Schools begin banning teachers from using red ink

[Ruwrak]

Do people actually expect children to be demoralized by seeing red ink?
We also had red ink, but it was also used TO SHOW HOW WELL YOU DID ON A CERTAIN TASK!

Crazy world we live in.. I don't recall beeing demoralized by the ink color?
It was more demoralising to be beat up on a daily basis by bullies. =/

 

[Phishfood]

Or, you know, not using letter grades, but a number of EXP and if the whole class gets enough EXP to LEVEL UP then they get a field trip, how about that?

That's actually not a bad idea. I'm not saying we should turn our schools into MMO's. The system of grading that we do have allows people to "pass" without learning key concepts. Think about any class you ever had that you earned a D or C- or equivalent in, did you really grasp the material?

If we had a system of education that assigned "experience points" to certain fundamental concepts in different branches of education then we could create a system to educate students based on what they actually know instead of what they are supposed to know. For instance, you could have a student with a mathematics "level" of 3, a reading "level" of 5 and a science "level" of 4, that student could go to a math class for level 3 a reading course for level 5 and science class for level 4.

This way the student wouldn't be bored in a "level" 4 reading class, be falling behind in a "level" 4 math course and be perfect for the "level" 4 science class.

Uh, we have this system. Its called "sets". I was in top set for maths, I'm good at maths. I was one set above the bottom in french, I suck at french.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Well, red IS a psychologically aggressive colour. We're trained to consider it alarming, so this makes as much sense as not letting teachers swear at students who misbehave.

Outright banning seems a bit...overboard, but it's probably best that red ink be discouraged. Green would be a good alternative.

Red is also color of love and affection. It is not a natural instinct it is a cultural thing. Example in western world we connect black to death and sadness when in eastern tradition white is the color of sadness.

Green would be just as bad as a color. Since it is all about the connections we make with the colors. For me red represents error and mistake, in which green represents correct and working. If you would fix my exam with green pen, I would get confused.

Soon they will say that pointing out error in exam is a demoralizing thing and has to be banned and only correct answers must be highlighted.

In Finnish academic system, there is a law that state that in order to the test scoring to be accept able they must be marked with red pen. Any other color (without special permission, for example color blind sensor doing the correction) renders the test score illegal and can not be used to evaluate the student. And in the past 60 years, NO ONE has complained about that.

I think UK's students and school system needs to grow a spine.

 

[darth.pixie]

Yeah there are lots of new weird rules for schools. Students at my school are not allowed to raise their hands to answer a question.

Wait...how do you answer a question then? Yell 'Hey You!' ?

Right, on topic. Stupid, useless...stuff like that. I've had work corrected in red, green, light blue, black...all depending on whether the teacher had a red pen or not. There was no difference to me whatsoever. Next they're going to change "See me" for "Would you like some tea in my office after class?"

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Here's the link if anyone wants to read the article to make sure I'm not bullshitting...
www.dailymail.co.uk

This is Daily Mail news? Yeah, one teacher was told that they should use less pen in their students books because they were making them feel bad about doing poorly. It's probably far more true than the Daily Mail has reported it.

The Daily Mail haven't reported something like this correctly in it's entire history. It's always been Right wing scaremongering, this is no different.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

[sub]hitchhiker's guide[/sub]

Well, I was referring to a character from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, http://hhgproject.org/entries/wowbagger.html
but I've never played Fable 3 so I don't really know how legitimate your claim is, so I can't give you a cookie but how about some shortbread as a booby prize:

Hmmmm... I guess fable 3 got it from there. I prefer shortbread anyway.

 

[Lukeje]

I thought I'd seen that article before. Why are you linking to a three year old article from the Daily Mail?

 

[MetalBuddhist]

Red Ink may not be a barrier to your personal learning, but it can be a barrier to the learning of a significant minority. As the son of a SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) I've spent a good period of my life learning the "dos and donts" of making learning accessible to certain students. I know that to some it sounds silly, but children on the Autistic Spectrum are more likely to be put off by red ink in marking - and when a child on the Autistic Spectrum is put off something, it is hard to get them to continue. This may sound silly for 99% of the population in a school, but its kind of necessary, as its more likely to help those students who need help the most.

 

[Custard_Angel]

Honestly, if red ink is stopping kids from learning, nothing is going to help them learn.

 

[Monsterfurby]

Well. Not surprising to see they have found an easy solution to a way more complicated problem. "It's the color of the pens," they say, "just change that, and our teachers won't be forced to do a better job."

Of course that's stupid. There's a few other words for it, but stupid should do for now.

After all, the issue is much more complicated than this makes it seem. What needs to be done is establish a role of teachers as "partners" of students, working together to get the students through class with good marks and, especially, good skills. Teachers must be selected with great care and re-evaluated every few years to ensure that they still have the motivation to pass on to students. If they don't - well, how about a nice job in the school bureaucracy then?
I mean, let's not forget - this is the basic school level we are talking about. A phase in life where students still have the luxury of only having to listen and do their homework - as opposed to uni, where you have no one to kick you if you happen to be slacking off.

 

[mrF00bar]

This is just pathetic. Soon teachers will be banned from teaching a subject if the students prefer to watch TV instead.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

This is a schooling system which lowers how well you need to do to get a good grade every year to make us sound cleverer. I still think it's better than the American schooling system though.

You're making a fuss out of nothing. It's not really going to change anything, and if they do have to change ink colour then there are plenty of other bold colours.

The irony of this is the US goes to the opposite extreme; here, we keep raising the standardized test scores needed to pass, in what many have seen as an attempt to fail more students and get more money into the hands of private schools. In Florida, at least, this really was the initial goal of the FCAT; students at failing schools could get state covered tuition to a private school. This was struck down as a violation of the state's constitution, though (in the Florida state constitution, the separation of church and state is much clearer than it is in the national one. It's explicitly unconstitutional for the state to fund a religious institution -- which is exactly what most American private schools are.)

 

[alandavidson]

We always had everything color-coded. Red was for grammatical or spelling errors, green was for suggestions on sentence restructuring, and blue was for general notes. There's nothing wrong with using the color red, and there's nothing wrong with not using it.

 

[Agayek]

It's at times like this I wish I had the "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" image.

Just for you.

Also, I completely agree. This is more than a bit ridiculous.

 

[theheroofaction]

Old news dude, Surprisingly true for the daily mail though.

But yeah, here's the difference it made: Absolutely Jack shit.

 

[JesterRaiin]

They say the red ink is "demoralizing to students" and "making them do worse in school."

...Because we live in such wonderful, peaceful world, where no stress is required to live a successful life.

 

[SillyBear]

I.... don't see the problem with this. I honestly don't. Red ink is used for Fear factor. Red is the color of danger after all. That's the only reason its used. It says: "You fucked up son. You fucked up bad. Now I'm gonna fuck you up!".

It's a classic remnant of the traditional/old-fashioned education system (there's a word for that, I'm sure); the system that scoffs at modern teaching practices like peer-discussion based education and gamification of education. It's a 500 year old practice that's designed to embarrass kids for their mistakes instead of helping them learn from their mistakes.

What I'm trying to say is, traditional/old-fashioned education sucks, in my opinion at least. If they have any kind of reason to believe that getting rid of red ink will help kids feel more attached to schoolwork, and less like a slave of the educational system: Fucking, TRY that shit OUT! Experiment until you find a definitive answer, or something close to that. If it works out: FANTASTIC! We just evolved a little bit as a sapient race.

Also, I don't know if I should be disappointed that so many of you sound like bitter old coots yelling "Those darn kids! We're making them soft! In my day, the teacher used to get out the red pen.....and beat the ever-loving FUCK out of us!! They deserve the same, not better!"

But what do you think happens in the real world when someone fucks up?

Coddling children and pretending that everything is okay and even their mistakes are okay is bullshit. They will grow up to be over sensitive, selfish and incredibly depressed when something in life actually confronts them.

My at my son's preschool pass the parcel now has a present every layer in the packaging. When I was a kid, there was just few presents and not everyone got one. It taught you that you win some and you lose some in life. Nothing is fair, so don't expect life to be. It is very small but very effective conditioning for the life ahead of them.

If these kids are crying over red ink, they're very likely going to turn out to be worthless man-children. You coddle something and it expects to be coddled. You can't get anywhere in life like that, unless you're incredibly lucky.

 

[Avalanche91]

Really? I mean REALLY? REALLY REALLY?

are they making a issue about THE COLOR OF THE FUCKING INK NOW?

They aren't even trying anymore. I can think of loads of reasons why students are performing worse over the years, but the color of the bloody ink is so far on the bottom of the list it can wave to the first circle of hell.