Know-It-Owls

Curious Thoughts by Don Harrington

What’s Wrong With Our Schools?

Don argues that the way teachers mark what's wrong may train students to see the world through negative reinforcement.

Not realizing the long-term consequences, teachers practice negative reinforcement. When papers and tests are graded, almost all teachers include comments: not this, not that, wrong, should have, didn't.

The students evaluated this way are conditioned to respond as grown-ups using those same negative responses. Instead, our educators should compliment and praise what is right about our youth's answers, not train them to evaluate what's wrong.

Disagree? Add something?

There's room on the other side of the table.

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