I have seen many cases of unprofessionalism in the classroom: from favoritism, to grades or papers being misplaced, to complete disregard for a student’s learning habits. When things like this happen, students have to turn to their parents to send a meaningless email that ends up being dismissed.

There have been numerous occasions where I have felt disrespected and disregarded by teachers in their classroom, and even more in which I have witnessed other students being treated unfairly, yet I have no voice on the topic; in fact, no students have the ability to have an effective opinion on this.

Which age do students need to reach in order to have a voice? Whether 14 or 45, everyone should have an option on how they are taught.

In order to avoid situations in which teachers feel that they can act however they feel because they dominate students, students should be given the option to give constructive and effective feedback on their teachers.

A report from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation’s “Measures of Effective Teaching” shows that a survey held for students evaluating their teachers was effective. In this survey, teachers who were given favorable feedback had students that learned 4.6 more months of math than students with teachers who were ranked lower in the survey results.

The best people to ask about a teacher’s strengths and weaknesses are students. Students are the ones who sit in a class for over an hour with this person, and they know best how their teacher could improve.

There should be some sort of system created in order for students to anonymously report constructive criticism, or any complaints needed to teachers or administrators throughout the school year. This way, students can be anonymous without feeling uncomfortable, and teachers can receive feedback all year when needed. 

Administrators should also have access to this system and should read the feedback in order to ensure drastic measures do not need to be taken, and to make sure the teacher is improving what needs to be improved.

Administrators keeping up with this system also guarantees that teachers will not ignore the feedback. If this is implemented, then it needs to be taken seriously.

This should not only be taken seriously by teachers, but also by students. That is why there should be rules and regulations put in place to prohibit students from leaving irrelevant or inappropriate feedback. Although it is anonymous, administrators should have a way of identifying the writer of each note when needed. 

Although teachers should be respected and obeyed, there are some instances when there should be an exception. Respect should be reciprocated, no matter what age one is. If a system for students to speak out about their concerns regarding their learning environment is not put in place, then they will be taught that their feelings and opinions should be pushed aside.

Students should be taught to speak out and voice their opinions, and they should learn how to right their wrongs. Unprofessionalism and disrespect towards students in a classroom should never be tolerated, and students should feel comfortable and content in their learning environment. A system that allows students to evaluate their teachers will not only allow them to speak out about their concerns, but it will also teach them that they have a right to.