Teachers at the Mounts Bay Academy in England have been told to ditch the red pen.
The reason? It hurts students’ self-esteem.
“A lot of primary schools are already using a similar system amazingly well, and I think it was felt that red ink was a very negative color,” vice principal Jennie Hick told the UK Cornishman. “Students make more progress if it is a dialogue, and the new system is designed to help that.”
Teachers are instead being told to use pens with green ink to mark their students’ papers. Headteacher Sara Davey said that students are then given the opportunity to respond to teachers’ comments using purple ink, the Cornishman reported.
Administrators denied they’re going soft on students.
“Switching to the new marking system is certainly not about us going all soft and fuzzy,” Miss Hick said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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