Before sharing her e-mail, I want to offer a few comments:
- I
learned in further correspondence with this teacher that she has eleven
years experience. So this is solid evidence that even veteran, experienced
teachers can be traumatized by draconian evaluation systems that do little
to improve instruction and much to inhibit creativity.
- She
revealed that she taught in a public school in the American heartland.
Unless her district is very different from almost every other district I
have encountered across the USA, a teacher who has eleven years experience
is unlikely to be dismissed because of a poor evaluation. (Aside: It’s
debatable whether that’s a “sensible, fair, and just” practice, but the
dismissal of veteran teachers is exceedingly rare.) If we take dismissal
off the table, the purpose of evaluation is to provide teachers with
useful feedback and information designed to enhance student learning.
Building fear and stress into the process is counterproductive. (Note: The
teacher who wrote to me teaches art. If there is any subject that relies
on the creativity that is thwarted by stress and fear, it is art.)
- In a
follow-up e-mail to me, the teacher wrote, “Just the other day I spoke to
one very fine teacher who I respect very much who told me she thought this
new evaluation system is crazy and insane. She said it in such a
funny way I had to laugh.” There’s something profoundly disturbing when
teachers believe that dismissing, mocking, and generally ignoring
administrative initiatives are the best courses of action! But that’s
exactly what is happening in countless schools. Experienced, skilled, and
caring teachers are deciding that the best way to deal with stressful
teacher evaluations is to give them as little of their thought and
attention as possible. When teachers believe that ignoring administrative
initiatives actually improves their teaching – or at least keeps it from
being hampered – something is
fundamentally wrong with the system.
Enough commentary. Here’s the e-mail I received last week:
I came across your article today, “Teacher Evaluation:
Fear and Stress Are a Recipe for Disaster.” It was my lunch hour and I
was just searching, searching for anything on this subject. I am an Art Teacher
at a Junior High School where we are now being put through this new evaluation
system. I have to tell you for myself, that things at this school
have felt more like a communist dictatorship than a place of
learning. I have been on hyper alert while I teach my classes with the
constant feeling that at any moment a panel of three men with clip boards could
be walking in. I think what has alarmed me the most is this 17-page evaluation
booklet that we are supposed to go by. It was like reading Chinese.
I’d like to meet the people who wrote that and if I did, there is a chance I
might find myself diving across the table heading for their necks.
Anyway, the reason I’m writing you is to tell you what a
relief it was to come across your article. I thought I was the only one who has
felt the way I have. The environment at my school has changed. It’s gotten
very tense, and no one is talking about this. It’s almost as if everyone
is afraid to say anything, so we find ourselves herded along like lost sheep
who have lost their voices.
I’ve had to ask myself several times, “Is it me?”
Why isn’t any body else saying anything about this? Oh, one teacher
did. She spoke up at a faculty meeting questioning the amount of stress
this would be putting on all the teachers. The principal talked
right over her with a lecture about how we all need to “just play the game.”
Thank you for you time.
***
As always, if you enjoyed this and found it useful, please
send the link to your friends. Thanks.
Bob Sullo
PO Box 1336
Sandwich, MA 02563
For information about books by Bob Sullo and to schedule a
keynote, workshop, or series for your school, agency, or parent group visit
www.internalmotivation.net
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