Page Two
The Guilfordian
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Editor-in-Chief Janice Corneilson
Managing Editor Jennie Smith
Business Manager ... Barbara Shepard
Assistant Editor Peggy Wells
Feature Editor Marie Brewer
Sports Staff —Dave Bailey, Joyce Pate
Faculty Advisor —Dorothy Lloyd Gilbert
Reporters —Hugh Downing, Josh Crane,
Marie Hazard, Janet Jay, Lynn Apetz,
Les Warrick.
Feature Staff —Mary Ella Clark, Mar
garet Anne White, Martha Cannon,
Jim Lomax, Bob Warner.
Circulation Manager —Louise Moore
Circulation Staff —Marian Schiller, Bev
erly Mackie, Patricia Ritchie, Bobbie
Anne Williams, Dick Blackburn
Copy Managers —Betty Busick, Jo Anne
Hobby, Betsy Marklin
Society Editor —Rachel Grogan
Illustrator —Willard Payne
Should Guilford Change
Its Grading System?
For the Present System
Dear Janice:
You asked me to state briefly
my view on changing the present
system of grades to one which
would merely record "passing"
or "failing." Point blank, I am
against such a change. I am against
it not because I believe that the
present grading system is a per
fect tool of educational measure
ment. I am against such a change
because I believe that the present
system of differential grades, im
perfect as it is, performs certain
vital functions in the educational
process which I feel, a mere re
cording of "passing" or "failing"
cannot perform, at least not on un
dergraduate level. Evaluation of
graduate work is altogether a dif
ferent story.
Education, as I see it, is a refin
ing process. Liberal arts education
in particular is the co-operative ef
fort on the part of student and
teacher to develop the potentiali
ties of each individual student and
bring his innate abilities and hu
man qualities to fruition. The pro
cess is complex, cumulative, up
grading and uplifting.
As every refining process the ed
ucative process requires continu
ous testing of its results. It requires
constant quality control. It is here
that a system of differential grades,
if properly handled, performs a
vital function. It points to under
developed areas of weakness as
well as to developed areas of
strength. It recognizes achieve
ment and, at the same time, stimu
lates effort. A mere recording of
"passing" and "failing" has neither
special indicative value nor has it
incentive power. It fails to register
progress and may retard or even
impede, the vital process of
growth.
Now I have heard it said that
the present system of grades is not
without similar dangers; that, in
particular, the average student
may feel frustrated and become
discouraged if, in spite of his best
efforts, his record shows no sensa
tional improvement. Such notion
overlooks an important fact. It
overlooks the fact that the student
as he advances in his four years'
course of study is gradually ex
posed to a greater and greater
challenge so that, as a matter of
fact, the maintenance of a more or
less stable record of average
achievement indicates the stu
dent's ability to meet such in
creasingly greater challenge
squarely and fairly. That certainly
indicates progress; it indicates per
sonal growth.
To those, on the other hand,
who meet the challenge of higher
learning with superior achieve
ment —as many do—the system of
individual grades renders the
same service that individual ,and
differentiated scoring renders to
the participants in competitive ath
letic contests: "it makes them po
tential candidates of the "Mono-
gram Club" of scholars; more im
portant, it makes them candidates
for entering the professions if
that is their goal.
Cordially yours,
Curt Victorius
For a Change
Americans have a great faith in
the efficiency of education, which
is a factor of prime importance.
However, in the effort to carry out
the "Learning Theory," college ed
ucators frequently lose sight of the
true goals of education —the de
velopment of good character, the
building of good citizens, and the
promotion of those sensibilities in
the students minds which will
evoke an appreciation of the beau
tiful. Of course, scholarship is still
the most important factor in secur
ing the coveted college degree.
However, it should not be regard
ed as the only criterion by which a
student's success in life is mea
sured, because what really counts
in our Democracy is life itself and
how it is lived. Thus a good educa
tional system presupposes a com
posite aim; the training of young
men and women to become good
citizens of the future, mentally and
physically fit to assume their role
in society.
The idea of education viewed
from this angle is to get the stu
dents interested in doing their best
in anything that is undertaken at
college, whether it be studying a
lesson, playing baseball, leading a
discussion group, presiding over a
class, or editing a student paper. It
is not the highest marks achieved
in tests that are the chief criterion
of the good all-around student, but
the attitude of the students toward
work, toward their teacher and
schoolmates, toward school rules
and toward the college spirit in
general.
Of course we want the students
to achieve a certain degree of
scholarship as evidence of the fact
that they have mastered a certain
subject. However, a student whose
attitude toward work is very satis
factory, should be entitled to rec
ognition as the student who, be
cause he is endowed with the gift
of intellectual power, can grasp
the subject quickly as he listens to
the teacher when he explains the
lesson; then, again, if a student
happens to manifest leadership in
a given activity, let's say in a liter
ary or dramatic, or debating club,
or contributes to the success of
these clubs by actual participation,
he or she should be given the de
served recognition.
Not to be overlooked is the
teacher's part in this process of
teaching and learning. It involves
the teacher's skill in ascertaining
the aptitudes and capacities and
abilities of the students. It is the
teachers personal job to encourage
them to do their best in every field
of endeavor. There is always the
factor of individual differences
which must be taken into consider
ation. The teacher must seek these
differences and provide opportun
ity to every student to give ex
pression of their interests.
The tendency to single out the
bright student and to praise him
to the sky must be counteracted.
The practice of awarding grades
A, B, C, D, F, and the tendency
to compare grades of the brighter
students with those of the slow
learning student has no merit, be
cause it leads to tension, jealousy,
competition, and rivalry for grades.
It leads further to frustration and
nervous breakdowns. A grade
chaser tends to resort to devious
methods to achieve high grade and
defeats the very purpose of schol
arship. The only grade to be as
signed is satisfactory or unsatisfac
tory.
Of course this system of educa
tion will not find approval with the
college teacher who believes that
scholarship is measured chiefly by
grades. The writer has gone to var
ious schools and from the experi
ence he has gathered, he has come
to the conclusion that the grading
system as used today is detrimental
to character building and the fos-
THE GUILFORDIAN
tering of scholarship. The pro
posed scheme or system of educa
tion is based on the three-fold pur
pose: finding out, promoting, and
developing the talents of every stu
dent; the development of skills, at
titudes and the training of char
acter. This can be achieved by the
application of the grade awarding
and grade chasing technique.
There should be periodic tests, of
course, but they should be used
merely for the purpose of insuring
the study habit of the students.
The main objective is to encourage
everyone to do his or her level best
in all tests, to study hard, to review
the work, and to pay particular at
tention to the content, accuracy,
and neatness of the student's work.
If the student is not required to
study for a grade but for the pur
pose of gaining knowledge and an
appreciation of the beautiful, he
will not be as frustrated as he is
today, but he will be a happy and
hardworking student. This system
has been tried by farsighted
teachers in other schools and with
considerable success in promoting
sound scholarship and good char
acter
George Tielman
For the Present System
A school which gave out letter
grades which indicated no more
than whether or not a student has
passed or failed, would be a work
able system for a student body
which is genuinely interested in
the detached pursuit of knowledge
for knowledge's sake. Such a sys
tem would fit their needs and atti
tudes.
However, there are several
classes on this campus, in which
teachers do not emphasize grades
and usually do not place grading
marks on homework or examina
tion papers, other than some pass
or fail indication or a sentence or
two describing how good or bad
the work was.
In general the student reaction
to this method has been unfavor
able, resulting in complaints about
the confusion under which they
work; uncertainty about how well
or not they are doing. Whether we
like il or not, we live in a society
where the emphasis in almost every
field of endeavor is on competi
tion. Most of us have been trained
from childhood under such a sys
tem and we're grade conscious.
Often those people who work the
hardest are stimulated by just a
sense of competition and take a
pride in the high honors they've
won. With no other grades but P
and F such a stimulus would be
absent. Students who put in longer
hours in studies for more than me
diocre grades will be a little bitter
to have to go unrecognized. In our
society today most achievement is
based on a stimulus of competi
tion, recognition and reward. It
is unrealistic to suppose that any
group but the minority are inter
ested in seeking knowledge for the
sake of it and open to question to
maintain that this detached inter
est would replace the competitive
spirit should competitive grading
be abolished. Before we make a
move in any new direction we
ought to be sure that the abolition
of the grading system is what
everyone wants and not just a
dream of ideal scholastics on the
part of a few.
Student's Comment
For a Change
Here is the story of a little school
with a big idea, yet a very simple
one. The idea that education, to be
of greatest value must be geared
to the physical, mental and spirit
ual development of the individual,
and that education is life itself and
not preparation for life.
The late Marietta Johnson, the
founder of this school, in realizing
these aims of education saw that
our traditional education institu
tions were, if anything hindering
the sound development of the stu
dent. In her teaching experiences
she noticed that the school life of
the student was uninteresting and
often frustrating. These realiza
tions led her to eliminate many of
the traditional methods while add
ing many new features to her new
school and educational philoso
phy."
Her new school, The School of
Organic Education in Fairhope,
Alabama, was to have no tests,
marks, honor societies and was to
do away with competition between
students whenever possible. There
were not to be students who felt
superior or inferior because of their
academic standing nor were there
to be the other frustrations which
are associated with the vicious
competition of the traditional
school system. In their place there
woidd be new incentives to learn
and new goals. The goal was not a
mark but that each student do
his best. The new interests were
drama, arts, crafts and especially
group work and play. Students
were to learn by doing, if it were
nature study, to go out and investi
gate nature itself, not just read
about it in a book. The student was
to be trusted and with no tests or
marks there was no reason to cheat
or even consider the necessity of
an honor system.
To an outsider this sounds very
idealistic and impractical. Strange
as it may seem, this atmosphere of
self discipline did not result in
chaos and a "do as you please sys
tem." It meant that students were
working to better themselves, often
going beyond the usual standard.
A student who could find virtually
no interest in academic work might
"find himself" in the other outlets,
such as manual training, arts, folk
dancing or music. Of course there
were some who could never be
come adjusted to this system after
experiencing the traditional atmos
phere of competition.
Students did not need tests and
competition to urge them to learn
for learning was a stimulating ex
perience in itself. It was LIFE —
not preparation for life. They
wanted to learn for they wanted to
live.
This of course, seems quite ir
relevant to Guilford College but
it does touch upon some problems
which are current on this campus.
Students at Guilford sense that
something is lacking in their col
lege experiences but do not seem
to know where to start or what the
actual deficiency is. It is quite ap
parent that all too many of us
count the minutes of our class pe
riods as a convict "does his time."
Our campus on week-ends shows
that to those who can, the week
end is a time to get away from it
all. College life should not be that
way and does not need to be so.
Some students and faculty feel
that the elimination of the system
of handing out grades would be a
step towards enriching our college
life by lessening the tensions which
accompany the competition of
known marks. It is hoped that such
a system might eliminate some of
the honor problems that are so
prevalent at this time. The exact
details of such a system woidd
have to be worked out by a group
of INTERESTED students and
faculty who are sincere in their
desire to better our college expe
rience.
It would be a very mistaken no
tion that such a system would be
an elixir to our honor problems or
that it would be simple to admin
ister. Such a system of tests with
grades which are recorded but
never revealed to students except
for important reasons, would be a
great and possibly an impractical
compromise to the philosophy of
Organic Education as vaguely de
scribed earlier but it would be a
step in the direction to lessen col
lege tension. Not only would there
be the direct problems of adminis
tering a new and unfamiliar sy
stem but there would have to be
more work on the part of the fac
ulty to make academic work more
interesting giving the students an
inward desire to learn. Marks
°Mrs. Johnson's ideas were really not new,
they were also held by sueh men as Rosseau
and John Dewey, the latter whom visited her
sehool several times. Her work was praised by
sueh people as Dorothy Canfield Fishpr,
novelist.
March 19, 1954
would be replaced with remarks
and comments by the teacher.
Not only must we have more
creative experiences in our aca
demic work but we also need new
group experiences working to
gether upon a common problem or
goal (such as was had when the
college lake was made); group so
cial life such as square dancing,
folk dancing, hikes, picnics and re
treats for study or contemplation;
and more cultural experiences in
music, art, literature and drama
such as music appreciation ses
sions, concerts, art exhibits, etc.
There has been an attempt here
to make a comparison between an
educational system of grade and
high school level with one of col
legiate level and consequently it
must be realized that the differen
ces and circumstances of the two
levels create many considerations
in trying to apply the technique of
one to the other. A change in our
grading system is necessary and
will work but it must be accom
plished with a faith and interest
that believes it will work. To ac
complish such a change or any
other change, students must or
ganize, analyze the problem, out
line the mechanics of the new sys
tem and "sell it" to the other stu
dents and faculty. It will not be
fool-proof but it will work as it has
in other educational institutions.
Frank Laraway
Don Rockwell
Cheerleaders Join
Student Affairs Board
At the March 11th meeting of
the Students Affairs Board, the
Board approved the constitution of
the Cheerleaders and unanimously
voted that the body become a
member of the Board. Charlie Au
stin, head cheerleader, presented
the constitution and the petition to
join the Board. Emily Warrick,
the newly elected head cheer
leader, will represent the organiza
tion on the Board.
DICK'S BARBER
SHOP
GUILFORD COLLEGE
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Also Aqua Shed
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Store
227 S. Elm St.
Greensboro, N. C.
HOLLOWELL'S
Student Headquarters
Everything Good to Eat
YKEC
SHOE SHOP - J
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105 N. Greene
For Service in a Hurry