I Was Interviewed by a Number of Schools Across London and Surrey

Strictly embargoed until 00.01hrs Saturday 3 April 2010

Abuse of Student Voice

Case Studies

Case Study 1

I was interviewed by a number of schools across London and Surrey.

Majority of them had a student panel where they had pre prepared questions that I and the other candidates had to answer. Rather demeaning!

Case Study 2

Bravo. I’ve noticed this several times and there has been 1 very painful disciplinary that I faced, which relied on student voice to gather evidence against me. It was obvious to me and the union rep that the school or rather the head, was out to get me.

Some of if not all of the comments given about me were untrue I was there in the class and many issues didn’t happen that way. A "telling off" was appropriate but the evidence "student speak" resulted in a push for dismissal. A select governor’s team dropped it to a verbal warning but the chair of the Governors considered that I work a lot with pupils and gave me a written warning.

The stress nearly broke my marriage up, accelerated my male patern balding and I lost time at the start of the process, which took several months, due to the stress.

Currently, 1 pupil who is in "trouble" due to the lack of work and very difficult attitude to me and to her learning has been brandishing a false accusation that I called her fat because she couldn’t get out of the door.

The truth is, my comment was no one will leave until they have given me their work. Since I was at the door, I will make sure no one will get past, professionally of course. Another pupil changed this around after and told her or clamed that I had referred to the first girl’s size.

on leaving the first girl who failed to complete her work pushed me out of the way.

She made several attempts to get her story over to the pastoral head, in an attempt to take the pressure of herself. The lack of work attitude and pushing me away.

I wait to see if there is any further out come from the Senior Management Team.

There is a lot of this occurring. Many pupilsreport false teacher comments or actions to get themselves out of trouble or just being vindictive. However, as I found out, we are banned from discussing any of this so issues that arise around the school, are hidden away.

Case Study 3

Particularly topical for me; I have had to undergo an investigation after 2 pupils let out that I was speaking too much French in my lesson (we are supposed to as Teachers of MFL).

What I minded was that my head of department had told me he was going to come and observe everyone teaching a particular lesson period 6 on a Friday (last lesson) and that this was not at all linked with the complaints.

Yet he stayed 30 mins, took notes and, afterwards did tell me that one of the reasons he had come was because of the complaints. I told him I was disappointed with his behaviour and left it to that, esp. that he gave me some useful tips as to better myself. He then came to another lesson and found I was much better.

I donot mind being asked my views but for various reasons, esp. I work in an independent school and I am the only non native speaker of English, I would like to remain anonymous.

Case Study 4

I recently received an email about abuse of pupil voice at school and wanted to give you my experience of the situation.I work in a grammar school and recently some Year 7 students were asked to complete a questionnaire on the VLE about the teachers, things such as were teachers on time t. lessons, did they do assessments, did they give them appropriate homework etc.

The only thing that made me slightly uneasy about this was that I felt it was kept really quiet - hardly any of the staff knew about it (apart from a few members) and I felt it was all a bit secretive. I only heard about it because some of my Year 7 students were rewarded with chocolate cake when they had filled it in, and were excited in my class knowing that in breaktime they would get cake! Let me know what you think,

Case Study 5

Student Voice (Provided in confidence)

Whilst working as a supply teacher at xxxxxSchool in Durham, I became aware of a student panel being usedas part of theinterviewprocess for the post of a new Head of ICT.

The students on the panel were certainly not a true cross-section of the school population. Two of the students chosen were children ofteachers at the school.

I asked a number of these students what questions they would ask the candidate.

'If you were a font - what font would you be?' Was a question one had approved for her to ask. I burst out laughing and the student responded, 'If the candidate did that I would give them a zero!'

I asked what the purpose of such a question was. The student stated it would show if the candidate was 'creative'.

Another presented her question; - 'If I needed help after school how would you provide such?'

The student then stated that one teacher within the school allowed students to e-mail her up until 10pm if they had any problems. If the candidate did not offer such access they would score them low.

I approached a senior member of staff to ask them how much weight was given to such student panels. Their reply was worrying. 'Great Weight. Last year a very strong candidate missed out because their student score was low. Despite the Head of Department believing they were the best for the role.'

Just a short account of my worrying experience within one of the best schools in CountyDurham.

Case Study 6

I work in a middle school deemed secondary. We teach key stages 2 and 3. Currently we are under development having been deemed failing by a recent mock Ofsted inspection.

As a brief summary we have had pupils being quizzed by Ofsted and LEA consultants as part of "pupil voice" and apparently some of the questions asked have been "Which teachers do you like? Why?" and similar. I have not witnessed this myself but have been told this is the case. It is also used by management but I am not sure in exactly what capacity. I have been given unofficial verbal information from a member of the SLT about pupils being asked whether teachers "act" the same all the time, or if they act "differently" under observation, which seems a rather odd line to take.

Case Study 7

I work in a secondary school and was applying for an internal promotion. The process involved a student interview panel. I had mentioned to colleagues that I was concerned in case a good yr10 student was on the panel as I had given him a uniform detention a day or 2 earlier which he was extremely upset about.

The aforementioned student was on the interview panel. I spoke to the student the day after interview and he was quite candid about the fact that he was going to grade me the lowest because of the detention. However, he had decided to be professional and actually graded my interview highly.

Obviously in my case there wasn't an issue, but it is worrying that there could have been.

During my PGCE I went for an interview where I was unsuccessful. The interview panel included a student who had been in my observed lesson and whom I had reprimanded. I felt this was unfair as well as unsettling when coming face to face at with the student at the interview.

Case Study 8

I recently attended an interview for a MPS job where I was interviewed by a student panel. During this interview I was asked to sing my favourite song. I declined as I was not being interviewed for a music position and felt that the request was humiliating. I did not get the job - more todo with me being UPS rather than any lack of musical prowess but I still feel very strongly that whilst student involvement can be very useful the object is not to embarrass and humiliate visitors to a school.

Case Study 9

I'd like to report that I went for an interview for a teaching post at a middle school in, Staffs, a couple of years ago and was rather surprised to face a panel of 12 year olds as part of the interview procedure. I had not been warned this would happen. Can't remember the name of the school but it was C of E and the head was a Reverend. The children asked me questions to do with behaviour management. I remember being struck dumb by one question, and a girl interviewer saying - "never mind - that was a hard question."

I didn't get the job.

Case Study 10

I am currently in a dispute with my school and have an Appeal on Friday.

I am being represented by the NASUWT, following a claim I made about harassment by my Head of Department.

Although this is not exactly what you meant by your email, some of the accusations and reasons given for the school dismissing all my points have used information that has been obtained from ONE student (the Head of Maths' son). This included the Head teacher taking him out of my A Level class for 15 minutes and interviewing him in a room on her own with the door shut. None of the other students were interviewed and would have refuted all his claims.

Once the Appeal is over, I would be more than happy to talk to anyone regarding my experience. I have since resigned from my post.

Case Study 11

In my school students are always used to interview candidates.

I personally think it is very hard for staff applying for internal promotion. Students understand what is happening and can feel quite uncomfortable after the interviews. Staff can also feel uncomfortable teaching students who perceive the teacher has failed.

I applied for a promotion in school. I did not know I was going to be interviewed by students and was totally unprepared for the experience. I was interviewed by a member of my tutor group. After the morning interview the girl in my tutor group looked incredibly uncomfortable knowing I had failed to gain promotion. I felt more sorry for her than I did for myself.

I subsequently gained a temporary promotion but when it came up for renewal I did not apply because I really did not want to appear a failure in front of the students I teach.

Case Study 12

My school is a secondary school and as part of my interview process, the student council conducted an interview with me. They asked a variety of questions which included “Do you like children?”

I am not aware how much weight is put on their views but I suspect it is something that the management pay some heed to. Anecdotally I have overheard kids commenting on teachers they have interviewed and their decision seems to be based upon whether or not they like the teacher concerned-possibly not the best test of suitability. My interview did not discuss my professional skills, it was a popularity contest. Whether this constitutes abuse I do not know, there are no doubt others more qualified than I am to judge. Today we have candidates for English posts and the student council is involved according to our Head in our briefing this morning.

Case Study 13

Let me write about the background of my experience before giving my thoughts of the role ofstudents.

Just before this half-term I went to an interview for a post of Head of Mathematics at a secondary school inNorth Yorkshire. I have deliberately not mentioned the name butI am prepared to if you feel it important.

First of all I wasinterviewed by the Associate Headteacher and we had a discussion about the post.During this conversationthe Associate Headteacher inadvertently disclosed the problems of thedepartment and the school.I don't think this was his intention as the other candidates had a different dialogue to me. It was clear there were systematic management problems in the school at all levels.

Secondly, I was given a tour of the school by a pair of students. They were helpful and informative. I don't know what impact this had on the decision making process. I was never told this. I could have been shown around by staff. It would have made little difference. In factI would have been able to draw more out from staff responses as it would be difficult for them to hide things from me. The students would certainly have knownless.

Thirdly, I was observed for a lesson. During the course of the lesson I had quickly identified weaknesses in how the lessons were being delivered at the school. However,for my lesson nearly all the students applauded me at the end of the lesson. This wasnot the case for all(3) of the other candidates as I later had asked them.I considered the lesson to beat least good with some outstanding features but my observer's view was different. I did not have the opportunity tochallenge my observer and wasinstead given feedback from the Associate Headteacher. A flaw of the process.A decision I had to just accept. Although I did tactfully pointed out my view. The student’s view of high expectations was different to mine and these were the most able of students in this particular school year.

Then I was interviewed by a panel of (3 - 2 of which were in the maths department) staff and it became apparent that all of them had some responsibilities of these failures. One of these senior maths teachers failed to meet the requirement of her own post as she had responsibility for overseeing predicted grades for the whole school.She had got this so wrong where both Maths and English were concerned as well as possibly other subjects. Thiswas inadvertently disclosed to me when I was shown the CVA data by the Associate Headteacher. The Associate Headteacher himself should have identified this failure but it was clear he had little knowledge of statistical data. Another flaw of the process.

Next, I was interviewed by a panel of 4 students and there was also one member of staff present.The studentseach asked me questions and took notes of my responses. So did the member of staff. They were more concerned with their current problems and in myview the lack of high expectationfrom the school. Another flaw of the system as the purpose of taking notes opens the possibility ofusing the information. The students knew little of the dynamics of teaching. They could claim that they did but to get into an in depthdiscussion about thisjust goes to show what little they knew of the complexity of issues of teaching.

Finally, I found out fromthe Associate Headteacherthat it was decided for me not to be interviewed for the formal interview.I had already decided to withdraw as clearlythere were too many self-interests that was preventing the school for moving forward.

My thoughts of the students role are that they little realise the politics of teaching within the school which was clearly apparent to me and I had been in the school for less than a whole day.What the students wanted wouldmost likelybe overruledby staff which just goes to show the problems ofjustgoing around and around.

Ibelievethe student’srole adds little to the interview process and it is better not to have them at all.

Case Study 14

I write to inform you of my experience regarding student voice at xxxxxSchool, Lancashire.

I was observed by my Head of Department 3 times during the 2008/2009 school year and all my observations were at least of a satisfactory standard.

However, I was taken into the Heads office and told he had recently chaired a meeting of the school's student council and they had reported discipline in my classroom to be below standard. He therefore was to begin level 1 competencies against me on these grounds only. I found this to unprofessional and an insult to my teaching competence.

I have now left the School on poor terms with the Headteacher. I believe he used the student voice to activate competencesdue to my application for my threshold.

Case Study 15

Re your student voice enquiry. I work in Penzance.

It is a school catering to KS3 and 4.

I don't think there's much abuse of student voice here, though it is said to be important e.g. it is used by the head to suggest that our lessons are dull and boring, and that they like 100 minute lessons, but if students want to change the uniform or have lavatories open during times they can use them, it is ignored! The interview process utilizes the students to some extent - when I was interviewed nearly four years ago there was a session of "speed dating" - a fixed, short time with a couple of students, answering their questions, before moving to the next table for more of the same etc etc. Also, students in the interview lessons were asked their opinion of those interviewees. Nothing too extreme, but hope it helps.

Case Study 16

I agree I am sick of students being allowed to say exactly what they want to say about teacherswithout any recourse. I work in Greater Manchester.