Are school teachers control freaks?
I don’t think all teachers are, but a lot of them are. My little one had 2 control freak teachers this past year- they were awful. Really old-school, 50’s sort of values. Ugh. But he’s also had some wonderful ones who encourage creative thinking, collaboration, and learning. I think the whole idea of putting a grade on something is an instrument of control to some extent. Some teachers even try to control kids with candy (just like sexual predators) and public humiliation and detentions and busy work. But not all teachers are like this. One idea concerning grading is to give students either an A or an I (for Incomplete). The idea being that any substandard work isn’t just an indicator of a substandard student, but of work that just is not perfected yet. This kind of grading system would be much less controlling! Anyway, hope you’re not having too much trouble with your teacher(s). I recommend reading “Homework Myth” by Alfie Kohn!
