products. I feel creative and alive in this class.

What have Robert Crowell, Doug Michell, Dean
Moore, and Jim Lawson learned from their teaching
experiences? Only they can say! And I think they should!

An Evaluation Plan

A realistic criterion for evaluating teachers is that
teachers have learned something significant from the act
of teaching. Teachers need to evaluate themselves, and
I suggest that each teacher be required to write an
essay entitled: “What I Have Learned From Teaching
(course name and number) During (semester and
year).”

In writing this essay, the teacher must focus on
himself/herself, he/she will discover that the quality
and style of the essay will say much about him/her,
and the specific teaching experiences will become the
major foci of the evaluation.

By focusing on, observing, and writing about
themselves, teachers may learn to attend to details
which they may not ordinarily notice or think impor-
tant, see more clearly what does and does not work,
and be more sensitive to such things as the level of
enthusiasm in the classroom. They may become aware
of problem areas and think of ways of solving these
problems.

The quality and style of a teacher’s essay will be
revealing. Does he care about teaching; does she care
about students? The essay itself provides the evaluator
with information about this teacher’s commitment to
teaching, enthusiasm for the job, organizational skills,
and style of expression.

What teachers learn from teaching a course will be
as varied as the classroom experiences. Writing the
evaluation essay will give both new and experienced
teachers feedback about where they are and provide
insights into new directions for their teaching. I believe
that a good teacher, beginning or experienced, needs to
be interested in teaching as an ongoing process of learn-
ing.

By whom would the teacher essays be evaluated? I
don’t have a good answer, but I think that somehow
teachers need to evaluate themselves and each other. I
think that self-evaluation, honesty, and the sharing of
these essays would be a valuable learning experience
for teachers and would gencrate some exciting new
approaches to teaching.

The ideas in my teacher evaluation plan originated
from my disenchantment with traditional education.
They grew out of the pain, fear, and anger I have felt at
gobbling and regurgitating information. They grew

out of the joy of experiencing real learning, of creat-
ing—the kind of learning | have experienced by
working with Robert, Doug, Dean, and Jim. @o

Evelyn Audioun Wegienka, Student, Yuba College

e_

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor

 

May 4, 1990, Vol. XIl, No. 15 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),
Othe University of Texas at Austin, 1990 EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscnptions are available to nonconsor-
Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER _tium members for $40 per year. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundaton.
institutions for their own personnel. Issued weekly when classes are in session dunng fall and spring terms and once during the summer. ISSN 0199- 106X.

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