You are correct with that statement.
I look at it as, the students are customers as far as the school is concerned.
As an instructor in a trade school I have to mold them into a product that the employers can use to bring their business to a profitable outcome.
And of course, the students as well.
Just sliding the students through, will not make them successful.
They are not always right but they always need to be listened to and paid attention to.
We can never please every student in the class. Someone will always be unhappy even if it is one student. However, students have the power to evaluate a instructor which ever they want at the end of a course. Those evaluations are not always fair because you can not tell if that particular student was a good student or not, yet they can evaluate the instructor. I think depending on the school the students are customers and have a lot of power.
But wouldn't that drop the idea of student monitoring and keeping them accountable?
Jennifer,
I think acknowleding that a student is unhappy is not the same thing as giving in. Offering acceptable solutions that often require the student to take anction, and thus be accountable, can be effective.
Jeffrey Schillinger
I agree with Claire. What the students wants isn't always what will be, but in order for us to service them and help them to understand why things are what they are we have to listen to them. We won't always be able to provide with them with the solution they walk in the door wanting, but we should be able to help them understand their options and our policies.
Of course, the customer is not paying for a grade, they're paying for an education. However, sometimes I do find it helpful after reviewing a student's work, to ask them what grade they think they earned. Many times this catches them off guard, and they give an honest answer. Rarely do they answer with a grade higher than they deserve, in fact, they are often more critical of their work than they should be.
