When the Eraser Deletes the Learning Opportunity :A Pedagogical issue in Primary Education

Abstract

This study aims to shed light on a notable pedagogical phenomenon observed during field visits to primary school classrooms: the growing use of pencils to complete written assignments, accompanied by the immediate erasure of errors and their rewriting in correct form as an alternative to the established pedagogical approach of writing in blue ink and correcting errors in green.

The study is grounded in a central research question : What are the didactic, pedagogical, and psychological implications of the systematic erasure of errors at the primary education level?

It adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology, drawing on theoretical frameworks in educational sciences, didactics, and cognitive psychology. The findings conclude that this practice deprives learners of the opportunity to learn from their errors as a didactic lever, hinders the teacher's ability to diagnose and remediate learning difficulties, and negatively impacts the development of handwriting skills and written organization. The study concludes with a set of practical recommendations to address this phenomenon.