The Power of a Red Pen
The color red can symbolize many things; anger, lust, warning, danger…but my personal favorite is YOU AREN’T MAKING ANY SENSE. Historically speaking (i.e. the internet), the red pen as a tool for correction can be demoralizing, according to an article on ABC Science. Students see the red marks and equate it with a sense of failure, and report that it is similar to being yelled at in all capitals. Several bloggers/teachers have stated the red pen brings back repressed memories of their own awful papers littered with angry, spiteful red marks. Perhaps it would be better to switch to green or blue? 
I think not. If a student is making mistakes, they should not be told with gold ink and butterflies. It should be done in red. So they see it. Perhaps become a little embarrassed. But more importantly, try to make it better! Writing is hard, I passionately emphasize to students when I hand back gallery and essay reviews. It is not easy for me either, but we spend our whole lives doing it, so lets devote the time it deserves. Acknowledgement of improvement on a second draft with less red ink is a compliment well deserved, and everyone feels a little better knowing they worked to earn praise rather than receive it for free.
In our modern day culture of instantaneous digital communication, proofreading and editing have suffered, withering away like that plant on your windowsill, languishing half dead all winter. Stop it. You’re killing it, and me with your writing that makes-no-lick-of-sense-cause-
I agree with so much of what you are saying. Although I am only a half generation older than many students and interns that I work with, they are way less prepared for critical feedback than I recall being at their age. I feel like I have failed them if I don’t given them some real, thoughtful, and direct suggestions. There is no use skirting around an issue.
But, I want to hear more how this carries into your work at Marwen? What is the equivalent of the Red Pen in an art-making environment? How do you assess the right amount of corrections or redirection to give a student on a particular day? We all know criticism has the potential to be really hurtful. How do you find a balance of giving students the kick they need to push through the difficulties of a project and the support they need to give a care about succeeding?
Grudgingly I have to admit that it is hard to use the Red Pen of Doom in a Marwen classroom. A friend who attended Bard College for her BFA once told me that there was a certain professor who would take a china marker and during critique, would mark off bad portions of a print. If there was too much negative space, slash through it. Not in focus, slash through it. When I heard the story, I laughed. However, my friend’s face still bore the scars of the experience, “It wasn’t funny Jesse, it was terrifying”.
But that was college, and this is not. The dramatic flair of higher education critiques do not serve to help our student body grow, they would only demoralize and frighten. But the Red Pen should still serve as a reminder that criticism is necessary, and that endless praise strengthens no one. How does this work at Marwen, that’s tricky. I always try to balance a criticism with a compliment, and then wait it out to see the results. The nature of Marwen does not always lend itself to long term critique and response, i.e. fix this next week or change up your framing when you shoot next class. Students and teachers forget, while some students are on their game one week and off the next. Let the Red Pen be a reminder that critique should always happen, and that sometimes compliments can still be underlined in RED.