| SCHOOL REPORTS - some reflections |
We have a few on record, and here is a magnificent new set from Phil Evans, now a Professor in the Department of Wood Science in Vancouver, Canada. Yes, the boy dun well - which is not surprising given these reports.
It is as ever moving to read the comments and signatures of our teachers.
Writing reports is not always easy: how HONEST should one be? Shold ALL euphemisms be banned? A pupil and his parents should KNOW the truth but if the latter is dark then should one limit the possible psychological damage? And if so HOW exactly? Can one find the appropriate words? How much "reading between the lines" should or could one expect the parents to (have to) do? Phil was not in any danger in this area: his reports are peppered with "good", "excellent", "promising" and so on.
The greatest psychological damage I suffered was in 3B when Steve Corner wrote that I was "complacent". Once I had looked it up and found out what it meant I was a bit miffed as I thought I always did my best. Still, I eventually got over it!
It might be interesting to do an analysis of "Report Language". "Satisfactory" is a bit "damning with faint praise" - we want to to more than satisfy, no? We want to THRILL, to ASTONISH. One word that is common is "steady". I suppose the shipping analogy is appropriate: "Steady as she goes." means things are basically OK. Rare are such adjectives as "amazing", "sensational", "sublime" or even "outstanding". Perhaps teachers are afraid of overpraising so that a pupil BECOMES complacent. Ideally, one is always supposed to strive to do BETTER even if one has been excellent.
I always found "Could do better" rather sad - and in a sense illogical. After all, ANYONE "could" do better. Mr Spock might have preferred: "SHOULD be doing better". And if you translate "could do better" into Saga Norenspeak it would become: "Idle and under-achieving little so and so".
Finally, some teachers were spatially challenged and ended up writing out of the box! And I now realize that some would have made excellent doctors as far as their handwriting was concerned!
Happy days!
Thank you Phil for this magnificent collection. (CLICK image below)
