From the June 25 Vancouver Province:
Loaded Exams are no way to Learn History
Someone at the British Columbia Education Ministry thought it a good idea to include a multiple-choice question on Middle East politics as part of a practice test for students taking the History 12 provincial exams.
But rather than ask a question that requires no interpretation of facts (for example: In what year was the Six-Day War fought?), the ministry offered this loaded bomb: “They have been fighting to regain a homeland since they were driven out in 1948. Some have lived their entire lives in refugee camps. Forty years later, Israel still refuses to recognize their right to exist as a nation.” Trust us when we say the alleged correct answer isn’t “the Gabor Sisters.” Predictably and rightly, the question resulted in numerous objections, most notably from the Jewish-Canadian community.
As Canadian Jewish Congress spokeswoman Romy Ritter said to Province reporter Cheryl Chan: “The conflict in the Middle East is a very complex situation, steeped in history. There’s a lot of nuance and we just wanted to raise our concerns about the way the question was framed.” After hearing the complaints, Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid quickly removed the question from the practice test.
Good for the government.
Students should be encouraged to learn as much as possible about the fascinating history of Middle Eastern politics.
But let’s restrict multiple-choice testing to the facts. And on points of debate and discussion, let’s debate and discuss.
/cijainfo
@CIJAinfo