Dear Readers,
Today, I will be talking about yet another practical, real-life situation, and I believe that you will help me by giving some comments on this! :D
After every academic year, teachers grade students according to their academic progress, work attitude, personal conduct. Whilst pondering on this issue, I suddenly posed myself a question: why is it that students cannot assess their teachers?
Let me explain why assessing teachers should be implemented within Hwa Chong.
Through such an assessment, the school would be able to know how their teachers have been performing in class throughout the last academic year; whether or not they have been carrying out their duties and teaching to the best of their abilities. This way, it would be much easier and fairer for the principal and the respective departmental heads to decide which teachers should be promoted. This will give students a sense of belonging to the school as they are able to play a part in the school’s decisions, unlike other schools.
For the teachers, the assessment serves as a marker for themselves. By looking at the results, they would be able to identify whether their teaching style is appropriate for the students and which areas they can improve on. Good comments will make teachers feel acknowledged for all the efforts they have put in, and their teaching methods and styles can be adopted by others. This way, the teachers are able to learn from one another. With criticism, they will know where they can improve, and there on, become better teachers and better educators. One thing to note is that the teachers must take criticism in the correct light, in the same way which students take criticism from teachers.
Lastly, for the students, they would be able to practise making judgements and assessing others fairly with an unbiased mind.
I suggest that this assessment can be done as an online survey. This is because teenagers nowadays love to surf the Internet and they never feel bored to touch the keyboard and move the mouse. The survey results can then be tabulated for the teachers to see how they have fared.
Some might wonder, “What if the students are biased?” Bias or prejudice need not be a cause for worry, because there is a whole class of at least 25 students to assess the teachers. The apples and thorns of the teacher’s eyes would be moderated by the neutral student body, which gives rise to a fair result in all.
Assessing teachers will only benefit not only the school but also the teachers. Therefore I sincerely believe that the school should consider implementing this measure for the good of everyone.
Please give your comments! :D
Best Regards,
Nathan :)
Hay Nathan :D
ReplyDeleteInteresting suggestion you have there o:
I do agree that this will definitely aid teachers in improving their teaching styles and attitudes. It would also serve as a good platform for students to give feedback, as I feel that it is very hard to give teachers feedback face-to-face. It is very inconvenient and to be honest, I think not all are that open to suggestions and criticism. D:
Therefore I think this idea is rather helpful! o:
However, I am curious about how this is to be done. If it is not anonymous, I think students may hold back a little in terms of their comments on how the teacher can be improved, which may potentially give teachers a false sign that they are doing well. Yet again, if it is anonymous, the comments may be harsher, and it may inculcate disrespect towards seniors among students.
Of course, these are just some speculations.
Though generally, I think it would be a great platform for teachers to receive feedback from students so as to constantly improve on their teaching styles.
Of course if this isn't implemented, we can still show appreciation to teachers through writing notes, or during Teacher's Day :D
- Glenn
Hello Glenn! :D
ReplyDeleteThank you for your interest and support in the proposal of this initiative. In this comment, I will address your queries regarding the anonymity of the comments. What you said certainly does make much sense, and I admit that I did not think about that when I was formulating this proposal. However, I managed to think of a way to solve it.
These comments will remain anonymous to the teachers but recorded in the school database. This then ensures that they are true and honest, not merely fabricated lies to make the teachers happy and get a high mark in a composition or assignment, or other ulterior motives.
Then, you mentioned that “the comments may be harsher, and it may inculcate disrespect towards seniors among students.” I totally agree with this. Therefore, these comments will have records of which students said what. However, when the teachers spot some undesirable comments like expletives or disrespectful words, they can then request to know which students wrote it.
I believe this answers your query.
Once again, thank you for reading my blog. Stay tuned for more updates!
Best Regards,
Nathan :)