Education and Teachers

[Rich]

I think the measuring of teacher’s performance to weed out the bad ones is a very tricky thing which could have very bad consequences.  Good in theory, very hard in practice.  How do you measure that performance?   If you get that wrong, does a teacher change their teaching to conform to what is in the best interest of them keeping their job vs. what is in the best interest of their students?

Look at the horror stories you read in the states when they implemented their no child left behind program, where school funding was based on student performance.  The result was definitely not in the best interest of the student.

The unfortunate truth is that ½ of the people out there are in the bottom half of society in terms of ability and performance.  You are going to get good teachers and bad.  You absolutely need to be able to get rid of the abusive ones, but the so called “bad” ones do serve a purpose as well.

Imagine you went through your whole education with only the “good” teachers.  Everything is butterflies and rainbows.  People are nice, encouraging, you are free to grow and develop.  Now you get out into the real world and your first boss is a grade a ******.  You are not at all equipped to handle that, because you have very little experiences to relate to this situation.

I hope we all have fond memories of some teachers that have touched us and influenced us growing up, but the “bad” ones, the “boring” ones, and the “strict” ones probably taught you some valuable life lessons as well, whether they meant to or not.

[Rich]

Split this off into its own topic.  KBF / Mark, I couldn't split out your whole discussion on the BC teachers deal in here because I lost interest after going back 6 pages and still didn't find its start.  

Feel free to continue that discussion here though.

[Mark H.]

8 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Is there a desire by the members to "weed out" (for lack of a better term) poor teachers?  Or is it a matter of not being able to be that picky?

No, because you can't. I have really good friends who go above and beyond every single day. However, sometimes (or years) you get a tough group or a difficult student. Without getting into too much legalize, you could be threading on the human rights of the students if you made those kinds of assessments 

[Mark H.]

20 hours ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Good question.  I would ask my parents that.  I know my nephew is enjoying his school right now save for one teacher who he claims is terrible.  I know he may just have it in for the guy but when the teacher got sick and a sub was called in, the class immediately improved for those two weeks that the "bad" teacher was away, and my nephew said he learned more in those two weeks than in six months with the "bad" one.  Apparently everyone knows this guy is a "bad" egg (according to my mom, who of course is actively involved in her grandkids education) but no one can do anything about him, as he has cleverly inserted himself inside the MTS apparatus, so is basically bullet-proof.  I know Mark may say this isn't true, but I am just going off of what my mom, a retired teacher and former MTS member (not by choice) is telling me.  Perhaps now with the Conservatives taking over the MTS's power may be curtailed a bit.  I know the BCTF was ruling the roost here in BC under the NDP, who even gave the BCTF the power to discipline their own members.  Guess how many were disciplined when a union was in charge of the discipline?  Not many.  Talk about a massive conflict of interest.  Just ridiculous.

Sure it's true, how couldn't it be? However, the NDP have also brought in things that are a negative for teachers. The new reports cards are terrible, especially at the elementary level. Also, funding for special needs students has decreased while expectations have increased. Again, we're back to that murky middle.