It’s funny, all those little things that are different in other cultures. Things you’d never expect to be different because it’s so obviously self-evident that they couldn’t possibly be any other way.
For example, take a look at this photo. What do the red check marks symbolize for you?
photo by squarepants2004jauntyh_uia
When I (Cate) was in high school, it was super obvious to me that teachers used the check mark to indicate a wrong answer on quiz or test. As far as I can remember, all of my teachers in every school I attended used the check mark in this way.
Except my German teacher. Who was from Austria. (Who closed doors and left the classroom windows wide open in the middle of winter.)
I wasn’t expecting culture shock in my second period German class, but it hit me over the head the first week of school when my teacher handed back a quiz. I was confident I’d done well and was therefore crushed to see so many check marks on my paper.
I’d failed.
Then I looked at the score at the top of the page – there was a big " A ". How did I get an " A " with so many wrong answers, as obviously indicated by the many check marks?
Because a check mark didn’t mean the same thing to my German teacher as it did to us U.S. American students. For my German teacher (and the teachers I had the following year as an exchange student in Germany), a check mark indicated a correct answer, not a wrong one.
This blew my 11th grade mind. It simply never occurred to me that a check mark could indicate anything but an incorrect answer.
Another funny thing: as I was writing this post I did a quick Google search on the meaning of the check mark and found this interesting question:
Did the Check Mark change meanings? I always grew up learning that a red check mark next to your homework meant the answer was wrong. My Mom said all the schools she ever went to used the check mark to mark an answer wrong. Now I’ve learned that any check mark whatsoever next to a piece of work means it is correct. Did the meaning change over the years?
Check out the responses – they clearly show that not everyone interprets the check mark in the same way, maybe nowadays not even within the same country. Hmmm, has globalization even affected the check mark?
Question: What symbol do you use to indicate correct and incorrect answers on students’ homework/tests?
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Oh Cate! You would have suffered BIG time with me as a teacher! I not only use check marks to indicate something is ok, but also, I make BIG check marks when I like what I see. In Argentina check marks indicate that you’ve done well. If you haven’t done well you get a cross. As usual, America still surprises me after 3 years. I had not noticed that at all…I’ll have to be more observant and see what teachers are doing in my school nowadays…
Hey Cate,
In India too, check marks indicate a correct answer! I do recall that if you did really well, teachers would indicate how good your work was by placing stars (1-3 stars) at the end of your work. Do they ever do that in America?
By the way, blogged about Culturally Teaching at:
http://blog.prathambooks.org/2009/04/culturally-teaching.html
Read about the school snapshot project too and will blog about it soon. Deserves a separate post
. But, you may like this video of kids going to school all across India:
http://blog.prathambooks.org/2009/03/school-chale-hum.html
Good luck with your project and looking forward to more updates on schools from all across the world.
Hi Maya,
I remember teachers making stars on our work – sometimes more than one if our work was really good – and always at the top of the page. Some teachers used stickers or stamps instead of stars (in elementary school) – when I was a kid sticker collecting was popular, so we loved getting stickers on our work!
Thanks for reading and writing about CulturallyTeaching! I’m enjoying reading your blog – http://blog.prathambooks.org/
Take care,
Cate