteries every day. I am ladies and gentlemen, a teacher.
Before you dismiss this post as a joke and move on, let me tell you about Esha, a 12th-standard CBSE Arts student.
Esha’s mother called me in November 2020 to explain why I must take her on as a student.
“My daughter is very, very hardworking. She has a great memory. She is good at memorizing.
She scores reasonably well in all subjects except Sociology.
Sociology is very vague. It’s so general. It feels like you already know what it’s about, but it’s also new concepts at the same time. So, it’s so unclear what to write in the exam.
Maybe her teacher isn’t good. She’s new and inexperienced.
I contacted her teacher for feedback. She says Esha has understood concepts but doesn’t express them in writing very well. That she must use keywords. I’ve read her answer sheets, and I agree. She must write better.”
The mother suggested that I teach her writing skills using Sociology. She lamented about how she wished she had taught her daughter to write better and the other reasons she is guilty of not doing and being enough. Guilt, after all, comes free with motherhood.
I met Esha shortly after and asked her why she was in my class. She said, “To improve my writing. I know things but can’t write answers properly in the exam.”
Her words? Her mother’s words? The sociology teacher’s words? I am probably not going to find out.
Why can’t she write if she has understood the topic?
Hypothesis 1: Poor English Proficiency
Possible in cases where the teacher explains in Hindi, for example. The student could have definitely understood but may not be able to write the same in English.
But Esha’s teacher teaches in English.
Esha’s spoken English during my meeting with her was great. Moreover, the family speaks English at home 60% of the time.
Could it be poor written English?
I looked through her answer papers. Her writing seemed to be in the range of C1/C2. I had enough evidence to be convinced. I didn’t want to waste time with a formal proficiency test.
The answer had to be somewhere else.
