Tenure: Blessing for Teachers, Curse for Students
Tue. 01 2009 | ama83
Originally, tenure was intended to create secure positions for teachers. Beginning instructors have it rough by fighting for classes with those of seniority, while establishing a good reputation with the school and possibly the students. Then, after years of hard work, teachers hope to have earned a permanent position at the school that will keep them safe from being bumped – tenure.
Unfortunately, instead of simply giving job-security to the hard-working professors, tenure has had the ability to turn some instructors into monsters. With great power comes a lot of freedom to say and treat students however they want or deem permissible.
Some horror stories that go around are of teachers who are offensive to the students. Statements like, “That’s a dumb question,” or “What are you? Stupid?” are some examples I have heard from various students. When these same students begin to explain their point of action – complaining to the dean – they say the simple response was, “The teacher has tenure.”
At my junior college, there was an instructor who actually threw a pencil at a student. An even worse story was of an instructor who began his class by locking the classroom doors, and giving his middle finger to the late students at the window.
Obviously, students can be troublesome, but is it really acceptable for a teacher to resort to behavior equal to or worse than a student? The shocking part is learning that these kinds of teachers are allowed to continue teaching just because they have earned tenure. With tenure, it is as if the teachers become untouchable.
Tenure was intended to protect teachers’ positions from overprotective parents or critical deans who attempt to remove these teachers on impulse. Teaching is meant to have more security than a fast-food joint that fires employees on the spot from one bad customer’s complaints.
In the past, parents could easily blame a teacher for their son or daughter’s struggles in a class (mostly relevant in high school); complain to the principal; and have a teacher fired based on accusations that could be true or false.
In the case of a college, schools focus on the evaluations teachers receive from administrators, rather than the responses from students. If a new dean comes in and takes a personal dislike to a teacher, that dean can find a way to remove the teacher from the school, regardless of the teacher’s abilities with the students. Apparently, teachers’ reputations with their peers can carry more weight when it comes to the security of their jobs.
With all of this in mind, it is understandable why tenure was put into effect. However, the system is not perfect, which leads me to think that there should definitely be alterations or exceptions to what is considered “tenure.”
Offensive words or actions should be taken into account when regarding a teacher’s permanency, regardless of already holding tenure. It is unfair to subject classes of students to cruelty year after year just because that teacher wants a secure job.
Even though college classrooms disperse teacher evaluations to the students every semester, it does not seem that the experiences and opinions of these students hold as much weight as they should. The teacher evaluations that students fill out should go a long way in finding whether a teacher is fit for teaching. The status of tenure should be partially based on these evaluations.
As harsh as it may sound, fear may be the best resolution to this problem. Teachers need to have some punishment for their actions in order to behave more professionally with students. If empowered teachers realize that holding onto their positions require they show respect for people (namely students), then maybe these same offensive teachers will stop calling their students names. If they knew they could not get away with insulting students, maybe these teachers could be better at their jobs. In a way, limiting the strength of tenure could help teachers be better people.
With the original application of tenure, it would seem that the most important individuals have been forgotten in this equation: the students.
I had a first-hand experience with a teacher that had earned her tenure, and she WAS a monster! I do not agree with giving tenure.
I wrote an editorial when I was in college about teachers who needed to be taken into account for causing students — as a class average — to get bad grades.
I am willing to bet those classes with overall lousy grades were of teachers with tenure.
They really put in that stereotype that all old people are grumpy.