Everyone has their own opinions, especially the teachers who shape the minds of our future generations. Despite their importance, it’s not always easy for them to express their unfiltered opinions openly. This is what this article addresses, giving those educators a platform to give anonymous feedback on their experience. This level of confidentiality opens up a whole new gateway to words they might have previously not spoken if official on the record.
The first step in collecting all this insight was to get out there and ask questions. Teachers were contacted both in person and virtually to conduct these interviews, both means were secure and entirely anonymous. Extensive measures were taken to ensure the longevity of this privacy, the importance of it all truly couldn’t be expressed enough. Not only in terms of honesty alone, but almost every source would not accept the interview until they were reassured multiple times. After the sources agreed, a series of broad to specific questions were asked that covered various school-related topics. Examples of some of these are the culture of the area, academic support, administration, professional development, and even student engagement. Some source-specific questions were asked to gain more insight, but those will not be included to keep consistency and of course, maintain the confidentiality of it all.
Gloucester County may not be nationally recognized for its culture, but those who live here can attest to its unique atmosphere. Of course, the surrounding culture will have an effect on the school and its students. A teacher was asked the question, “Gloucester is known to have some underlying conservative views on race, do you believe this affects the school, and if so, to what extent?” The anonymous teacher responded with “As a teacher, I personally believe in equality. Not everyone from around here may share that view, but I believe a good majority of the staff here is against any sort of racial biases. I think Gloucester High School has done a pretty good job at preventing that, but I have definitely heard rumors of it.” Collectively most shared a similar opinion, that though there has probably been some examples over time, it is not welcomed in this school.
The next area selected to cover had to do with the academic support and resources available in the school. A majority of the selected teachers agreed on the fact that they have limited resources, but attempt to do with what they have. One teacher was asked “So, the school has a couple of academic support options and resources, what do you think they can improve on in those regards?” they responded with “The biggest issue is probably the advertisement of it all, yeah, they exist, but what’s the point if those who need it don’t know how to access them.” This perspective shed light on this ongoing issue, in which multiple other teachers could find some agreement when questioned about the very same thing. One source added, “It’s not just teachers who recognize it, most of my awareness came from the confusion of students when the resources were mentioned.”
Both students and teachers alike have to stay in contact with some sort of administrator here and there. Due to this, everyone has at least some sort of opinion on the matter. A common prevailing issue is commented on by a teacher saying “The issue with the administration is inconsistency. For students especially, if you look at the councilors, they’re all different people of course. Because of this, students receive varying experiences.” They also quickly added “I think the diversity is good though, just an issue that comes with it all.” The mentions of the inconsistency are apparent and something that needs to be worked on. The issue of counseling pertains to students more but is “in some ways reflective of the administration.”
Another topic teachers were asked about pertains to the concept of professional development and training. The primary consensus on this topic was that the idea of continued training and development for teachers was a good idea. One teacher said, “I think if we improve, our students may improve in the process, too.” the same teacher referenced an article on the Department of Education’s site titled “Impact of Teacher’s Training on Interest and Academic Achievements of Students by Multiple Teaching Methods.” Though it differs a little from what this paragraph covers, there’s still a lot of interesting data that can be compared with the opinions of Gloucester High School’s teachers.
Finally, we covered the topic of student engagement with the school. This was probably the most positively discussed topic out of all of them so far. The majority believed that the school had taken strides to keep students engaged and interactive with the school, at least in more recent years. “For a while, a lot of clubs and related programs were.. lackluster?” when asked about the overall experience instead of just recent years. They would add, “But again, recently, the engagement has been a lot better, like Rennaissance Club and Spanish Club.” They believe these types of engagements and outreach are important for students, whether it be improving the overall morale of the students or just encouraging them to be more proactive in an academic sense.
In conclusion, the importance of educators and people in general, having an outlet to properly express their opinions is important. One thing that came clear with the most challenging part of this whole experience was convincing them that their confidentiality would be safe. It’s not like they are living in a dictatorship, they’re just concerned their jobs and livelihoods may be put in jeopardy. Even with the established privacy, they held back a lot they wanted to say. Despite this, it’s clear the teachers care deeply about their students with how much they’re referenced even in questions that are meant for the teachers. If it wasn’t already clear, this crucial feedback attests to the fact that there’s a lot to learn from the people whose job is to teach.
