Would I be an A-Grade student?

World War 1 was caused by the ignition of the four primary conditions rife throughout Europe leading up to “The Great War.” These conditions - militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism - combined to form the kindling which would be set alight by the two primary triggering events - The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the initiation of the Schlieffen Plan by the Germans.

This is how I would start the year 9 essay that was due from my history classes week.

Now, I’m marking 45 responses over the next few days.

This is on top of the 100 or so essays I had to mark during the last school holidays.

But, what mark would I receive if I wrote my 800-word response and slid it, anonymously, in with one of the classes of my fellow teachers?

Would they notice any significant difference in the essay?

If a reciprocal event occurred, would I detect the inclusion of another faculty members’ submission?

The question is intriguing.

Would I get full marks? You’d hope so.

Would I give out the full compliment of marks to a teacher who has been instructing on the topic a half-dozen times?

Could you conduct such an experiment without becoming dreadfully unpopular due to the addition of a half-dozen essays on top of the workload your colleagues already juggle?

To an extent, the practice would be of great benefit to new teachers, fine-tuning the instructions they give to their students.

If only I had the time to pen my responses…