Headteacher 'humiliated' students with 'wall of shame' pictures of exam failers

Christ Almighty, what the hell's wrong with getting a C?

30 students of Larkmead School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire found themselves on display in the school canteen after scoring below C-grades in January’s mock GCSE exams.

Nothing, apparently.

Reply 81

t0ffee

8

Original post by Lamps08

I recall reading a study from 'Google' that showed in a real life setting(working environment that is) that praise/reward isn't actually beneficial unless the action required is very simple, and doesn't involve 'out-side the box' thinking.

Here's a vid on it:http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

The massive difference between work and GCSE schooling is at work you are being paid to be there and you chosen to have the job, at school you are getting nothing immediate and you cannot chose to not go.

I imagine that has a massive effect on 'motivational science' lol.

Reply 82

DontJudge

3

Original post by Aspiringlawstudent

don't judge :angry:

You're the one whose judging, why would you always assume that someones low grades is a result of lazyness, rather than personal problems. Gosh! It's just so naive of you to think like that.

Reply 83

daisydaffodil

15

I failed my mock highers in fifth year due to severe depression. I went onto pass two with a B, one with a C and failed the other. I then passed all my exams in sixth year and am now doing an English lit degree. I also failed PE in second year at school, I got a grade 4 (i.e. failure to understand the basics of sport and exercise) due to a physical disability - should I too have been laughed at for that? Daft - no amount of mocking would have helped me develop coordination!

Reply 84

johndoranglasgow

14

I would love to see the reaction he would've gotten from his staff if he had made a wall for them based on the performance of their class :smile:

Reply 85

the bear

20

Original post by Aspiringlawstudent

Sorry, but I completely lost interest in what you were saying after I read that because I could not remove this image from my head.

as opposed to...

Original post by Aspiringlawstudent

A headteacher has been slammed by parents after he posted a photographic 'gallery of shame' of children who failed their mock GCSEs.

30 students of Larkmead School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire found themselves on display in the school canteen after scoring below C-grades in January’s mock GCSE exams.

Headteacher Chris Harris hoped the gallery would motivate the students to improve their grades - but the idea backfired and the display was removed after two days following a backlash from parents.

It could do with being made compulsory nationwide, in my opinion. What better way to increase work ethic than with a little wake-up call? :rolleyes:

What are your thoughts?

LOL. You ****ing moron. What about people who just genuinely aren't that bright? What, put them in the stocks?!? ****ing medieval.

What a douchebag.

Original post by Aspiringlawstudent

A headteacher has been slammed by parents after he posted a photographic 'gallery of shame' of children who failed their mock GCSEs.

30 students of Larkmead School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire found themselves on display in the school canteen after scoring below C-grades in January’s mock GCSE exams.

Headteacher Chris Harris hoped the gallery would motivate the students to improve their grades - but the idea backfired and the display was removed after two days following a backlash from parents.

It could do with being made compulsory nationwide, in my opinion. What better way to increase work ethic than with a little wake-up call? :rolleyes:

What are your thoughts?

What about those students who are just not able to get higher grades as they are not sufficiently academic? I know GCSEs don't exactly require you to be a genius, but there are some who fall into this category and this is unfairly targeting them.

I think the fact we have a system where teachers/politicians seem to expect everyone to get at least C grades, and if they don't there's something wrong, is ridiculous anyway. Surely examinations should be designed to maximise our ability to distinguish between students of varying academic ability. The aim shouldn't be for everyone to get Cs or higher, but for everyone to do as well as they can and to have a system in place which places students over a broad range of grades based on ability. For instance always have the top 10% getting A*s, the next 10% getting As etc.

Reply 89

Sisterhood

Original post by -Haz-

That’s really unfair! To some people getting a D is an achievement. If he must do that then it would make more sense to set targets for each individual pupil and then ‘humiliate’ the ones that don’t hit their target.

This actually is what happened. People are getting the wrong end of the stick here. I'm in the the Abingdon Consortium (3 schools and a college share a 6th form, so I'm based at a different school but have lessons at Larkmead). They only posted up pictures of people who were predicted higher than a C and didn't get higher than a C. And the quotes from a distraught mother about her daughter are just that - quotes from the mother. The daughter didn't actually care.

Reply 90

Iron Lady

Original post by DontJudge

You're the one whose judging, why would you always assume that someones low grades is a result of lazyness, rather than personal problems. Gosh! It's just so naive of you to think like that.

You never know, some people react differently to stress and personal problems; it may motivate them to work harder. Others may not be emotionally strong, but if circumstances really are that bad the teacher will take them into account.

Also, you have to question whether these so called depressed people really are. I'm not doubting that some are in bad situations, though people who claim they're depressed can be found laughing with their friends or going for a night out. If they can do that, then they can easily work hard for an exam.

dem ears

Original post by Iron Lady

You never know, some people react differently to stress and personal problems; it may motivate them to work harder. Others may not be emotionally strong, but if circumstances really are that bad the teacher will take them into account.

Also, you have to question whether these so called depressed people really are. I'm not doubting that some are in bad situations, though people who claim they're depressed can be found laughing with their friends or going for a night out. If they can do that, then they can easily work hard for an exam.

You’re right a certain level of stress does increase the level of performance, however when this stress goes over the optimal level, this is when performance decreases. We are all human, and no one can take that much stress. If they are not showing this externally, it may be affecting them internally, and suffer from many illnesses as a result of the stress they’re undergoing.

No love, the problems i’m talking about are REAL problems, not ‘ooh why didn’t he reply back to my text’. Problems like people murdering each other, parents dying of cancer during A levels, being sent off to be married at the age of 16. These are the kinds of stuff that the people in my area go through whilst in their education, and you can understand how difficult it is for them to balance their education and their abnormal family life.

Again you seem to know not much about the lower class, but i’m willing to teach you.

Reply 93

Becca94

they were mock exams... i probably would have been on that wall.

Reply 94

Iron Lady

Original post by Becca94

they were mock exams... i probably would have been on that wall.

Dreadful attitude.

Reply 95

Iron Lady

Original post by DontJudge

No love, the problems i’m talking about are REAL problems, not ‘ooh why didn’t he reply back to my text’. Problems like people murdering each other, parents dying of cancer during A levels, being sent off to be married at the age of 16. These are the kinds of stuff that the people in my area go through whilst in their education, and you can understand how difficult it is for them to balance their education and their abnormal family life.

Yes, those are obviously extreme circumstances, and your area is not reflective of the country.

People murdering each other? :lolwut:

Those cases are far and few between.
Parents dying of cancer? That would be an awful situation and will have an impact on their grades, but gentle counselling can overcome it.
Married at the age of 16? Again, those cases are far and few between.

I support punishment for A-level students who are lazy, which means removing them from the centre. If, however, they do prove to have personal issues or problems at home, and there is very little they can do, I honestly doubt a teacher would humilate them.

Reply 96

Becca94

Original post by Iron Lady

Dreadful attitude.

what?
... i got a low C and a D in my MOCK exams in GCSE, so i would have been on the 'wall of shame'. I did pass all of my exams though.

Reply 97

Iron Lady

Original post by Becca94

what?
... i got a low C and a D of my MOCK exams in GCSE, so i would have been on the 'wall of shame'. I did pass all of my exams though.

Mocks are still important.

Reply 98

Linweth

16

Rather than shaming the kids perhaps he should have a look at teaching standards in his school.

Reply 99

Becca94

Original post by Iron Lady

Mocks are still important.

I wasn't saying they wern't. From my mock results, my teachers helped me improve with revision and what-not, they didn't say it was bad or humiliate me. That's what teachers should do.

Headteacher 'humiliated' students with 'wall of shame' pictures of exam failers

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