The word "fail" should be banned from use in British classrooms and replaced with the phrase "deferred success" to avoid demoralizing pupils, a group of teachers has proposed.

Members of the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) argue that telling pupils they have failed can put them off learning for life.

A spokesman for the group said it wanted to avoid labeling children. "We recognize that children do not necessarily achieve success first time," he said.

"But I recognize that we can't just strike a word from the dictionary," he said.

The PAT said it would debate the proposal at a conference next week.



SSB - Like What the FUCK? Does anyone see a 1984 "double plus ungood" standard slowly happening?

This thread will be an uber-deferred success.

2the9s said:

IrresistibleB1tch said:

Only problem is, there are literally millions upon millions of kids who survived having the grade "F" used without it being damaging to their development...I should know, I'm one of 'em..lol. And are kids today really under anymore stress than kids in the 70's or the 50's or 40's??...You want stress, be a black kid in the 30's, or any kid during the Depression.

And it's more probable that "deferred success" will soon carry the same "label" that the letter grade of "F" does, both in the eyes of classmates who didn't get "deferred success" as well as in the eyes of parents whose kids bring that home on their report cards...so in reality it may not eliminate any issues, and might instead only transfer them over to be used by different terminology. It's like saying if we start calling marijuana "yak snot" kids will be less likely to think it's cool to smoke it...lol...

I think there are a lot more OTHER issues that are more important than removeing the word failure from the curiculum. Kids need some way of gauging how they are doing and need some sort of structure in which they can strive to do better.

Having better education, materials and teachers should come first, I think. Let's fix THOSE first before fixing a word.

2the9s said:

oh you can just chomp on a cowbell and chut it!
[Edited 7/21/05 13:28pm]

This is RIDICULOUS! Now, I can see the wisdom of not calling children "failures", but saying that they "failed" a class is not the same thing. You can fail a class, and then come back and pass it the next report card period, thus making you an overall success.

Speaking as someone who struggled in school, I have to say that calling it "deferred success" wouldn't have made me feel any better about the situation. Often, the stigma of "failure" was what motivated me to rise above. Ultimately, we are raising a generation of overly-sensitive wimps, and that isn't going to do anyone any favours.

I think we need to praise "successes" more.

superspaceboy said:

When you have one, I will.

as a teacher I can say this.... sometimes an F motivates.

You have to know your students, but sometimes, seeing that F on a test or report card will get their little butts in gear.

Byron said:

and... I don't know if other states are doing this but here in NJ we have been using a rubric system where kids are told in print and verbally many many many times what is expected of them from each and every task! The grading system goes from a 0- no effort or a 4 or 5 which means no mistakes. It's a pain in the ass for teachers but it really does benifit the kids. It puts the responsibility in the student's hands, and then if they get a 0 ( or an f whatever you want to call it) they KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt it's they own damn fault.

Byron said:

i remember distinctly bringing home an F in math one year (actually, it was a "6" in the german rating system - thought i'd nip that in the bud ). while i admire anybody who would have seen that as an inspiration to do better, i personally took that to mean that "i just can't do math"... that attitude still remains with me ** years later.

and yes, i do think that kids are under more pressure today, at least compared to me and my generation.

i'm sure the teachers on this site will agree - they are forever coming out with new ways of teaching, and i think that's a very good thing. why not try this and see what happens?

IrresistibleB1tch said:

Maybe I'm wrong but I always thought my role as a teacher, especially my role as a special education teacher was to prepare kids for the "real world" (whatever that is) and failure and accountability ARE major factors in the life we lead as adults. If you fuck up at work every day you are gonna lose your job...you don't pay your bills, you will lose all you have...

Honestly maybe I'm a hard ass but I think kids are coddled WAY too much. I think the F grade should stay.

Sweeny79 said:

fair enough - i'll definitely defer to the pros here.

but i would like to hear more about the proposal, and the thought process that went into it.

2the9s said:

***dumps cowbells into trash compactor, hits the "on" switch and listens to the squeal of metal crushing***

I was successful in dumping my shrine to you.

Sweeny79 said:

puts the fear of doing the grade all over again into em. Also, I imagine it's easier for the parents to guage thier kids progress and can alert them to potential problems.

Sweeny79 said:

I like the number system much better that a letter system.

Sweeny79 said:

And to make matters worse...is that they are coddled and at the same time the world is getting much more harsher and dramatic around them. Kids hear all kinds of things today. There are so many more social things that kids need to worry about. I doubt the F is on the top of their list of worries...it's actually pretty tame compared to lets say the fashion standards kids have to go by these days.

superspaceboy said:

It works

Sweeny79 said:

Plus the letters don't represent anything. All But F ...which means Flunk or Fail. I forgot Flunk...I think it's better than Fail as it pertains to one thing...something scholastic...where as Fail has many applications and can be construed in a more general demeaning way.

superspaceboy said:

Never really thought of it that way.

Sweeny79 said:

I recall as a kid asking my folks what the other letters meant and they didn't know.

I love in Joh Waters Polyester, LuLu comes home and she's flunked all her classes...and Divine is SO upset with her and LuLu says "Don't worry mother "F" is for "Fantastic"