It is nearing the end of the school day, and you are sitting in one of your humanities classes, getting ready to start a Socratic seminar. A few minutes later, the teacher signals for the start of the discussion. And what happens? Nothing. No one has a single thing to say. The awkward silence is unbearable, and you wish someone would just speak up. If this sounds familiar, it may very well be because of one thing: a participation grade.
Currently at Lexington High School, almost all core classes include participation as part of their grade. And while it may not seem important, participation should continue to be graded because it promotes engagement and creates a sense of community in each class.
One benefit of increased participation is a more lively class setting. Students are incentivized to share their ideas and build off classmates’ opinions.
“When students participate well, it’s a more interesting class, and a more dynamic class that students enjoy,” Heather Kimura, a French teacher at LHS, said.
If participation was not graded, participation levels could decrease, losing the engagement that makes a class interesting.
Graded participation also acts as an incentive to help students get to know their classmates better, which has positive effects on a class. A stronger sense of community can promote productivity from students during class. Not having the motivation of a grade would remove the small nudge that it takes for many students to speak up.
“It improves the classroom’s community sense. Students are able to get to know each other better,” Dakota Durbin, a ninth grade English teacher at LHS, said.
It could be argued that participation grades are disadvantageous for more introverted students. However, this does not mean that all students are graded the same way when it comes to participating in class.
“Meeting realistic goals is something that the flexibility of participation can be really good with. For example, an A for one student in participation could look really different for another student,” Durbin said.
The general goal of participation being graded is to push all students to contribute to the class, something that looks different for each student.
Let’s go back to the Socratic seminar example. Imagine a completely different scenario: everyone is sharing their ideas and you are hearing things you would have never thought of yourself. The conversation is fun, and by the end of it, you feel that you understand each of your classmates a little better. Even the quietest person in your class seemed to have a lot to say.
While small contributions may seem insignificant, without them, our learning environment would not be the same. So next time, take a risk, raise your hand, and see what it can do for your class.
