By Nicholas Proch
From a very young age, we are told to respect our elders and not to question what they say because they are older than us and have more experience in this world. This transcends across all of society. From political leaders to doctors, if you have experience you must be better than someone who is new to the system.
Somehow, this concept got applied to teaching. The tenure system at universities around the country protects an educational instructor, but doesn’t do so for the student. Once a professor reaches tenure, they will remain as so unless they are found in a case of misconduct. Even still, this is a fairly lengthy process and isn’t one that the university will want to conduct.
Originally adopted to protect professors from unjust terminations due to religious differences or input from the board of trustees at given universities, this has become a system that doesn’t keep itself in check. Once given tenure, a professor can become unproductive or even make their lesson irrelevant to no punishment. This process isn’t desired by a university, and shouldn’t be encouraged by a system such as tenure.
A university is an institute of higher education. There is no room at such an institute for incompetence. It should be the universities’ job to ensure that the student is being educated to their fullest potential. If a system is getting in the way, then it should be replaced or modified.
Yearly reviews should be made more rigorous. Teaching only to give a student a passing grade is a pressing problem. There isn’t enough emphasis drawn to the teacher’s performance. Often times, the teacher’s abilities are judged by the student, all of whom come from different education backgrounds and are putting in their own time outside of the classroom.
Observations often make a professor act or perform in a way that they don’t usually exhibit to their students. This is part of the problem. For weeks, the instructor knows that the observation is coming and they are prepared to show the administrator what they can do. Less preparation time should be given for an observation. Surprise visits by deans would really put the pressure on and give the executives the real depiction of the class.
This movement has already started in New Jersey. The public school systems are going to begin reviewing tenured professors on whether or not they can keep their jobs, not just on gaining tenure. Their students will be graded against others on the same tests along with other performance based tests. They are hoping to start a fire under the teachers and push for more from their educators.
Any changes to this system must be done with caution, as we are dealing with the livelihoods of many individuals, but to not review old policies would not allow for improvement and advancement. All the parts of this educational machine must work efficiently to maintain the high standards we seek and the tenure system is in need of repair.