Brits no longer to be considered failures

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around a proposal in the UK to replace the term "fail" with "deferred success" in educational contexts, aiming to prevent demoralization among students. Participants explore the implications of this change, touching on broader themes of educational practices and grading systems.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about the effectiveness of replacing "fail" with "deferred success," arguing that a healthy fear of failure motivates students to work harder.
  • Others criticize the trend of political correctness in education, citing examples such as the banning of certain songs and terminology in schools.
  • A participant mentions that some schools in Texas have stopped using red ink for grading, suggesting that this reflects a broader issue of avoiding negative feedback in education.
  • Concerns are raised about educational practices that prioritize making learning enjoyable over traditional methods, with one participant describing a system that emphasizes multiple ways to solve problems rather than foundational skills.
  • Another participant shares an anecdote about a principal banning timed math tests, arguing that speed can be an important factor in real-world applications.
  • Some express disbelief at the changes in educational approaches over the years, contrasting current practices with more direct feedback methods used in the past.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally disagree on the merits of the proposed terminology change and the broader implications of current educational practices. Multiple competing views remain regarding the effectiveness and necessity of such changes in the educational system.

Contextual Notes

Limitations in the discussion include varying personal experiences with educational systems, differing definitions of success and failure, and unresolved opinions on the impact of these changes on student learning outcomes.

  • #31
wow. this is rediculous. I don't really remember elementary school being too mean on report cards. But in high school it was completely different. teachers did pretty much whatever they wanted. my tech teacher always swore, calling us f'ing idiots if we screwed something up. On the exam I wrote a little joke and he said he was going to give me 100% cause it was funny, and some other student was like, hey that's not fair, you can't do that. and the teacher responds, shut up, I can do whatever the hell I want.
I remember on our report cards just last semester, not on mine, it said "you wrote a very poor exam" I thought that was kinda mean. but what can you do, the teachers seem to do what they want here.
 
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  • #32
Why couldn't they do that when i was back at school? I would prefer to have defered my english exam.
 
  • #33
I've been in 3 different types of school.

When I was young my father was in the Army and so I went to an army school. I loved school then (almost all subjects) and then, when he left the army I joined a civilian school which sucked. RE was just writing out the bible and I hated it. Pupils messed around in class which never happened in the Army school and I hated that. Math was about 6 months to a year behind that of army school education so it appeared that I was a 'swot' which I hated so in the end I just gave up school.

This 'PR' trend is just a further decline in the standards of education. How can the pupil address a problem if the teacher isn't allowed to tell the pupil in case 'it hurts their feelings'.

The third type of schooling was an Army Apprentice College (pre-army education) where I spent 2 years studying Electronic Engineering and the difference is extreme. Failure isn't an option. Any failure results in a proportionate punishment. If you don't want to get punished...don't fail.

It was drilled into us that if we fail then people can die as a result. It certainly seemed brutal at the time but it's probably one of the main reasons why the British have the best trained army in the world. The possibility of failure is smashed out of the soldiers psyche.
 
  • #34
It would've been sweet if I could've simply deferred AP Calculus instead of Failing it by sleeping through it and not doing any work for the last 3 months of school.
 

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