“Only courageous hearts can endure the bitterness of truth”
– Micheal Bassey Johnson
The administration has been keeping in touch with us and we appreciate that tremendously. The protest yielded some very good results one of which was taking feedback from the students at the end of every Academic Session. We are grateful that the same was actually put into place and a feedback form ciculated to the students. I went to fill it and witnessed this..
I mean, I do not need to really write anything to explain what is wrong with it. Are we in the business of not hurting anyone’s feelings but the students? How can this feedback help a professor who is unable to teach the students? Let us realise that none of us are invincible and can go wrong many times, even a professor. One’s strength lies in knowing one’s weaknesses. I’m sure if the feedback was taken in properly it would provide a good hard look in the mirror for many while also serving as a incentive to keep teaching brilliantly for the ones who have actually done a good job. As convoluated as it might seem, this Feedback Form seems like it has been created in jest and also is an insult to those professors who have put in hard work to make sure that their lectures help the students. They deserve better than a “Very Good” next to an individual who although was terrible received a “Satisfactory”, even though they put in half the efforts as the former. For professors reading this post, I can never imagine the efforts that one must put to teach a class of 80, but I’m sure that you would appreciate our honesty as at the end of the day when we all come together to share ideas and grow.
Clearing the air, I feel that I must say this again that a Feedback Form is not meant to berate anyone and we understand that, trust us, it is not a “weapon” in our hands and unless somebody is really messed up psychologically they will never use it in a manner that causes anyone pain or disrespect. Giving feedback is not an act of waging war against those who teach us. It’s to help them communicate with us better. That is all. We don’t have grand schemes against you when we write that we simply could not understand something in class. As far as I am concerned, all I wanted was to come to class and learn something new and when I’m taught by a professor who identifies with my intention I would like to appreciate them while giving feedback. And in cases where I felt that equal efforts were not made by another educator, I want them to know that they could probably adopt a different way, which might help me better. I’m sure that my intention when I point out the latter’s defects is not something stemming from disrespect. So when we ask for a Feedback Form, don’t be so unkind to assume that we do so because we are actively seeking out ways to show disrespect. Every profession has a mechanism for seeking out feedback. We aren’t asking for the stars.
However, if fulfilling the requirement of a “Feedback Form” as demanded by the students during the protest was all that was desired out of this initiative by the college authorities, I would extend my heartiest congratulations as they have successfully done that. However, there is no cause for celebrations, as this document is going to serve any purpose. We haven’t been honest you see. In the comments section of this brilliant form I’ve added something that I hope you read. It’s really simple. Please have some realistic standards for rating in this form and a comments section, so that in case we want to explain why we feel someone is not doing a good job, we have the option of explaining ourselves. This will make sure that the sensibilities of the educator receiving it is not offended either.
It’s just a Feedback Form, do we really need to make everything so difficult? This is not funny, but this form makes it appear that maybe to you it is. Also, if you are looking for an example of what constitutes a good Feedback Form, you can open this link . Although it was released in the year 2017, it does serve as a good example. We can make some changes here and there and add a comment section and we’ll have a proper form. So there, I’ve highlighted the problem and presented a solution.
We put in so much effort to be better than what we are every Academic Session ( I speak about everyone including our professors, students and the staff) so let’s just start with the small things first. I personally know that we as an Institute want so desperately to keep growing. I hope that the readers know that too. A way to properly communicate starts with seeking Feedback, so let us try to keep it as proper as we can.
At the end of the day, we must ask ourself, would a prudent person draft such a Feedback Form?
