Teacher Evaluations And The Matrix

I taught my first college class in 1975; my first set of evaluations came at the end of that term. I've been teaching and evaluating every class since then. Calls to fire lousy teachers hit home with me because --who knows-- I may be one. I don't think I am and my students don't think I am, but I'm sure someone could devise an evaluation system that "proved" I'm a terrible teacher. Therein, friends, lies the rub.

For some reason, everyone expects every teacher to be either outstanding or competent. Really? In what other field from plumbing to management to brain surgery is every practitioner outstanding or even competent? The sheer number of teachers required means, statistically, there must be a certain level of incompetence. (If there were as many physicians as teachers, we would see a) lower prices and b) far more malpractice suits.) The competence problem is exacerbated by the demands for teachers to be subject matter experts and teaching experts, two factors not necessarily mutually exclusive but not often naturally found. Add in low pay and working conditions ranging from tolerable to god-awful and the number of lousy teachers increases exponentially, since few of us choose to remain in the fire or the frying pan when the trough is much comfortable. Expect the number of lousy teachers to increase as calls to turn us all into crack shots, kung fu fighters, sword masters, and Delta Force clones increase.

 (cross-posted at Alexandria)

The magical solution is to find that one great master (I'm thinking of the Buddha now) whom we can share with the universe via the awesome Matrix of the Intertoobs. I was the first person to teach a "distance education" and an on-line course at my college (beginning in the mid-80's if memory serves) and did so for a good ten years or more until I finally said "No More!" These courses were evaluated inside and out and generally got good marks, though in private conversations the students often talked about how much they hated the courses. The reasons for student resistance were many and varied, sometimes concerning the teacher, sometimes the technology, which, at best, is about 80% acceptable. The Magic Teacher might be a reasonable proposition if, in fact, our on-line courses functioned as well as the Matrix but they don't and they won't.

I'm sorry but there are no easy solutions to the education "problem," because we all know what the solutions are, and we just don't want to pay for them. Schools and children make nice political props, but society as a whole doesn't really care about children that much, else we'd be living in a much different society.

I do agree with one point of discussion: it is more important to have a good teacher than a subject matter expert. So how do we get those people? Here's an instant cliché of mine: if you want to make better teachers, make better people. Good teaching begins in the heart, not the head.