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I Am a Teacher

During one of my lessons, a student asked my opinion about a teacher who had lost a bunch of exams.

I answered him that anyone can make a mistake, and if that happened to me (fortunately it has never happened so far), I would give each student individually the choice between being assessed using the rest of their grades, or take the exam again.

The boy went on saying that this teacher who lost the exams should be severely punished. I replied that I would have agreed with him when I was his age, but as I have grown older, I have become more lenient with mistakes who have its source in distraction, and less with those whose foundatilns are in laziness, ignorance, or selfishness.

How would you have reacted?

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novembermoon · 51-55

I agree that the teacher must pay for his mistake in some way. The same way we expect students to be careful with their work, all the more the teacher should have exercised care in safeguarding the exam scripts. It is not a matter of forgiving mistakes. It is more about taking responsibility for a mistake committed.

novembermoon · 51-55

@novembermoon punishment? The teacher should lose his performance bonus for the year. But not be fired. It was a mistake made in the year. It does not mean he is not a good teacher generally. He could have made past contributions as well as future ones too. Hence the severity of the punishment must be fair and appy only in the year the error was made.

Cierzo · M

@novembermoon Losing the year bonus is not a small punishment.

It is hard for me to agree on a punishment for the teachers since all the politicians and legislators who pass idiotic regulations looking only for political correctness, and who are totally disconnected from teachers' everyday work, are never punished.

novembermoon · 51-55

@Cierzo I understand what you are saying. They seem to possess some kind of immunity from blame in whatever they do. They are so high up that these mundane everyday minutiae do not touch them. It is the ones on the ground who gets the blame. The higher-ups only sit in their ivory tower and delegate work. And rank the ones who are actually doing the bloody work.

Cierzo · M

@novembermoon It is harder to make mistakes when their head is not crammed with the many things teachers' everyday life involve, and their only purpose is how to caress the ears of public opinion.

I know I am an idealist, but I refuse to measure individuals by their results rather than by their beliefs, values or intentions. In this case of a teacher losing exams, results may be the same if he deeply regrets his mistake, or he does not care; but for me it is totally different, and the outcome should not be the same.

novembermoon · 51-55

@Cierzo beliefs, values and intentions are important but they are not measureable. On the other hand, data and results are. Hence the evaluation of the individual's performance rests more on the latter rather than the former. Often, leaders also mete out the 'punishment' as a warning to others not to commit such mistakes. How do we determine if the loss was due to sheer carelessness or exhaustion and overwork? It is hard to ascertain such things.

Cierzo · M

@novembermoon Yes, this is the world we live in. What is not measurable is second rate.

I react against this idea because I think it goes against the core of human nature. In the long human history, the span of time when economics, interest,profit, results...have been more highly regarded than beliefs, moral, culture, religion...is a short one, two centuries. And I guess it will be over soon.