Job Discussion Forums

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

At the less academic institutions, why is it that so much dilly-dallying goes on over the questions on the evaluations ... when a more basic format would suffice ...

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

We do student evalatuations, not like this one, and I think they are very important. We use a format developed at the Univ of Washiington, used later at Koc Univ, and adapted slightly for ET. It is in Turkish for the lower levels and English for the higher levels. We ask about the teacher, the course and materials, and the students (attendance, homework, tests). the students can also write comments. I think it is very valuable information, as we learn a lot and can adjust as necessary. Comments about the teacher are passed on to him/her and comments about the school are passed on to the manager. It keeps everyone accountable and gives everyone a chance to act to make things better. I wonder if other language schools use these-- anyone?

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

Yes .. yes ... wasn't that in the great ET handbook ... what about teacher evaluations of students (as students; not evaluations of their language) ...

... anyhow, this thread wasn't about evaluations of courses ... or materials ....

We teachers want a bit of fun ... to make the process a little more two way ... to stop us from 'suffering the disadvantages of playing the gentleman' while some students are so blatantly 'enjoying the benefits of playing the cad' ...

Baba Alex · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411

Teacher evaluations need to be two ways. I remember a famous story about one teacher being spoken to because in his evaluation the students said that he spoke too much Turkish in the classroom. The teachers defense that he didn't speak a word of the language fell on deaf ears.

The student needs to evaluate themselves at teh same time.

ie.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I have to disagree Molly. What do students know about teaching?

Baba Alex · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:10 am Post subject:

Every year we have to go through this farce ,as someone already said ,wtf do students know about teaching ? They have barely grasped the concepts of how to study or even behave as students are expected to .I'm talking university students here .
The other side of the coin ,is that we have to evaluate them as well ,when they are made aware of that fact it seems to moderate their comments somewhat .
Having said all that its a good thing to wave infront of a prospective future employer ,positive comments from those you have taught in the past .
I keep and collect mine just for that reason ,unlike many of my collegues who just bin them . They do have their uses .

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

What do students know about teaching???

don't you think they have a gut feeling that the person cares and is trying to do a good job? if a teacher is hated by all are they, in reality, missunderstood experts in pedagogy?

We might not take all of the comments too seriously but an overall impression is formed and it is usually accurate

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 12:11 pm Post subject:

Tvik,you ARE right ,up to a point , they have spent a lot of time being taught by different people over a number of years and they can recognise the committed professional teacher who does care what happens in the classroom and the other type .Its just that they allow their personal feelings towards an individual teacher cloud their judgement,you know how fickle they can be ,one day you're the best ,the next you fell down big time in their eyes because they did'nt like the mark you gave them in the last quiz/test .They really have not got enough maturity to undertake a task like this in an objective or constructive manner .
B.A made the point about the use of Turkish in the classroom,but hey ,it is no coincidence that the best regarded or the "favourites" in the teaching team are the ones who speak reasonable to good Turkish,my place is crawling with them they get all the cushy little jobs and less teaching hours and are well thought of because they use L1 most of the time ,and to add insult to injury they have the nerve to call themselves "native speakers " .

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

Normally one would accept the evaluations as just another wayward TEFL tune banged out on an old circus drum and be done with it ...

But as Entrailicus has pointed out, they sometimes have serious consequences � some places over here use the evaluations as part of the official annual review of staff ... something that has financial implications ...

So your salary depends on how well you can appease a 19 yr old pencil-chewing, tantrum-throwing baby ...

Behold the TEFL au pair ...

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:01 am Post subject:

Got it in a nutshell Sheikh .
Who said working in a private uni was fun !

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

my guess is that the teachers who got fired because of student reports were going to get fired anyways because they told the managment they were a bunch of aholes. many good teachers will stand up to bad managment, no doubt.
also, the one or two nasty brats will have marginal effect of the overall grade, no? are they all nasty brats?? is the mangament too??? then best get out anyways.
why not become a dentist or a vet? real estate agents make a lot of money. or how about going back to that waitering career you had back home?? no???
sorry, off topic.

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

After listening to a rant about the uselessness of the evaluation system, a teacher replies that he isn't sure if he agrees and that he will have to postpone doing so until he sees the results of his own students' evaluations ...

.. tvik, how do students' comments affect averages ... are you suggesting they are written in numerical code?

lovelace · Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 190

The chain English First asks students to complete a form every so often, giving feedback on the teacher and other aspects of the school. The teacher section is quite small, just a few questions, and the kind of feedback the students give is more about the equipment and complaints about the chairs being too uncomfortable or the board too small. Rolling Eyes

But a friend who worked at a private university said one of the questions on the feedback form about her was along the lines of 'Does your teacher actively pursue professional development?' How the hell would the students know? And these were kids who made her life miserable every day, using their phones in class every few seconds, looking at her like an alien when she spoke English..I agree with the earlier poster who said these kind of students are just not mature enough to be in such a position of influence over a teacher's career.

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

yes, i got an evaluation from one university that was averaged in numbers. my lowest grade was 50 and the highest was 86. the class that gave my 50 was the one that i didn't get along with. the head of the department got between 30-40 because the students thought she was a total bore. she came in to our office and declared that the system was flawed. her evidence was the students evaluation of themselves. ie: three students filled in the most negitive boxes for the teacher and the most positive boxes for themselves.

regardless, if one or two students say nasty things it needs to be balenced against what the majority of the students feel about the teacher.

actually i would argue that the students know best if the teacher is good or not. how could anyone disagree with that??