No one would think to question our notions of intelligence. Growing up we are bombarded with clues as to its meaning and significance. Relatives would approach children and try different sorts of games with them, and when the child answers correctly such as doing the “align” where the child has to align her pointer finger to the adult’s pointer finger, the child would then be immediately proclaimed as smart or intelligent. These affirming words would be accompanied by cooing which becomes a positive reinforcement of this behavior that would subconsciously tell us that showcasing intelligence is a socially accepted behavior, and therefore, we keep doing this even until we are old.
Once the child enters formal schooling, the child is again tested for intelligence where passing a private school is now of utmost importance. Private schools are deemed to be picky with their students because if they pass the initial screening for Kinder, it automatically means that the child has the ability and aptitude to finish schooling in that distinguished school. The question remains, however, is this really a universal truth? Do all those who pass the school at Kinder, eventually come to pass all the levels and ultimately graduate from that school? We know from our learnings in the readings that intelligence is mostly fluid, it varies as the person develops and constantly learns through his or her experiences.
Yearly, the child will be forced through this scrutinization as he or she will be graded for his or her individual standing – academic and non-academic grades are the be-all and end-all of a student. “Did I perform well?” “I thought I performed to the best of my abilities, but my parents want me to do better.” “Are my classmates judging me?” “Will this be enough for high school?” “Will this be enough for college?” The list of questions go on and on just because of the underlying cultural understanding of intelligence—that is, your worth is in your intelligence.
College entrance exams cause this anxiety as well, yet its predictability isn’t 100%. While it is true that these results help narrow down the chances of student fall-out, students must always still be reminded that failing an entrance exam doesn’t necessarily indicate your failure in life. Failure in an entrance exam is just simply that—being unfit to join that specific institution, which therefore begs you to try again at another until you find your fit. Adopting this attitude would help the student when it comes to facing job opportunities because even though they will still be facing a battery of tests, the results only indicate just that—you just haven’t found your fit, this has nothing to do with your worth as a person.
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