|
Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; if corrected too much， he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the languages he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit， he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people. In the same way， when children learn to do all the other things they learn to do without being taught-to walk， run， climb， whistle， ride a bicycle-compare those performances with those of more skilled people， and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his own mistakes for himself， let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him， or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out， with the help of other children if he wants it， what this word says， what answer is to that problem， whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not. If it is a matter of right answers， as it may be in mathematics or science， give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he cant find the way to get the right answer. Lets end this nonsense of grades， exams， marks， Let us throw them all out， and let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn， how to measure their own understanding， how to know what they know or do not know. | 
