Job Discussion Forums

[markle]

[shmooj]

This is interesting. As part of teacher training here, we use video based observation intensively in the teacher's first couple of months. Then, on a monthly basis one of us in turn videos one of our classes and makes VHS copies for the other two teachers. We then get together a few weeks later to comment, critique, constructively criticise etc.

We also have an option for parents whereby in return for them being banned from ever setting foot in a classroom, they can request up to two classes to be recorded a year provided they come in to the school to watch it in their own time. They are not allowed to keep a copy of the tape.

All this posed ethical problems for one teacher I trained. He was from big industry and was seriously upset, not about the in-house video recording, but about allowing parents to see videos of his classes. This caught me off guard as I had never expected anyone to be so negative about this. He isn't a bad teacher by any means.

His main line of argument was that video recording of employees performance for clients is simply not done in any line of business. We reached a compromise in the end. But does anyone have any experience of being recorded not for in-house monitoring, but for parents or prospective students to watch?

[Sherri]

does anyone have any experience of being recorded not for in-house monitoring, but for parents or prospective students to watch?

I have been recorded doing a model lesson. We originally were thinking of using it to be shown to teachers who would also teach model lessons so that they could watch it in their own time, rather than attending the model lesson. Then we thought, wouldn't it be great to be able to give the video to prospective students as part of our brochure? That way they wouldn't be bound to our schedule of model lessons (we only do them before the term begins). But after watching the video we realized it is a pretty big undertaking. We just set up the camera at the front of the room and let it run. To use the video for promotional purposes we would have to get a professional cameraman, editing and production. It got way out of our budget. It's not too bad when the teacher is presenting some information but when the students get stuck into pair/groupwork that's where we ran into problems. Also there is the question of getting permission from the prospective students.

I still think it is a good idea though. Also for the record, I can't see what is wrong with a school requesting a video as part of their application process especially if they are hiring someone sight unseen from abroad.

[Sherri]

schmooj
Can I ask why your school bans parents from the classroom? At my daughter's English medium pre-school they positively encourage parents to sit in. They even have a "mommy and me" day twice a month in which mothers are invited to sit in and participate in the classes.
Sherri

[shmooj]

Certainly Scherri,

We had some very nasty experiences with mothers who used their entry to the classroom to manipulate the administration at the expense of teachers. We did not want a repeat of that under any circumstances.

That was for starters. After that, we had a think and could not, for the life of us, come up with one good watertight reason why mothers should be in the classrooms. They can, of course, join the adult classes if they'd like

Why would you allow them in?

[Sherri]

Why would you allow them in?

In my own case, I wanted to see how the teachers interacted with the students. I wanted to see what they would do when I child misbehaved for example or spoke Japanese instead of English. I wanted to see how much English was actually being used, the materials, how the materials were used, what the other kids were like...the list is endless... I guess that is what is means to be a parent and take responsibility for your child and his/her education.

I would not choose a school for my child which did not allow parents to see lessons now and again--a video tape would not do it for me. I like the fact that the school is so open and their attitude puts me at ease as a parent because of their confidence. I also think it is professional. As a teacher myself I have no problems with observations, I have nothing to hide.

It is a shame your school had a problem with the mothers...

"mothers who used their entry to the classroom to manipulate the administration at the expense of teachers"

That sounds very strange. Anyway I was just curious oh and sorry about the extra "c"!

[shmooj]

I hear what you are saying. Obviously, you have the privilege of speaking from a parent's point of view. I lack that. I hear your concerns, and, if I was in charge of this issue at a school your child was at I would want to address them and come to a solution. I believe that the reasons you feel that way stem from being a teacher/parent yourself. You want reassurance that your child is not being mistreated and that you are getting value for money.

I understand that you are in fact a teacher - but very few mothers are qualified as teachers and so I feel they should not be given a free hand in judging the acceptability of educational standards at schools that are professionally staffed and run. We have our fair share of students and so if mothers want a class that they can have input in and tweak away to their own personal educational desires, they can find somewhere else. I am paid to ensure education here is high quality and I do my job to what, in Japan, turns out to be a very high standard.

The primary issue here is trust. Eikaiwas have a terrible reputation because they have abused their trust. At our school, we foster trust. Our school is staffed and run by professional teachers so that we earn that trust. The message we want to send out is ~ Your kids are safe in our hands. Secondary issues are numerous. For brevity's sake, let me highlight a few.

You are one mother among 70 or 80. We cannot possibly address every parent's desire to be in the classroom. There are also ethical issues involved if I let you into the classroom with your child and the children of other mothers. I would need to get their permission. In the suburban neighbourhood where we are based, there may well be political issues involved here. A-san is in competition with B-san and over her dead body does she want A-san in a class with her little C-chan.

While you have concerns about how your child is treated and how the teacher runs the class, other mothers will also have those concerns. But, in EFL in Japan and with cross-cultural communication issues, the teacher themselves is not there to allay mothers' fears. They are there to teach. The administration should do an excellent communications and support role for mothers so that the teacher can get on with teaching. Sadly, this is often lacking in eikaiwa or parents are simply told a pack of lies.

We have a discipline standard which parents get. We have reward standards which parents get. We have materials which we give out to children, we issue parents with plenty of documentation about how these are used both in class and how they can be used at home. There is plenty of communication going on for starters.

Also, classes at our school average four kids and our classrooms are small. Stick a mother in there and the class usually goes to pieces. At best it is stilted. She is a distraction, especially for the child. Ironically, the children usually underperform when their mother is present. There is a lot of pressure on them in this scenario. As a result of this, the mother is actually not watching the class as it would be. Here the teacher is then compromised. They know the class is not as it usually is but they cannot point the finger at the mother. The teacher is then under added stress to rectify this situation online. They don't need this and in actual fact, the mother is not actually getting her need met either.

With the size of classes we have and the friendly atmosphere of trust and communication at our school, we have adopted a policy of no parents in the classroom. They enjoy watching the video when we do it for them and they tell us that they are more than satisfied. In fact the last set of mothers I did this for said that they thought the class was a lot more fun than they ever imagined. I guarantee you that if they had been in the classroom for that class they would not have seen a fun class for the reasons I have outlined here.

I do not believe this policy should be adopted carte blanche at every school in the country. We have a thought-through and workable policy concerning this which works for us and is necessary to ensure smooth teacher-parent relationships.

Thanksch for lischening

[nomadder]

I agree. There are so many reasons why mothers (or fathers) should not be a regular feature in the classroom. Observation alters performance for the teacher and child. The teacher can't discipline very well with the mother there-I've heard of many teachers complaining of this. A lot kids haven't been disciplined properly by their parents and act up while mother is there or just because it's that age. The list goes on. Also as said if one mother thinks X should happen in the class and another thinks Y that's a problem. I used to teach kindergarten classes and the mothers stayed in the class for the first few months. Things were much better for everyone when they left. Also they could be noisy and took up too much space. The children learned how to be more independent without them..........stop me now..................................................................Egads if there was a teacher/mother watching. I know how picky I am about teaching now.

[guest of Japan]

TRUST

I can understand the concerns of a parent, but they have to trust the teachers and the school. They have every right to information on what their child is learning and the style of the teaching, but I don't believe they have the right to be in the classroom. I could accept having a parents day once or twice a year, so the parents can see the way their children interact with the teacher, but nothing more.

I would never take a job that allowed parents to monitor the lessons regularly. It's insulting.

[Gordon]

I also agree. I would never work somewhere where the parents or even the administration regularly watched the classroom.

[shmooj]

Gee guys... I had no idea others felt this way. Thought I was a loner

[Sherri]

Before you guys think I am the mother from hell, let me just qualify what I meant by my statements. When I wrote about observations:

--I wanted to see how the teachers interacted with the students
--to see what they would do when I child misbehaved for example or spoke Japanese instead of English.
--to see how much English was actually being used, the materials, how the materials were used
--what the other kids were like

I was talking about when I went to choose the school. It is not something I would want to do all the time. I do think these are fair concerns that parents have when choosing (in my case a preschool) for their child. My daughter's school set up special days when mothers could come to see the school and the teachers, view some activities and talk to the teachers. This is essential. You can promise that your teachers are professional and the school that Shmooj works at sounds like a good set up, but the trust has to be earned. And parents have to see your professionalism at work--you can't expect us to believe it just because you say so or it says so in the brochure. Parents do need to observe at least one class before they can be expected to make up their minds about the school.

I never said that I thought parents should just be able to drop in any time, I think I said "now and again" and it should be on a special day when all parents come (for example the mommy and me day that I mentioned at my daughter's school) Anyway they are only two years old! Older children probably don't need this.

As a teacher myself I do not mind being observed by other teachers, the admin or guests of the school. Where I used to work we encouraged all kinds of observations between peers and of course the teachers were regularly observed by the academic administrative staff. We also encouraged the Japanese admin to observe so that they could see what was going on in the classroom--after all they had to talk about our classes to prospective students. Of course it was a school where all of the teachers were professionals and we had built a level of trust and it wasn't a problem, in fact it was good. We all learned from each other. I have learned so much from watching other people's classes/having my class watched and talking about it.

Anyway, I better get cracking, I have 2 pumpkin pies and 1 pecan pie to make as well as the cranberry sauce. Turkey tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans out there.

[Celeste]

I work at several different elementary schools, and in the public school setting, I find it beneficial to have mothers come in and observe. Some of my schools even have PTA volunteers that come in and assist me with the English classes. I find this very helpful because of the large class sizes I deal with (35-42) and also because the mothers are generally supportive and help me out with the administrators who might not be so enthusiastic about English activities at the elementary school level. I also think that it is good for kids with behavior problems to have their mother witness their in-class behaviour (either live or through video) so that they can work with the teachers on a behaviour management plan.

[nomadder]

Sherri you did mention Mommy and Me Day being twice a month which is every second lesson. Too much I say. At the trial lesson is fine and at my school some mothers peeked in the window once in a while. Obviously very young kids need their mothers there for a few months-any longer and I'd say they're too young. Don't some people want their kids to hear English when they can barely walk these days? Get a video or some English TV I say. I've had mothers try that and it failed terribly.

[Sherri]

Yes Mommy and Me day is twice a month. Actually I don't go on those days! I have a baby at home so I can't devote my attention to it. But I guess it is nice for the mothers that want it and obviously there is a demand (by the mothers not the kids). My daughter barely gives me a backward glance when I leave. She has a lot of fun there

These are not English classes though, this is an English medium preschool for "international" kids. So most of the kids already speak English at home to at least one parent. They are amazingly good at language, I am so jealous.