Flipping through the news this morning, Brit Hume’s Political Grapevine ended with this:
And from the wonderful world of education, an officer in England’s Professional Association of Teachers (search) is urging the education union to ban the word “fail” in classrooms across the country, insisting students “need encouragement rather than being told you haven’t done very well.”
Specifically, Liz Beattie, the organization’s Federation Secretary in Suffolk, says children’s aspirations to learn are crushed by the words “fail” and “failure.” So, she says, teachers should use the phrase “deferred success” instead. According to the Times of London, her motion will be formally introduced sometime this week.
Ah yes, instead of telling them they’ve failed, teach them to try, try again. I always sort of thought that’s what failure meant, unless preceded by modifiers like total, complete, or absolute. Then I click to the next headline: Report: One Failed London Bomber Arrested
Well let’s just hope these “failed” bombers become so discouraged that they don’t try anymore. But there is evidence to suggest they won’t give up that easily.
Well said. I thought it was only the religious fundamentalists that don’t like natural selection.