Looking through my old school exercise books (from the mid 1980s) recently, I was struck by how scathing and uncompromising some of my teacher's comments on my (rather poor) Year Seven work were. I was generally quite well-behaved, but somewhat scatty and clearly didn't keep on top of the spelling corrections etc that I was supposed to do. I loved my teacher, but she took no prisoners and her comments seem harsh by today's standards. Certainly, there was no beating around the bush! However, I do think this contributed to our resilience.
I think teachers today would probably try to be more positive in their comments (and to be fair, there were some "Good work" remarks scattered through my books too). But it has made me wonder if there's something to be said for my teacher's tough style of teaching. I knew exactly where I was with her and was left in no doubt when my work hadn't been up to standard. I sometimes think that weak points are less clear with the "What went well" and "Even better if" marking schemes that my own DC's teachers use. The teachers are all lovely, and always very positive at parents' evening, but I do think there's something to be said for being direct about children's shortcomings.