Australian Pupils 'should mark teachers'

[Johnboy60]

HIGH school students should be able to rate their teachers just as their teachers rate them at the end of an academic year, Democrats leader Lyn Allison suggested yesterday.
Most teachers had little feedback on how effective their teaching was or what students thought of them, she said.

Democrats research, released yesterday, showed there were still "alarming" rates of bullying at schools and that students were concerned about the quality of teaching they received. But they were unconcerned by the low number of male teachers in the system.

"I think students are the best ones to be able to criticise teachers," Senator Allison said. "They are with them during the school day and they observe the practice and they know whether they are learning or not."

She said the practice of rating people based on how well they did their job was "routine" in business.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16083505-13762,00.html

 

[thepinkpencil3]

I think that if something like that were to be instituted, it'd have to be outside of that class etc.. it could hurt the teachers and change their view of a particular student etc...

I have seen teachers act 100% unlike themselves when the principal or another official is viewing their class. One of my teachers would benefit from hearing, not directly from a student, that her teaching methods stink. She gives a worksheet and we are expected to do it and read it, (I swear, it was all written in greek)

On the other hand... some teachers need to know that they actually are really good teachers. One teacher, not even one that I've ever had, is the nicest woman I have ever met. She thinks sometimes that she isn't a good teacher because a lot of people hate how she teaches. She isn't as lenient as others are, but takes the time to explain things, will work with a student for hours on end to prepare for tests or correct tests or just flat out teach them something they don't get. I guess in class she isn't as fun as the alternative teacher, making her the "bad guy"

So, basically, I think it's a great idea. It would certainly make class much more enjoyable.

 

[toxiciridescence]

I think it is a wonderful idea. I don't think a teacher's popularity should determine whether or not a teacher has a job or not, of course. I do believe, though, that some teachers do act differently when they are being observed, and feedback from students, if anonymous, might give the unpopular kid as much of a say as the jock that talks to the administrator on a regular basis.

 

[ClaireZ]

When I was going to High School we did this in every class.

It gave the administration a chance to work with problem teachers to improve their rapport with the students, and it gave the teachers a chance to read through the scores and comments to see which of their methods were working, and which were not getting through to the students.

Personally I thought it was a great system.

 

[tqpix]

We have this in place in some (maybe most) schools--high school and college. The teacher would usually leave the room when this happens, then after the teacher evaluation forms have been completed by the students, a selected student would collect the forms, put them in a large envelope, and goes somewhere with them (I'm not sure where the evaluations go exactly).

 

[Links234]

We do this in my university.

 

[trunks2k]

We do this in my university.

Same here, with mixed results. Sometimes the evaluations are all but ignored. Other times, they take action. I've had 2 proffessors so far that had such bad evaluations from my class that one is relegated solely to research (he had tenure), and the other was let go.

There's also a online database in which a student can log on and rate/comment on teachers and the ratings are public. But this system is not affiliated with the school, this was solely a private project. But it's incredibly helpful when figuring out a schedule. It's on it's second incarnation, the school shut down the other site because it was going to sue for copywrite infringment or something b/c the website had the school name in the URL. Students got really mad at that one, I don't think they'll try that again.

 

[Vylo]

We did it all the time at my college.

 

[JPPT1974]

That sounds like an good idea. Too bad that it wasn't available when I went to school or college.

 

[winglovesall]

This is occuring in Australia -- hm, I don't know much about it though -- but, some of my teachers has already done that and printed out a survey for all the students of the quality of teaching, the subject and so, I think, this is occuring in New South Wales!

New South Wales has a tougher Education Policy --

 

[Heiroglyph]

In my opinion if a teacher has a student fail her class then that is one student that she has failed to adequately teach. So while that can happen, if it happens alot to the same teacher then there is their grade right there.

 

[gnine]

HIGH school students should be able to rate their teachers just as their teachers rate them at the end of an academic year, Democrats leader Lyn Allison suggested yesterday.
Most teachers had little feedback on how effective their teaching was or what students thought of them, she said.

Democrats research, released yesterday, showed there were still "alarming" rates of bullying at schools and that students were concerned about the quality of teaching they received. But they were unconcerned by the low number of male teachers in the system.

"I think students are the best ones to be able to criticise teachers," Senator Allison said. "They are with them during the school day and they observe the practice and they know whether they are learning or not."

She said the practice of rating people based on how well they did their job was "routine" in business.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16083505-13762,00.html

Good idea, but its not going to happen in a formal sense.

The Teacher's Federation is an extremely militant union that resists any effort to grade teachers by performance even by their own bosses, let alone by kids (and they don't hesitate to go on strike at least a couple of times a year about something).

 

[E-beth]

I think it is an excellent idea. It could be a useful tool, AS LONG AS the results are taken to heart.

So many times a teacher has been in school for too long, resting on their tenure, but are still teaching the same way they did 25 years ago. An anonymous rating and response by students would give a smart teacher an idea of the best ways to reach them.

 

[MadeInOz]

That would have been nice... I had some really bad teachers... But at the same time I had some pretty good ones as well.

 

[toxiciridescence]

In my opinion if a teacher has a student fail her class then that is one student that she has failed to adequately teach. So while that can happen, if it happens alot to the same teacher then there is their grade right there.

Not true so much in high school. Especially mine. When kids have the idea of "I'm only here until I can legally get out" and parents back that idea up, the teachers have barely any hope.

The freshman class last year from my high school, across the board, had that attitude. Nearly half of the Honors classes failed Algebra 1, and the class had no homework, and was graded on effort, not correctness. Our school, though, was a mechanic trade school, so most of the kids had the idea that they'd coast through their regular classes to get in and work on cars. *shrugs* Sometimes it is the teacher, yes, but sometimes it is the attitudes of students and parents instead.

 

[Blessed-one]

i'm not too sure.... consider how undisciplined kids are these days, there's a potential of misjudged feedback in this system leading to backlash and more legal consequences. But i agree, some teachers here just don't know how to teach.

I think it's probably more prudent to increase the standard of teaching taught at university, and extend the period of practical teachings for the would-be teachers.