c/o Natasha Hassan, Comment Editor
RE:
Teacher Performance Appraisals (TPA)
Dear Ms. Hassan,
I need to make the
point that the Government’s Teacher
Performance Appraisal (TPA) process seems completely worthless. Its emphasis seems to be, not on the
teacher’s performance of a lesson plan, but rather on the external
contributions to the community and school made by that teacher. Such things as school-to-home communications
and the reporting process are deemed much more important than the teacher’s
ability to impart knowledge to his/her students and to ensure that those
students learn such knowledge. If
students come to school, attend all of their classes every day, and do their
homework assignments in a timely manner, there would be no need for a TPA process because the main
responsibility for student achievement would be put back onto the students’ shoulders
where it belongs. Teachers are there to
guide their students toward a learning goal and, to ensure that they are
successful, students must study and learn the required material on their own; a
teacher’s role should be a facilitator of learning.
Most parents of school children
realize this fact - the best teachers are the ones who are both willing and
able to help their children learn; they will do what they need to do to
accomplish that fact. The Government
should definitely stay out of classrooms as much as possible. It is not the one facilitating the valuable
relationships that teachers must build with their students to make a solid
education possible for them.
I retired as a teacher this year
because teachers need to have good health most of the time to fulfill their
education mandate. Because my health was
declining this year, I finally decided that my students would best be served if
I started looking after myself better.
I’ve always wanted to do my best for them as a teacher. It was only when I physically could no longer
keep up that I decided I had to retire. From
now on, my authoring efforts will be receiving much more attention from
me. I can only hope that I can make a
world-wide contribution via my books in order to make a real difference.
Yours truly,
Anne Shier
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