The glass is half full or is it, ohh I'm not sure, ummm....
We are a nation of animals lovers, about-weather-moaners, currently sports loving (cheers Olympics 2012), over politeness and apparently bad teeth. I know this doesn't apply to everyone, some people hate animals and I personally try my very best not to moan about the weather.
One thing I think we are though is generally pessimistic. I say generally for the same reasons as above. It doesn't apply to everyone and I'd like to think I'm a glass half full kinda girl. However recently I've come to realise that through the duration of my education my peers and myself have more often than not scrutinised the negative feedback we've received on our work and not often said 'Oh Dr so-and-so liked that bit I wrote, go me!'. Probably because this is seen as un-apologetically bragging, tooting one's horn and of course you're a horrible show-off for being proud of your hard work and perseverance.
Sometimes, no actually, every time we've done quite well, we actually deserve a pat on the back. Maybe it's not a problem exclusive to the UK but I get the feeling that instead of praising ourselves when our hard work has paid off, we berate ourselves. I feel that this is an inherent part of my nationality unfortunately.
I blame the education system. I've often been ripped to shreds by teacher and lecturers for shoddy work I've given in however when I have gained a sound mark the feedback saying so is sparse at best. So although I know I did well, I don't really know how. As a result I often feel that my better work has been a fluke but when I step back and look at the bigger picture I'm not doing too badly at all. I shouldn't get complacent or cocky but that good feeling of nailing something can actually make a shitty day good or an upcoming event even more anticipated because you feel like you're on the right track. In short it's a good feeling.
However at the same time I think that in this educational system we get brainwashed into the red-ink-marked-work syndrome. You look at your work, see a spaghetti mess of red ink and fear the worst. I know that some institutes don't use red ink to mark now but whatever the colour the sheer amount has always made me gulp. Although at the same time its comforting to see it there, like a guidance and more unnervingly a bit like a case of Stockholm Syndrome I fear it something we cling to from an early age. You hate it but need it and eventually rely on it You soon learn that less is better, more is worse, or is it?
I suppose the point I'm trying to make that throughout my education at least and perhaps others feel the same, the negative comments manifest into us having this constant scrutiny of our work but not in a productive way. I'm sure that any good educator would argue that they only ever mean for feedback to be constructive. I would argue that not all educators know how to give constructive feedback. Maybe they enjoy having a go at a student with their red pen of power or maybe I'm more of a pessimist than I thought.
