Marking with red is aggressive
Queensland state government has published educational changes that pointedly suggest marking with red pen is aggressive and may harm the fragile egos of children. In addition to marking with more subdued colours, such as blue or black (likely to be culled for racist overtones), the guide also includes mandated peer reviewing and tutoring - of course helpful only if the peers doing the tutoring are capable. A follow on policy, even more disturbing than the red pen issue is to not highlight incorrect work, suggesting that marking work wrong is also very damaging to fragile children.
The state Health Minister has suggested the changes are being done to help combat juvenile suicide problems in the state. The response of the government and regional teachers union has been one to deride suggestions that red pen isn’t likely a problem. Opposition member McArdle is quoted as saying:
Given your 10-year-old Labor government presides over the lowest numeracy and literacy standards of any state in Australia, don’t you think it’s time we focused on classroom outcomes rather than these kooky, loony, loopy, lefty policies?
(I found very interesting that most media outlets didn’t quote the above statement entirely, preferring to remove any mention of the low standards, instead only showing the alliteration portion.)
I would love to read a study that shows a causal link between red pen use and increased suicide. I’d also like to see the paper and the rest of the suggestions - after perusing over 50 articles on the matter I couldn’t find a link to the actual report.
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