AGE: Secondary |
THEME: Testing Times (Examinations) |
AIM: |
| To reflect on the concept of examination, including self-examination. To give insights that may be a source of encouragement in the face of impending school examinations. |
RESOURCES: |
| OHT slides of 'exam questions' from 'The Secret of Failure' section below (optional). Readers for the quotations (optional). |
DEVELOPMENT: |
| As this subject can be a source of stress for so many people, a little humour might be appropriate in the introduction, e.g.: This is about exams. About exams! It's bad enough having teachers going on about exams every lesson without having a collective worship on the subject. Perhaps it's all part of the great conspiracy that the exam boards spend their time plotting. You can just hear them thinking 'What are potentially the most enjoyable years of their lives, when they have lots of energy and not too much responsibility? From age about 11 to 21? What is the nicest time of year to be out enjoying yourself? Round about June? Right, that's where we'll put them. Oh yes, and if they are really important exams, let's wait a couple of months for the results so we can spoil the middle of the summer holidays as well.' And we thought, 'What's the one time of day when you don't have to think about exams at this time of year? Collective worship. Right, then let's talk about exams...' In fairness, however, we would probably all agree that exams are important and so it's not a bad idea to think about them. Testing - testing things and people (ourselves included) is a natural part of life. Let's face it, if we have something new, whether it's a bike or a new pair of loudspeakers, or something for the computer, we soon want to try it out to find out the most it can do. And if it's a computer game, trying it out also means testing ourselves and seeing how good we are at it. In certain circumstances we like putting things and ourselves to the test. Here reference could be made to God's inclination to test his chosen people when they are 'new':
But testing times are going to happen whether we like it or not, so here are two ideas to consider: one we might call 'the secret of success'. The other is (if we dare mention the word) 'the secret of failure'. 1. The Secret of Success There isn't, of course, one single secret of success (apart from the obvious one: doing a lot more work a long time ago!). There is, however, an important truth that can be very helpful and energizing if we manage to put it into practice. It's easy to get discouraged because we are overwhelmed by what still has to be done. We do some very peculiar things when we think that we have more to do than we can cope with. We do nothing. We keep switching from one thing to another. We come up with very good reasons for putting things off, such as 'we can't start anything until we have tidied up.' In this situation, the best thing to do is to give ourselves the satisfaction of finishing something. It can be something small, something that has to be done anyway. Having a clutter of nothing but unfinished jobs drains away the energy to tackle any of them. On the other hand, finishing something gives a burst of energy, a feeling of being in control, a sense of beginning and ending that clears the head and refreshes the mind rather than having the tangled feeling of getting nowhere. Try it and you will see that it is true. (Brian Williams, in a booklet called Managing to Care, has an excellent section on the value of completing something and quotes a simple example: 'That good feeling when you have posted the perhaps long overdue letter. The sound of the letter dropping into the box brings a great sense of relief.' We can apply this insight to our exam preparation. That way we feel in control and are actually getting somewhere.) On the theme of work and examinations, one or more traditional Chinese proverbs may be helpful: Do today's work, today. The plan of the day is made in the morning. Examinations are a deadly struggle in a thorny enclosure. He who asks is a fool for five minutes but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. 'I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.' (Confucius) Or from the Tao Te Ching (c. 500 BCE): 'Should you want to achieve greatness, you will need to master the small things of which it is made; should you want to understand complexity, you must see its simple contents. Then that which is great will be small, that which is complex, simple. Effort will vanish and everything will arrange itself into order. The wise see no problem as big.' 2. The Secret of Failure (In what follows, failure does not simply refer to falling below the pass grade, but to any falling short of what we believe is expected of us). No one is suggesting that failure is a good idea or that we should give up when things get difficult, but we do have to accept that a certain amount of failure is an inevitable part of our growth as people (remember the words from Deuteronomy 8 '...to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good'). We can never have total control over our lives, our strengths and our weaknesses. We are good at some things and less so at others. Other people are better than us at some things and at some things we are better than them. We need to learn this and to be happy with it. To accept the possibility of failure is not itself a recipe for failure; it can be a step towards greater success. Excessive fear of failure can cause people to work less in order to lower people's expectations. It can also cause the deadlock that we considered earlier. And failure is not the end. Jesus's disciples - particularly Peter - knew that. Consider how they go on in the following 'examination'. (The questions could be displayed on an OHT slide.) Question 1: Your teacher, who taught love and pacifism, is threatened by his opponents. Do you: a) stand by him? b) lash out with your sword? c) run away? Question 2: If you were accused of being a disciple of Jesus but knew that it was dangerous to say so, would you: a) admit it and take the consequences? b) lie and deny that you were a disciple? c) make sure that you were not around to be asked in the first place? Question 3: If you had another chance at the situation in question 2, would you: a) take the opportunity and proudly say that you follow Jesus? b) deny him again? c) get angry and start swearing? Jesus was a good teacher but he could not magically remove all challenges and pitfalls from his disciples' lives. In these particular 'testing times' Jesus's disciples achieved a 0% pass rate, but this failure was the birth of a new beginning. These same people went on to change the face of the world. None of us should ever seek failure, but neither should we lose sight of the new possibilities that can lie beyond it. |
READINGS: |
| The extracts from the Bible quote above might be used as readings, as might some of the Chinese proverbs. A pupil could read the 'exam questions'. Selected verses from Psalm 139 might be used to explore the theme of God's intimate knowledge of who we are and what we are like. |
REFLECTION: |
| Prayers within the Celtic tradition are particularly valuable because of the way in which strength, guidance, blessing and God's presence are sought in all the ordinary situations of life. Examples such as 'Journeying', 'House Blessings' and 'Breaking New Land' can be found in The Edge of Glory - Prayers in the Celtic Tradition by David Adams (Vicar of Holy Island), 1985, Triangle. ISBN: 0 281 04197 0 |
MUSIC: |
| 'Under Pressure', Queen, on their Greatest Hits 2 |
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES: |
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