1. I'm a fan about what Straub has to advocate for a more conversational tone in teacher evaluation, as many of my favorite professors in the past have utilized this tone and it seems to work well. However, what are some potential downsides of a teacher attempting to be more casual with their students? Is there a concern for the lack of respect for the teacher's comment because they sacrifice their guise of authority? Straub mentions that a conversational tone means offering advice instead of demanding changes, but what about times when a student really needs to just change something?
2. At the end of her piece, Belanoff asks the question "Are you willing to abolish grades and just get on with learning? What, for
you, is at stake in earning grades in school?" Although it may seem attractive to do away with a traditional grading scale in favor of "learning" I would argue that this is idealistic and to some degree even irresponsible. What would getting rid of grades even look like in a classroom setting, and do the positives really outweigh all the difficulties that might arise without having them?
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteThere are some schools and Universities that do not follow traditional grading structures. For example, New College has a "no grade" option. I think that grading is necessary for evaluation due to the the politics of academics in regards to applying to University and graduate programs. I do not think that using grades results in a better or more positive learning environment, but it can be detrimental to student confidence and perspective. The variance in grading scales is also a tricky thing to navigate. I think that it would be nice to not have grades, but in order to move on to upper level coursework it is necessary to have some form of evaluation to ensure that the student is prepared to take on the new challenge. Both options for evaluation have positive and negative aspects, but in the current system using a traditional grading scale is probably the most efficient means of evaluation.
Hm. So your first question. I don't think that a teacher necessarily loses their "guise of authority"- actually. i'm not sure if a guise of authority is something that I really want to have as a teacher anyway? I feel like as a teacher I want to give off a more collaborative vibe rather than an authoritative one if that makes sense. I think at the end of the day, we will be perceived as authority regardless for one main reason: we are the ones grading the assignments. Being more conversational perhaps makes that fact less scary for students.
ReplyDeleteThe second part of that question- what happens when something really needs to change. I'd say that depends on WHY it needs to change. Is it just absolutely awful? Is it racist or offensive problematic for some other reason like that? The answers to those questions would probably dictate how I would handle situations where something really needed to be changed. Additionally, that might be something I'd address in a conference or a face to face setting rather than through written feedback on a student's paper.