Imagine: all the teachers gather in the staff room to be graded for their work. The representatives of students comment upon their work and name the teacher of the week. The criteria for evaluation are the ability to get students involved in the educational process, original presentation of the material, respectful and tolerant attitude. Difficult to imagine? Sounds like a shocking idea? Undoubtedly, yes, but what would be the result if this system was really implemented?
First of all, it would definitely make students more involved in their education. The current situation makes students tolerate any form of injustice: if there is a conflict between a teacher and a student, which can result simply from a clash of personalities, teachers simply demand to respect their authority. Students’ position is always a dependent one: they must listen and agree, as their academic record can suffer a lot.
Moreover, the system can be good for teachers as well. It is not a rare case when, preparing for their classes, teachers choose the way of presentation that would be interesting for them. Unfortunately, it does not always make students fascinated, but they keep their ideas to themselves and teachers simply do not know that there is a problem.
Certainly, some people would argue that the system would simply be a tool for students to get rid of the teachers they don’t like. But let us face it: students can also be objective and if they really dislike a person, it is not for a big amount of homework.
So, if students got a chance to grade their teachers, it would be very useful both for teachers and for students. The first would feel more motivated to develop their professional skills, the latter would feel more secure during their school years.