The phenomenon of
"easy versus hard" teachers probably dates back to Socrates. Some
teachers love giving A’s to students.
On the other hand, plenty
of education theory supports the claim that teacher expectations are positively
associated with student achievement. This is not elitism but a philosophy of
value-added instruction.
Intentional teaching
means putting in the extra work and encouragement needed to help students
attain difficult goals.
High standards coupled
with high expectations — including encouragement— create real student success.
Who is the customer? We
live in an era of grade inflation. The consumer model has twisted our
priorities at every level. It isn’t even a good consumer model, which can work
well if the right consumer is served.
A student once asked
why I didn’t consider him my customer. If he paid his tuition shouldn’t I
supply his demand for a degree? I replied, "Yes, you are my customer — but
not the you of today. My customer is the you 10 years from now, who is going to
thank me for upholding the standards." I made that claim based on years of
hearing and reading such comments from former students, thanking me for, as one
of them put it, "holding my feet to the fire."
As for administrators,
we’re worried about enrollment and persistence. The only time I’ve known
administrators to express much concern about grades was to accost maths and science
teachers for weeding out too many students.
No one in the academic
system needs to care about grade inflation so there is no check on it.
I can only see reasons
to raise standards, not diminish them. Our graduates deserve the tools and
confidence to compete.
Students are born to
excel. When we demand more of them, coupled with a positive teaching attitude,
they achieve more. Conversely, if I set the bar low it is unrealistic to think
they will greatly surpass those minimal expectations. I’m no elitist, just
someone who quietly maintain the standards and watches students rise to the
occasion.
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