Re: Deming on rating teachers

[Myron Tribus <mtribus@home.com>]

John:
I do recall Dr. Deming taking the view that the student's opinions 
were not valid because I disagreed with him.  I was not able to 
change his mind because he was thinking of something different than 
I.  He was against some form of student rating of teachers.  So am I. 
On the other hand, students are involved in the learning process in a 
way that is very different from the teacher.  Having the students 
participate in the improvement of the learning process can be 
demonstrated to make a positive difference in the learning.
It was not until I became involved in Feuerstein's methods that I 
understood why my instinct in this matter was correct.  When students 
are the recipients of 'instruction' they do not analyze their own 
activities but rely too much on the teacher to give them direction. 
When they are forced to think hard about what they do and the way 
they do it, they develop better.
I realize that Dr. Deming did put much of the burden on the students 
so in practice he followed the principle.  However, I believe it 
would have gone better if the students were more consciously involved 
in the improvement of the process.
As I said, Dr. Deming and I never closed on this issue.  I can 
testify, however, that he felt very strongly that student ratings 
were less than worthless.

Myron Tribus,  350 Britto Terrace,  Fremont, CA 94539
Ph:510 651 3641  Fax: 510 656 9875   e-mail: mtribus@home.com
If you put good people in a bad system, the system will win every time.