Does the all-carrot-no-stick education philosophy work?
An Edmonton teacher recently got himself in hot water when he said he would not abide by the school district's "No Zeros" policy. The policy, in a nutshell, says that teachers can no longer hand out zeros to students who don't hand in assignments.
Alberta is not the only province to ponder or implement such policies.
There's a clear movement afoot to avoid failing students. The goal is to work with students and not "punish" them for failures. Failing, of course, is very discouraging and leaves very negative feelings.
In neighbouring New Westminster, one resident was perturbed when the local school Sports Day became a "fun day" without first-, second-and third-place ribbons. The reason: losing can be very hard on young people.
Frankly, there's something very appealing about this kind of approach. Most people have some memory of not "winning" something in elementary school. It can be tough. After all, you probably tried your damndest to win, and it simply wasn't fair that the kid who looked like he was on steroids won. For the few "winners" - it was probably just as tough in a different way. Winners worry about becoming losers. It's a thin line separating the two camps.
But does making sure no one "fails" or "loses" help children learn? Isn't education also about learning how to handle success or failure?
We suspect that a student's age has a great deal to do with the "No Zeros" approach. It certainly seems to make more sense to teach young children how to cooperate rather than compete.
But for students in high school, does not "failing" them actually prepare them for entering the workforce? Don't people fail in the workplace?
Apparently more and more educators - or at least those not in classrooms - are moving to the "no grade" theory.
We don't want to discourage educators from exploring new and positive ways to help people learn, but we're not convinced this is the best plan for a country steeped in competition and a world that's less concerned about our feelings than our successes.
