TEACHER TEST
CONTROVERSY CALLED INTO QUESTION
By Stephen Wilson
"I was shocked!
I just could not believe it. Did you hear about the results
of a test of school
teachers? Half of the math teachers failed a test in
math! I send my
children to those schools," stated a slightly shaken Pavel,
a student of mine. He
asked me what I thought of this and I told him
that since we don't
know the nature of the tests, how they were designed
and marked, we could
never take such results at face value. We should
not jump to rash
conclusions.
Unfortunately,
practically every Russian newspaper carried the story of
how Russian math
Teachers had failed a test and were therefore seen
as incompetent,
illiterate and very bad at their jobs. The tests were
organised by the
Educational watchdog, Rosobrnadzor, where
22,000 teachers from
67 regions of Russia were tested on their knowledge
of their school
profession. The results were that almost 50% of Russian
math teachers failed
the test while most teachers of Russian language
and literature passed.
The government claims that the tests were all
voluntary. But
feedback from the teachers suggests that they were forced
to perform such tests
whether they wanted to or not.
While some people
claim it affirms their belief that the best Russian teachers
have long left the
profession and reflects a continued decline in the education
system, many critics
question the fairness of the tests. The results of the tests
do not mirror the poor
professionalism of teachers, but rather the incompetence
of those who designed
the tests. The tests were poorly designed, with badly
presented and
misleading questions . "The test is unprofessional" declared
Leonid Perlov, a
representative of the Union Teacher. In deed the test was
full of so many errors
it has been described as 'moronic'. Teachers who sat
the test did not
understand what the examiner wanted from them. It was so
bad that teachers
simply left an empty page, started doodling flowers on the
answer page and
stormed out of the building. One example of a test asked
"Is the width
between two pupil's desks 60 or 70 c.m.?" The nature of the
test had an Alice in
Wonderland air. It is a bit like the Mad Hatter asking
Alice 'Do you want
another cup of tea?" when she had not even been
given her first one.
Professor Aleksandra Snegurova remarked: "Well
then teachers told me
that when they sat those tests, the questions were
presented in such away
that experienced teachers could not understand
what they were being
asked to do . Therefore many teachers did not answer
the questions which
they saw had been incorrectly posed. Instead they
began to draw flowers
... This was a definite protest."
The question remains
as to why the state should force teachers to sit badly
designed tests which
many were sure to fail because they were full of
mistakes? Professor
Snegurova views this as a deliberate attempt by the
government to reassert
more control over teachers so they can contain
any potential protests
over reforms. The government is seeking to create
a climate of fear
where teachers are afraid of losing their jobs when a
rift is created
between parents, children and teachers. If teachers are
discredited as
unprofessional, they will be deprived of potential support
should their jobs be
threatened. "The main aim of the test was to convince
people that Russian
teachers are bad, and are not professional enough
and therefore don't
deserve a pay rise or better working conditions", stated
the chairman of the
Trade Union Teacher, Vsevolod Lukhovitski.
Even the Minister of
Education stated that this test was highly unscientific
and "Was
incorrect from beginning to end". She found herself feeling
obliged to defend the
teachers who had sat the test.
The job insecurity of
school teachers is justified. Since 2014, as many as
20,800 managers and
57,000 personnel have lost their jobs in education.
This is largely due to
a relentless process of cuts in public expenditure and
optimization where
schools and institutes have been merged leading to mass
redundancies of
teachers.
For some reason, too
many people in authority like to humiliate teachers.
One fired teacher was
offered a job mopping the floors of the school
where she had previously
worked! The people who designed and forced
teachers to sit this
test could not have found a better way to insult the
dignity of Russian
teachers. But the more independent minded people
will wonder how the
professionalism of teachers can be assessed by
unprofessionally
designed tests? Has not the world of Russian education been
turned upside down?
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