Blog #11: Teacher's Integrity Questioned

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17564311

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers says teachers have been forced to "manipulate results" and even "re-write students' work" to boost results. Results of end of year tests are starting to be valued over the education their students are receiving. Recently the union carried out research with 512 of its teacher members working in state schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It said teachers felt under increasing pressure to get pupils through tests and exams. About two-thirds of those surveyed were supplying pupils with more practice tests and running after-school classes or one-to-one classes. Teachers have admitted to raising the student’s test scores because they are afraid their students will not perform well, and therefore they will be subject to lose their job. Richardson, author of the article, states that others focused on the stress on pupils. There appeared to be a consensus among teachers that the pressure was damaging for pupils as well. Nine out of 10 teachers surveyed said they felt tests and exams were the biggest source of pressure on pupils and young people, causing increased anxiety for them.

This article came to my surprise because I was appalled to hear that adults and teachers were lying and cheating for their students. Educators across the world are supposed to be dependable and reliable in education our students. If a doctor cheats on his exams going through medical school, he could easily mess up while performing surgery on a patient one day. This is not at all ok, and I agree with DOE that something needs to be done if we are finding out about it. Students should want to learn and become smarter so they can go farther in life, but if teachers are the main source to providing cheating paths, then who are we to count on for our children to learn from? Although this is not the case for every teacher across the world, it does occur and this is something that needs to be taken control of.  Advancing in education is a major part of life in the United States and especially Europe. A lot of countries are prided on their intelligence amongst their students, and in order to continue that reputation, teachers must learn to be dependable and honest.