Job Discussion Forums

[soapdodger]

Now there's an idea! I wonder if anyone does it, though I have a sneaking suspicion it's pretty unlikely. I wonder why.....

[Glenski]

secretly or openly (to students or teachers)?

Do it with students, and you'd better get their consent and that of the school.

[soapdodger]

With consent of course. Not that I think most students would mind. I was thinking of it as a kind of advertising exercise really, but then of course there is the possibility of "ongoing observation" as well via classroom minicams to the owner's office. Ho, ho...I wonder if that's been applied in this age of constant monitoring of everyone's every move? Only a matter of time I think.

[Glenski]

[Julieanne]

I think all cameras are intrusive but I suppose these measures have to be taken

[gaijinalways]

Berlitz does audio only, no video (yet!).

[wildchild]

I am 100% against it. Aren't we surveilled enough?

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

My school has a camera in my class.

The boss says he does it to "protect" himself from false claims of students. If this were true, I would be 100% all for it.

Sadly, he often marches into the classroom while I'm teaching if I do something like...

- Play a game
- Joke around
- Get the kids all excited
- Don't teach exactly what my boss wants me to teach
- Give them treats as rewards

He spends more time watching me teach rather than teach his own class (he as a little TV on his desk)

If he simply recorded it, for future reference or to defend against anything (the foreigner hit me, eg) that's would be 100% OK with me.

But babysitting my classes..nah. I don't like it. Good thing he pays me well, I would have left a long time ago otherwise.

[ecocks]

I don't see much utility for them in a TEFL environment. The point about making limited use of them for shooting some sample lessons, advertising or occasional observing (like showing a lesson in progress to someone thinking of signing up for lessons) seems reasonable though. The school I am working at has all glass walls. Not for oservation, they thought it would be cool to write on the walls with whiteboard markers. Unfortunately, the glare makes it difficult to read what we put up.

I favor them for public school classrooms when the situation (and budget availability) calls for it. The American high school I taught at was getting them to cover the common areas and some hallways. Many of the teachers favored them for classroom implementation as well. A lot of kids would have behaved differently if their mom, dad, aunt or grandmother was watching them. Plus, the prosecutors would have appreciated them.

[Insubordination]

I can't see why anyone would have the time to watch someone do their job. Aren't there better ways to spend one's working hours?

[soapdodger]

Insubordination, you obviously haven't had much experience with the particular substratum of pond life known as EFL school owners.

[ecocks]

I don't get formally observed or intruded upon during lessons. I do have someone walk through every now and then (like less than twice a month) and layouts often allow someone to overhear from the next room or hallway, but have never had a sense that I was being spied upon or such.

[arioch36]

I know from studies that people quickly adapt to the camera being there, and would do what they would do if it wasn't there. So I do not agree that it has much of a deterrent value. I sometimes have asked for a camera in the room so I can review myself
But at the same time, I would be very unhappy if the school placed a camera in my classroom to review my performance. And I honestly can't say that I have ever taught anywhere where I felt the school would place a camera in the room to benefit the students. benefit themselves? Ammunition if i make a possible slip up? This I can imagine. More likely I see them using it for financial gain without informing me.
I worked at a Chinese high school once. Like many Chinese high schools, the conditions for the teachers were not great, long hours little pay. The school would state they just had no money to give the teachers.
But they had money to put a camera in every classroom. The teachers unplugged them all (good for them). The same school also paid to set up every clasroom so it could use multimedia. Sounds nice, but no teachers had laptops, none of the teachers was ever going to use multimedia, and if they did the headmaster would probably complain that they weren't really teaching. five years later, still not used. Somebody made some kisckback money off of that scam!

[ecocks]

in a regular school (as opposed to TEFL) classroom was to bring the parents into the loop regarding how their children were behaving by letting them watch actual classroom behavior on the web. A secondary priority was to replay for "evidence" in assault and questionable situations. It was/is being experimented with in various areas. Yes, the teacher's union had the same concerns being voiced here - would classroom performance be monitored? who would have access to the tape/cam? and so on.... Many US classrooms are already wire for sound though and no one really complains about it.

Personally, I favored it. Unless you have taught teenagers in the public school system and had to sit through parent-teacher meetings where little Johnny lied his rear-end off you cannot imagine how scared many of the kids were that their parents would find out the truth. For that matter, you would like to know how your money was being spent on education as a taxpayer.

Regardless, I see little need for cameras in TEFL classrooms except for training and as a sales tool. Too many better things to spend the money (and the time) doing.