WHY I DON’T USE RED COLOR FOR
MARKINGS AND CORRECTIONS ?...
As a Teacher I have always preferred to use non-RED color
ink for markings, corrections and while working with children. I prefer to use
green, black, blue or purple and so many times I use glitter pens which, children
love a lot. Years ago, when I saw my daughter’s corrected books in 1st
grade, I was very much surprised to see that all corrections and markings has
been done with green pen.
This was very different and opposite to my upbringing,
as a student while growing up, when teacher needs to mark something wrong, it
is always marked with RED color. I hated to see all those red marks in my
notebook and I never understood why it was marked in RED. After seeing this, I
started thinking why teachers are using red pen for corrections?
And why teacher in my daughter’s school use green
color for marking and corrections?
Here are few of my observations or facts from research
done on this point and that is why as a teacher I should not be using red ink
for corrections or markings.
1)
The idea is that red ink leaves a negative impression on students and alienates
them from their teachers. There’s some research to support that idea.
2)
when teachers use a red pen to add comments to student papers, students
perceive them more negatively than if they use another color pen.
3)
Dukes and Heather theorize that red ink is akin to using all caps when writing
e-mail or text messages – it's like shouting at a person and those on the other
end quite naturally feel a little bit abused and respond by growing angry or
sad, which, they note, doesn't really promote the learning process.
4)
Red pen is found to have a negative effect on
student response to feedback, it seems that using red pen may actually cause
students to receive feedback less favourably.
5)
In my class I use green or other light color to make corrections and I make
sure never to put a cross (X) for wrong answer. This way when children come to
next class they are more open to making corrections and reworking on the wrong
answers rather then feeling sorry and defensive for the red cross. This makes
correcting wrong answers is a part of daily learning.
5) According to colorimetry red is the
warmest and most dynamic of the colors - it triggers opposing emotions. It is
often associated with passion and love as well as anger and danger. It can
increase a person’s heart rate and make them excited. So red color should be
used more for positive markings and comments to invoke passion and love rather
than for corrections. If you want to draw attention to a design element, use
red. But use it as an accent color in moderation as it can be overwhelming.
6) According to
colorimetry green makes you feel optimistic, calmed and refreshed, it symbolizes
health, new beginnings and wealth. No wonder corrections in book go well with
children when they are in green.
Does it mean that red color does not have any place in
class room? No, It definitely have a
place in classrooms, and we can change the usage. Rather than using red color
to give cross(X) or negative remarks how about using it to give A+ or for
giving good feedback. The association of red cross (X) is with something that is
wrong and something that needs corrections needs to be changed. How about using
green colors for corrections
Importantly, the red color is not used in a
negative way, such as simply marking something “Wrong!”
As a teacher what would you prefer to do?… write a
comment below to express your perspective
Thank you for stopping by......
