8:00 am – Reading a newspaper article quoting the Supreme Court on student stress and suicides.
5:30 pm – Saturday Master Class: Reading Productive Failure, Chapter: Affect – The Curious Child.
The newspaper article felt like a problem statement; Productive Failure felt almost like the book for the solution.
Once, in class, I said: “If you don’t study, you’ll fail.”
It’s a familiar line — the pet dialogue of many teachers and parents. But with those words, the joy of learning fades. Curiosity is replaced by anxiety. The stakes shift — no longer about learning, but about performing. The curious eyes in front of me turn into eyes clouded with fear.
Fear of failure — a fear we plant ourselves. And as these children grow, that fear becomes a wall they cannot climb over. Because from the very beginning, failure has been a bad word.
Rethinking the Report Card. What if we redesigned it?
What if we called it a Feedback Card, where we don’t declare success or failure, but offer guidance?
Instead of: “The child is not promoted to the next class,” we could write: “The child hasn’t yet mastered these topics — please focus here next year.”
This slight shift would turn the report card into a bridge, not a wall — a handover to the next teacher, not a judgment.
When a child learns to cycle, we say: “Try again, you’ll get it.” When they learn to drive, dance, paint, or play a sport, there’s no deadline, final exam, promotion clause, or report card.
Only feedback. We allow the journey to take as long as it needs. One day, I hope to read a Supreme Court directive that says:
“No report cards to be shared — only feedback cards to be shared.”
If we can redesign a small piece of paper called a report card, maybe we can also redesign the way children see themselves. Years later, they’ll look back and say, “Those were the days when learning felt alive, not like a race.”
Note: I am curious about designing a feedback card. I’m open to collaborating with anyone who believes in reimagining how we record and communicate learning.
Gurdeep Kaur
The Teachers Centre Ambassador and C0-host Saturday Masterclass
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We have a solution!
Check out the GSA Record Book and the My Good School Report Card, available as Creative Commons at: www.inYouth.org
