Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
I'm not the biggest fan of teacher evaluations. This is primarily because of my experiences. I was too fearful of the consequences of my teachers finding out my opinions. This was especially problematic in one class when we were required to include our names. I have also seen teachers outright dismiss legitimate criticism because they don't want to believe it, substantially diminishing the value of these reviews.
Most teachers will receive better evaluations than they deserve, especially the more abusive teachers. That doesn't mean that these evaluations should be scrapped. One of the many problems within our schools has been how much we limit the say that students have in their own educations.
There has been some backlash from teachers relating to these evaluations. They insist that these evaluations aren't very fair or valuable because students are more likely to rate teachers highly if they get good grades rather than how well they actually learn. They think that some good teachers could be hindered by these evaluations.
There is some validity to this argument. Students are biased. No decision should ever be made solely on the basis of what a student claims. This does not make the opinions of students irrelevant. In fact, these opinions shouldn't be read directly by the teachers. A supervisor can relay any feedback necessary.
If a teacher is systematically harming children, evaluations could be a tool to shine a light on problems. Teachers can be informed of how they can improve. Schools can adjust policies to better support their students. Student input can even assist (as long as there are other factors considered) for pay increases and layoffs.
We need to ensure privacy in these evaluations, and something needs to be done with the culture of fear that is holding back student voices. Ultimately, students need to have multiple outlets to speak on their own behalf. They need to have a say in their educations. It is absolutely inexcusable to further constrain involvement in their own lives. This includes the use of teacher evaluations.
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