TEACH TO TEST OR TEACH TO UNDERSTAND?

Teaching to the Test vs. Teaching for Deep Learning

In those nIn recent years, education has increasingly operated according to the “logic of performance”: all teaching and learning must prove its worth with scores and data.

When the reputation of schools and teachers is measured by pass rates, grade point averages, or rankings, teach to the test Hard-to-measure qualities like critical thinking, the ability to ask questions, or a love of learning are overlooked because… they don’t show up in the reports.

That pressure comes from many levels:

• Parents expect children to get high scores, consider it a safe ticket for the future.

• Society See certificates as "passports" for career opportunities.

• Education system Quality assessment using standardized data.

• Exam preparation market commercialization of scores through “output commitments”.

That loop causes teaching to gradually narrow down to the exam framework, where teachers become the "output fixers", and lessons turn into "score production processes".

💡 When exams become a tool – not a destination

Grandfather Myles McGinley (Director of Cambridge OCR) once shared:

“The problem is not the test, but how we understand its role. Tests should serve learning, not replace it.”

If approached correctly, test preparation can still trigger critical thinking and deep understanding, not just test-taking skills. Every test – like the IELTS, for example – has a learning philosophy embedded in it. If teachers read the test with the eyes of a “learning designer,” they will realize that Each assessment criterion is an opportunity for deeper teaching.

🧠 Example: From “speaking practice” to “thinking practice”

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Questions:

“Do you think governments should spend money on supporting artists, or are there more important priorities?”

If students only learn to respond using the pattern “Firstly… Secondly… Lastly…”, they may speak fluently, but not truly. deep understanding what I say. Language learning then becomes a process of copying structures, rather than a journey of expressing thoughts.

Meanwhile, if guided in the direction of “teaching for deep understanding”, teachers can help students develop thinking skills through 3 steps:

1. Acknowledge complexity

   • Students understand that there is no single answer.

   • For example: “That depends on whether art is seen as a public good or a private interest.”
     → This is the first step of critical thinking: knowing how to ask questions, not just give answers.

2. Connect to context

   • Extend the argument by linking it to social and cultural realities.

   • For example: “In my country, which is a developing country, funding artists may not seem urgent, but it preserves cultural identity.”
     → Students' thinking shifts from "personal opinion" to "well-founded argument".

3. Conclude with conviction

   • Express a position based on your own reasons and beliefs.

   • For example: “Yes, but any funding should encourage creativity and accountability, not create dependency.”
     → Students learn to connect language with their values and thinking identity.

When students can pass these three levels, speaking is no longer “test preparation,” but becomes a journey of thinking in a second language.
That's when "teaching to the test" be transformed into “teach to understand deeply.”

🌱 Change starts with the way we look at exams

If parents, teachers, and students understand that the test is just that, mirror of true learning ability, not the final destination, then education will regain its original meaning – nurture thinking, creativity and deep understanding.

Because after all, language is not born to test, but to thinking, communicating and creating meaning.
And the task of today's foreign language teachers is to help students turn "learning to take exams" into "taking exams to learn".

📍At Chau Thanh Foreign Language Center, we believe that learning English is not just about getting a band score or certificate, but about developing the ability to think and express yourself in a global language.
Because grades may open doors, but only deep understanding will take you far.

Chau Thanh Foreign Language Center
Hotline: 0357 837 536
Address: 10/2 Street No. 68, Ward 2, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City
Inbox for free consultation!