A teacher is just a teacher, a teacher is not God!

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Yes, I need to put this out there. Because it's bothering me so goddamn much. πŸ˜«πŸ˜‚

This Friday I have an exam on Linear Algebra. Today I am practicing an old exam paper and it turns out that the correction model is full of mistakes!

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This is an exam paper from December 2020. Coincidentally, I know that 15 students had taken that exam and only 2 of the 15 passed the course. The rest of the students have to retake the exam.

Now this is actually not so much my problem, because I did not make that exam in december 2020 . But I feel sorry for the students who may not have passed the course because of errors in the correction model.
That's why I e-mailed the teacher in question, but he is often unavailable.
So I went to his assistant.

We looked at the correction model together and it turns out that the correction model actually has errors (before this I wasn't sure).

I ask her 'But shouldn't there be a re-correction?'
The assistant doesn't know and I don't notice from her attitude that she will check to what extent that is possible.

So I send a message in the whatsapp group of the students who had taken the exam to notify them. I thought that they would make effort to request a re-correction. After all, it's a shame if you've passed the exam and now have to retake it anyway.

I also tell them with it 'Please, ask for it. I can't stand up for it because I didn't take the exam then.'

Guess what! None of the students are going to request a re-correction. They tell me flat out that they will just retake the exam.

I say 'But why though? That means you have to study again and then you don't even know if you will pass it this time.'

The answer I got was unbelieveable.

'We are afraid of the teacher.'

'But why? I don't understand. A teacher is a teacher. Not a monster. And certainly not God, who doesn't make mistakes. And he knows that. So he's quite capable of doing a re-correction.'

Ow and then I remembered that indeed there are always teachers who think they can never make mistakes. Have you ever had those too? A teacher who refuses to accept that he too can make a mistake?

Sigh, but then again. My urge to stand up for my rights is so much stronger than my fear for a teacher. I would never leave this like that.

Now I'm angry because I think it's all unjustified. But I don't know if I'm angry at the teacher for not creating a correct correction model or at the students who don't dare to speak up. And what am I supposed to do when the people who have been wronged don't want to speak up themselves?

Sigh sigh, I hope the next correction model has no errors. Because if it does, my teacher will absolutely hear from me.πŸ˜‚

Pleasssse, if you are a student and you are reading this: know that you have rights too!

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14 comments
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You are right
Unless there should be some respect
But no one is infallible, and no one can not be corrected


Posted via proofofbrain.io

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@cristina-zac yes, of course. Respect in it's place and speaking up for your right in it's place. Both are needed.

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I ask her 'But shouldn't there be a re-correction?'
The assistant doesn't know and I don't notice from her attitude that she will check to what extent that is possible.

This could easily be helped if there's an independent Exam committee, who sees to everything that has to do with tests and exams and also writes the policies regarding those. Especially if it's a test from a while ago. I was always looking for a way to score a higher mark if I knew I deserved it πŸ˜… and I'm blessed I haven't had teachers who were bullies.

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Yes there is an independent Exam committee. The problem regarding this subject is, there is only 1 teacher who knows that subject. So the Exam committee can make the rules etc, but they cannot check if the exercises are correct or not. This is a problem in almost all fields of study at the University of Suriname.

I have had teachers who were bullies, but then again I am someone who always dares to ask questions. So I have never been disadvantaged.

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This is a problem in almost all fields of study at the University of Suriname.

That's a shame, but I recognize this with students from other faculties.
I do hope that there'll be more educators. It's not only good for the students, but it's also a safe guard for teachers, if they aren't the only ones working on a test: "4-ogen principe".

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Yes, that's true. They keep saying that they have only 1 teacher because it's a small country. I don't really know though if this is also a problem in other small countries. Maybe it's time for me to do some research about it. πŸ˜…

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Maybe it's time for me to do some research about it. πŸ˜…

That would be an interesting topic, because it's not only the university that's having this problem. A lot of higher education institutions, who are having these problems.

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The school atmosphere is intimidating to many students, hence, they cower in silence even in the face of oppression. Something similar happened to me during my undergraduate days, I confronted the lecturer and I got the necessary correction. My initial score of 41 became 72, just imagine if I'd let go!

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That's true yes. Many students are afraid. Only: teachers are people too; they make mistakes too.

Oh wow! I'm glad you said something about it. That's a big difference in grade! πŸ˜…

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I had such an experience in my second year in college. At the end of the year he failed me because I was not present on the day I was giving my final grades even though I had delivered all my evaluations (my dad was in surgery and the teacher knew it). I went to the university authorities and they did nothing, but wasn't about leaving things alone. Finally it was my uncle the one who helped me, they where friends. He told him to rectify the mistake or he would take it as an offense towards him. The guy was very scared of my big uncle and finally agreed to give me the grade that I had from the beginning. At the end he was just a petty fellow who had been allowed to abuse his power by everyone, until someone bigger and stronger stood up to him.

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Omg that sounds like a horrible teacher. There are teachers that misuse their power. And what makes it worse is that the authorities don't do anything about it. πŸ˜’

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That is true! The only thing we can do is speak up and not do what they do when it is our turn to teach.

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@rebeysa85 Yes, I try to do that everyday. It's just very difficult to fight a whole system that is like this for years. But I am not giving up. πŸ˜…

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