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How to evaluate teachers
Gardening boosts reading and numeric skills Campus Notes
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How to evaluate teachers ONE single factor that decides the destiny of any nation is the quality of education its citizens get. The process of education revolves around the teacher and the taught. For ages, the teacher-student relationship in our society has been perceived by our fore-fathers on the guru-shishya pattern, in which the Guru is the ultimate source of knowledge and the disciple learns in the most trying environment because of his devotion and spirit of enquiry. Therefore, teachers’ assessment by students in such a scenario assumes special significance and the subject needs to be debated by intelligentsia, academia, policy-makers and of course, by the teachers. In assessing the teacher’s performance, the basic purpose is to improve the standard of education being imparted. Teacher evaluation by any means must contribute to better quality of education. A number of means may be used for evaluating the performance of a teacher, student evaluation of teacher being one of them. The fundamental question is: “Are the students qualified to evaluate a teacher for quality teaching?” It is reasonable to assume that one essential ingredient for good teaching is the teacher’s knowledge of the subject concerned. It is again reasonable to assume that if not all, most of the students would not have the requisite knowledge to pass judgement on the teacher in this regard. Because of this handicap, a student is likely to focus more on other aspects, some of them even irrelevant. For example, a student may feel comfortable to comment on the ‘personality’ of the teacher. There may be other dimensions of teaching that a student cannot judge but may be asked to judge when a system is in place. Such judgement by the student may not only be misleading but is bound to be harmful in the long run. The reliability of student rating of teachers is a major issue, which needs to be resolved. Relationship of a student with the subject is an important factor. A particular student may not like a subject in his/her curriculum but has to perforce to study it. Bias will blur the good judgement. Another student may pay a lot of attention to the physical appearance, including the type of clothes worn by the teacher and his/her etiquette and mannerism rather than the quality of teaching. Some of the relevant factors which influence the quality of teaching are knowledge and functional skills, communication and delivery skills, the ability to develop a rapport with every student in the class, being able to judge the existing ability level of the students, use of technology, innovation in teaching, punctuality, legibility of writing, interactive teaching, enthusiasm, patience, preparation for the class and above all, compassion. A teacher evaluation policy, which includes evaluation by students, must be prepared very carefully. Initially, the concept should be applied only to the postgraduate classes. Every institution for the purpose of evaluation may constitute an independent suitable academic committee. Its task should be to issue feedback forms and other evaluation material. It should present the received information in an organised manner, so that it can help in decision-making related with career prospects like retention, promotion, extension, etc., of the teacher. Another suggestion is the adoption of a system of mutual assessment of the teachers within a particular department. A selective system of evaluation by students may also be adopted. Those students who wish to evaluate the teacher must apply for it to the Vice-Chancellor or head of the institution and get approval for the same. To make the system as objective as possible, all the students who wish to evaluate the teachers must have attended at least 80 per cent of the classes of that teacher in a particular academic session. Also, only those students who obtain above 60 per cent marks in the previous class should be permitted to evaluate the teacher. All information related to teacher evaluation should be treated as confidential and used only for the purpose of counselling of the teacher or for identifying special teachers for training of other teachers in teaching skills. The above roadmap can only be useful if the need of teacher evaluation is understood in the correct perspective and all those who are directly or indirectly affected by any changes are fully involved right from the drawing board stage. It is high time that teachers offer themselves for any evaluation system, including evaluation by students, in the overall interest of the quality of education. The National Policy on Education should also provide unambiguous guideline,s so that any system evolved by universities or colleges does not become a roadblock. The teaching community, on the other hand, has to appreciate that such efforts are counter-productive and it is in their interest to let a fair system function. In spite of all the resistance from different quarters, a system, which involves all stakeholders, should be evolved and implemented. |
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Gardening boosts reading and numeric skills GARDENING may enhance children’s reading, writing and numeric skills, a study said. Children should be encouraged to practice gardening to help their literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills. The research was carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research. Researchers surveyed 1,300 teachers and studied 10 schools to examine the impact of gardening on school kids. Teachers who encouraged children to practise gardening as part of their education said they displayed more independence and were better at solving problems. Working in school gardens also had an impact on other subjects, including literacy and numeracy, the study claimed. “Fundamental to the success of school gardens in stimulating a love of learning was their ability to translate sometimes dry academic subjects into practical, real world experiences,” the Telegraph quoted the report commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society as saying. “Children were encouraged to get their hands dirty—in every sense. Teachers involved in the research said the result was a more active, inquisitive approach to learning,” according to the report. “The changeable nature of gardening projects—where anything from the weather to plant disease can affect the outcome—forced the children to become more flexible and better able to think on their feet and solve problems,” the report added. “As the new coalition Government considers a new approach to the primary curriculum, we hope they acknowledge the striking conclusions of our research and that gardens enable a creative, flexible approach to teaching that has significant benefits,” Director of science and learning at the RHS, Dr Simon Thornton Wood said. “Schools which integrate gardens into the curriculum are developing children who are much more responsive to the challenges of adult life,” he added.
— ANI
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Campus Notes DR Inderjit Singh, Registrar, Guru Nanak Dev University, released the new telephone directory of retired university employees at the guest house of the university recently. The telephone directory has been brought out by the Guru Nanak Dev University Pensioners/Retirees Welfare Association. Amarjit Singh Bai and Giani Amar Singh, president and secretary of the association, respectively, said the contact numbers of 361 retired employees, including 100 retired teachers and officials of the university along with their residential addresses had been included in the directory.
Garment exhibition
The Department of Adult Continuing Education and Extension of Guru Nanak Dev University will organise a two-day exhibition of garments and other articles designed by the students of dress designing, cutting and tailoring and textile designing of the department from June 29 to June 30 at the Working Women Hostel of the university. According to Dr Rajinder Pawar, Head and Director of the Department of Adult Continuing Education and Extension, Vice-Chancellor A.S. Brar will inaugurate the exhibition.
Admission process under way
The admission process for various courses being run by the Department of Adult Continuing Education and Extension is under way and interested candidates can get forms from the university campus, Amritsar, GND varsity Regional Campus, Gurdaspur, and Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College, Mukandpur. The last date for admission to these courses is June 30. Keeping in view to providing knowledge and skills to the backward and deprived sections of society, the department offers skill development training courses/diplomas in dress designing, cutting and tailoring for Class X pass girls on the university campus (160 seats), GND varsity Regional Campus, Gurdaspur (70 seats) and at Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College, Mukandpur (40 seats).
Handball camp concludes
A month-long National Handball Coaching Camp for outstanding women players from across the country to prepare them for the Asian Games to be held in China concluded on the university campus recently. Vice-Chancellor A. S. Brar presided over the concluding function and wished the players all the luck. The camp was sponsored by the Sports Authority of India in which as many as 27 women handball players from different states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Utter Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra and Kerala, attended the camp. Four players from the Railways and one player from the Association of Indian Universities also took part in the camp. Dr Kanwaljeet Singh, Director, Sports, GND varsity, said four players from the university were selected and represented Punjab in this camp. Shivaji Sindhu, a SAI coach, gave important tips to the players while university coaches Baldeep Singh and Baldev Singh helped the players in their routine exercises. — Contributed by P. K. Jaiswar
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All information related to teacher evaluation should be treated as confidential and
used only for the purpose of counselling of the teacher