As well as the issue of lots of teacher pen not actually being the best way for children to learn how to make progress (see upthread lots of comments about what actually does aid learning and progress) I wonder about people's thoughts about appropriate time spent outside the classroom working for teachers.
A number have spoken about Prep and Independent Senior Schools which often have longer hours anyway, including regular extra curricular activities after school/weekends....well teachers have to plan lessons don't they and also do admin. How many hours should they be marking on top of that, or how long do you think it would take them to do the marking some of you are suggesting they do?
In the state sector, an A Level class can have over 20 students. Some teachers might teach an essay based subject and have 2 classes in both yr 12 and 13, as well a several GCSE classes and lower school too. Some who teach just an A Level subject might teach 6 A Level classes with over 20 in each. Are you suggesting they mark 120 essays per week, which might each take 10 minutes?
If a teacher has 7 or 8 classes across a school, most of which could have 30 students, are you suggesting they take in and mark well over 200 books per week? How long do you think it would take to look at those and to even write a very brief comment? That's time to be given after going to meetings, planning lessons and doing admin?
So there are 2 points - one is that loads of teacher ink and the idea that everything should be marked, just isn't the best way for students to progress anyway. Lots of people do t seem to want to engage with that idea but still equate more teacher ink with 'good teaching' and somehow good progress. It's lucky to be honest that there's loads of evidence that weekly marking of every book by a teacher isn't the best thing, because it would never be viable anyway because of time. Do the calculations. Those pushing for teachers to mark every homework or to mark weekly or to mark all longer written answers or whatever, please suggest what the limit on marking time ought to be....or isn't there one?
No doubt, some people will say this post is about teachers trying to reduce and limit their workload and not being interested in students doing well. Well actually, managing of workload does need to happen. Teachers are leaving in droves, because of the excessive workload and expectation that can fall on them, some of which can be marking related. There is a crisis in schools and in lots of schools, growing numbers of children are taught by supply teachers, non-specialists and a stream of short contract workers, because so many are leaving. This needs to be acknowledged.
Great teachers give regular feedback which helps students progress. This takes numerous forms and the great teacher manages their time well to give the amount of time they can give to detailed written work marking, to the most well-chosen and best-targetted pieces for this. And they work out multiple other ways to give feedback to students which might not involve writing in books, but which can often be far more effective. Their skill and experience tells them when marking is needed and best and when a different feedback mechanism is right. The detailed written comment on an essay or in an exercise book, is just one small way that feedback happens. It might be the most visible to parents, but please realise how many other ways there are...some used as necessity to manage finite time, but also at the same time, because a variety of methods work for different things and actually very often, some of these other techniques actually deliver far more progress. But I guess some people just aren't willing to entertain the idea that this could possibly be true, and just see it as purely being to reduce workload.