Dr. Roomes is the Author of GSAT Voices | The Lost Children

Throughout my practice as an educator, I have been haunted by the knowledge that many children are lost in the education system as they struggle with the impact of high stakes exams on their learning and their educational opportunities.

Why do these children get lost? How can the curriculum, teacher practice and parents help to avert this loss? In my experiences as a child this phenomenon occurred as well, some children were successful and some got lost. I wonder as I remember my own experiences of fear and anxiety as I prepared for high stakes examinations called the Common Entrance Examination if the children of today are experiencing similar stories.

This narrative is founded in the stories of four young children, which resonate with the stories I lived as a child. Their stories, my stories, our stories, are also framed by the multiple ways in which I position myself as a researcher, a student, and a teacher-educator. There are many stories to tell and more than one way to tell them. I present an overlapping of four lives in a twelve month period around a school and their homes. Like Paley (1981; 1990; 1997), close attention is given to personal narratives.

Look out for “Our Voices” and hear what goes on in the lives of children as they prepare for the Grade Six Achievement Test. We have heard enough from educators and parents but what about the children?