Friday 14 March 2008

Pupils respond to a teacher's marking


There is an interesting article here on how pupils respond to different approaches to marking.
One of the main conclusions is this:

I think that teachers sometimes forget that the first thing most pupils are looking for is reassurance that they are doing the right thing, and/or that we respect their efforts. Without that initial support, the formative comment can seem negative to the pupil. They can perceive being told what to do to reach the next level as criticism rather than support. ‘I thought I’d done really well and you’ve just written three things here which I need to do next time… I don’t understand.’

1 comment:

Kelvin Jones said...

I fully agree, even to an adult, hearing that a job was done well lifts the spirit, why ruin it by adding a negative "constuctive" comment? This makes the well-done job, not so!
Note the short fall or correction and suggest it the next time a piece of work is required.