This posting should have been done last year but then it was such a busy year and then I was off for a short vacation before the crazy schedule starts. This was the best Christmas gift I could ever give to myself.
When I received my Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) assignment, my heart sank. I only managed a Pass (P). Doubts flooded my mind. Am I good enough? Did I study the wrong course? Have I done enough? Reading through my essay, over and over again, I just could not accept this grade. This was just not my performance. I decided to do something which I have never done before – appeal for a re-grading, a re-marking for my assignment…
So, I wrote to the director of the institution…
I am writing this email to express my disappointment with how my SFBT assignment was marked and graded. I was marked three grades below my usual performance.
I am not stating that I am a super student and therefore deserved a better grade but from a High Distinction (HD) to a P? If I am a poor performer, it would have reflected in all my past assignments. I felt that the marking was not impartial base on the comments given by the marker. This is the first time I am appealing for a relook at my grading in all my years of studying as I believe this is due to the marker’s values towards SFBT.
From the comments given, it seemed like I was expected to quote from preferred sources. An example,
“According to Corey (2005), SFBT focuses on what is possible and has no interest or little interest on understanding the problem itself.”
If I gave an argument and used Corey to support my point, why was it not accepted? The comment given by the marker was “not true”. The marker’s comments reflected in my essay came across as being myopic.
In my many months with the school, I have been taught to be a counsellor with an open mind. Dr C said that I need to put down my values, beliefs, norms and cultures to accept others. Likewise for a marker, to be able to grade a piece of assignment fairly, it would only be right to have an open mind to accept other opinions if they make good sense.
I am not a SFBT intern, I do not know enough SFBT practitioners and studies in order to quote them all in my essay…Dr L, it would greatly be appreciated if you could relook at my paper. If after a second opinion and found that I truly deserved a P, I rest my case.
When the re-grading came back, I scored a Distinction (D). The result arrived on 23rd Dec. What a great Christmas gift!
What have I learned through this?
No one can put me down. I have to protect myself, I have to speak up for myself and above all, I must believe in myself because no one will if I just keep silent and accept the label others have placed on me. Be faithful, be fearless!
