Marking school work

[Floatyboat]

So apparently the teaching unions think marking should not take place due to "health and safety". Surely this is straying into the territory of unhelpful disruption rather than constructive engagement with the government's wish to help kids.

There are so many work arounds to do it safely. Wait 48hrs to mark, wear gloves, wash hands etc

Given they are arguing this I can't help but think the unions are simply being unreasonable and not actually taking a balanced view.

@ChloeDecker

The National Education Union is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the merger of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in 2017 according to wiki.

@ILoveMyMonkey

That makes sense thanks. Still see no reason it can't be left to the judgement of teachers whether they think it would help to do some marking or not.

Is it because they want a fight and militant Union types enjoy the drama, sense of purpose? Or are they just that out of touch with the concerns of the real world they don't realise how they come across
And there it is, nice and inflammatory.

OP, people have answered your questions in good faith but instead of listening and taking it on board, you're just increasing the goad levels.

@Piggywaspushed

I'd have thought kids just provide another point of shared contact and worse sometimes than open waste paper bins. But that's a digression.

OP it is the government advice.

You seem bright enough but, boy, are you hard of reading.

Lids not kids lol

I agree but lidded bins are also government advice : not a militant union's.

Do you know OP that many schools don't mark anyway as they know that peer and self assessment is more beneficial - only marking and grading assessments.

I have no concerns that every pupil in my room will have feedback and know their next steps - even if I don't mark their books. I

I am marking what is sent to me...which isn't a lot!

@LolaSmiles

But that's my point. Blanket statements from unions banning marking just invites negative sentiment towards them.

I completely disagree with that, Pieceof and I'd be really alarmed if my child attended such a school.

Are you kidding me Floatyboat? Again, read my posts that are in good faith.

1. The NEU have not said no to marking and not specifically said no to marking books. They have provided a 12 step checklist for Headteachers to consider, think about and plan for. Do read it if you are considered, rather than just news article snippets.

1. You listed non teaching unions in your post that I specifically referred to.

Sorry didn't read whole post! Oops. Trying to read on here and listen to a team meeting.
I am not afraid to mark books...maybe wear gloves or just wash hands after every one.
A moot point here in Wales as we won't be back anytime soon!

@Pieceofpurplesky

I don't disagree (in fact agree with you). But why can't the unions trust you to make your own judgement on that. Why the need for top down diktat.

Verbal feedback is the most effective because it's in the moment. Verbal feedback will be happening. We will be organising for more self-marking than usual.

At primary level at least, marking that takes place 48 hours later is generally understood to have little to no impact on learning (though you are right that it helps with assessment).

I think it is reasonable not to collect up piles of books, given the risk of virus transfer.

Big misunderstanding between feedback (research shows good feedback has a huge impact on learning) and marking (research is mixed on the impact of marking books)

@ahorsecalledseptember then select schools carefully. In my area there are five high schools and three of those have a no marking policy (we don't at my school)

Blanket statements from unions banning marking

There haven’t been. One could almost be forgiven that you are straying into a certain territory, rather than asking a question in good faith...

Floaty the unions are negotiating. Touching books is unsafe. To be fair the first few weeks will not be proper lessons anyway (at high school) and more reestablishing study skills and routines

@ChloeDecker

Yes they have. It's on page 16 of the neu workplace checklist. (Pdf so i can't copy from my phone.). That is what the guardian quotes from.

Stop making out I'm making it up, I'm not, it's just that some things are hard to believe!

Why oh why oh why are you ignoring me every time I tell you this is GOVERNMENT ADVICE?
Forgive me for thinking this is deliberate.

@tinytemper66

I mark 60-90 books on a normal day. If I carried on, and washed hands, I'd have no skin left by summer!

Plus there are the issues of collecting them up. Either have a lovely pile of books spreading viruses between each other, or I'd have to go to the kids places to mark.

I don't particularly care what the unions say, but I'm glad my school decided to implement verbal feedback only policy for the interim. It's a reasonable adjustment that will have a small impact on learning.

@Pieceofpurplesky

Funny negotiating tactic to actively lose public sympathy and hand headlines to every newspaper.

The guidance just says

"Teachers should make sure they wash their hands and surfaces, before and after handling pupils’ books." and states that they should not be taken home.

A lot of work can be self-marked anyway, and I have been thinking about ways that children can share what they have done in e.g. longer tasks using the ability to share the screen of a tablet with the whiteboard / teacher computer. Instant, verbal feedback or instant self-appraisal of work is often by far the most powerful form of 'marking' anyway. We teachers love a good set of books and a coloured pen, but actually the impact of such written marking is a matter of discussion.

@Piggywaspushed

The neu wrote the workplace checklist I thought.

@cantkeepawayforever

Read page 16 of the checklist, I'm not making it up. I agree with your ideas about teaching feedback. But disagree that the union should be trying to micro manage decisions of individual teachers/schools.

@dbml if a teaching union is telling its members not to mark work, how is it anything to do with the government? If teachers won't mark work, it is the teaching union telling them not to do it, and the teachers who refuse to mark work, being unreasonable without any government help.