“We are in uncharted waters in terms of valuation. I believe that the help of an educated, experienced colleague is necessary. But I would like the assessment to have the characteristics of a consultation process for a teacher, organized in time and not in parts,” says Gregory Darakhani, a newly appointed philologist at a special school in Messinia who has already received an assessment … baptism.

More than 1,300 newly appointed kindergarten teachers, teachers and educators have already gone through the assessment process, which is now a condition of their permanent employment. “I introduced myself to the children as a second teacher who oversees the teaching of assessment. It is important to help new colleagues – they are not going to be punished, ”adds“ K ”school counselor Afanasia Chronopoulou, who began the assessment in Messinia.

“Meetings of teachers and counselors are organized in the same way as visiting classes, but all this, as a rule, is done with a stretched stomach on both sides. Let’s hope this happens because it’s just the beginning, before the teachers are familiarized,” notes a school counselor in Crete, hinting at the difficulties of the project.

It is significant that the opposition, with a sufficient dose of risk, questions the political goals of the government in assessing teachers, educational federations are moving in the same direction, at the same time, the absence of a culture of assessment – not only in the public. education, but also in the entire public sector – this is obvious. Those who volunteer to be assessed first are aware of their choice. Many are waiting to see how the application process goes. However, there is an atmosphere of mistrust in schools and pressure on new appointees not to be evaluated.

“We want the first step to be taken. Evaluation of new appointees is not punitive. The idea of ​​assessment, self-improvement mobilizes teachers,” stresses “K” the president of the Institute for Educational Policy (IEP), Yiannis Antoniou.

In particular, an individual assessment is undertaken after 41 years, and given that as many times as it has been done over four decades, it has ended up being delayed due to backlash. The venture looks like a race as procedures must be completed by the end of June to make permanent the 25,000 teachers of both grades who will complete their two-year probation by August as they have been appointed since 2020. An estimate of approximately 140,000 inhabitants will follow from September. In fact, due to the delay in the selection and placement of the new approximately 800 Educational Advisers, the start of the evaluation is done by region and depending on the time of their deployment by region. Thus, the individual assessment of newly appointed first began in the schools of the islands of the North and South Aegean, Crete and Peloponnese.

There is a four-point scale: unsatisfactory, satisfactory, very good, excellent. Teachers of the first two categories will be trained.

As Secretary General of the Ministry of Education Alexandros Koptsis told K, five more regions followed last week, namely East Macedonia-Thrace, Epirus, the Ionian Islands, Central Macedonia and West Macedonia. According to the schedule, the process for the newly appointed Thessaly, Western Greece, Central Greece and Attica will start tomorrow. One of the things he gets scolded for is that while the process has begun, advisors are still being trained, and newly appointed ones are doing the same – as part of the introductory training. In addition, many consultants undertook to evaluate up to 70 new appointees, with the result that the time is not expected to come before the end of the school year, and therefore the process will be carried out on an ongoing and sloppy basis.

A characteristic of the time required to complete the assessment is that the consultants must contact the newly appointed teachers of the group of schools they have taken over to arrange the first information meeting. Mr. Koptsis reported that meetings of consultants with teachers exceeded 1300.

New teachers will be assessed in teaching and learning work by a consultant for scientific responsibility (specialty) in the classroom. He will attend two teachings. Teachers, in consultation with the consultant, choose the course on which they will be assessed, the day and time. So far, 300 courses have been completed. Each teacher will be individually evaluated on a four-point scale and characterized as unsatisfactory, satisfactory, very good, excellent. Teachers who are rated as unsatisfactory and satisfactory will be referred for training.

“I did my first class in the presence of an education consultant. Whenever two eyes are looking at you, you are worried. I had good cooperation with the consultant both during the preparation for the training and during the lesson. I feel like I did well. However, it is better not to conduct an assessment every four years, as this only captures the moment of the teacher’s work,” notes Ms. Darahani. “I was worried. Since assessment is a requirement for my tenure, I saw it as a necessary evil. Of course, I “got” a good consultant who helped me relax and comfortably conduct the lesson,” she remarks, referring to “K ”, a 35-year-old teacher from Crete.

“Our mission is to help teachers. There will be a discussion with teachers about our observations. First impressions of the new appointment are very positive. I started meetings and attended two teachings. Of course there is stress, let’s not laugh. Who wouldn’t be when someone watches them do their job? Also, let’s not ignore the fact that no matter how well prepared one is, working with so many kids in the same room can be overwhelming,” a Messinia Primary Education School Adviser tells K. Athanasius Chronopoulou. “I am familiar with the school environment, I am a colleague with 35 years of experience. I sat down at my desk and wrote down my observations. Of course, we agreed with the teacher that when I write, he will not strain. In addition, we said that after the end there would be a discussion. In fact, the teacher impressed me as he told me that I wanted to see reality and not something embellished,” he adds, and commenting on my incredulous look at the teacher’s intentions, he emphasized: “I could to say whether he was telling the truth, or if he wanted to flatter me.”

“The teacher sent a plan of his lesson with the tasks. A week later I attended a class lesson. I wrote down all my steps and observations, which we later discussed. The lesson was held in a special school, where the conditions differed from general education. These are children with learning difficulties, with diseases. We must take all this into account,” emphasizes “K” Ioannis Solaris, a consultant specializing in philological courses. He himself attended the first three lectures of newly appointed teachers for evaluation.

“They put pressure on us not to participate. It’s in the bars

“Yes, I signed up, but the school environment is stressful. They don’t want us to participate. The educational community stands on… fences,” says the newly appointed K teacher, explaining the reasons for wanting to remain anonymous. “The assessment has been expected for many years and needs to be done. This is a society requirement. However, it should be noted that the newly appointed take on the burden of political confrontation. The trade union federations shifted the responsibility for the decision to them by declaring a strike-abstention from evaluation. Who will follow it to the end when evaluation is required to make it permanent? The new appointees became a ball among education officials responsible for the assessment, teacher associations, the Ministry of Education and trade unions,” notes an experienced religious education consultant who took part in the assessment. in the “K” period of 2013-2014, until the cancellation of the relevant Presidential Decree and the termination of the process in 2015 by the government of SYRIZA-ANEL.

“I worked as a substitute from 2010 to 2020, usually on the islands,” Mr. Darahani says, voicing the question of many why they should be graded after years of being tested in educational practice. “These are people who have worked for many years, they have special qualifications for the appointment. I met a newly appointed with 15 years of experience as a deputy, with an academic degree, training. This is a group of teachers who are on the verge of adulthood,” notes a primary school consultant in Crete.

“I was a substitute for eight years, I was appointed in August 2021,” says Yannis Papadopoulos, a newly appointed teacher and vice president of the Rethymnon Primary Teachers Association. He himself participates in the grading abstention strike announced by the Hellenic Teachers’ Federation. “We expected the process to have a different structure. It is indicative that the consultant observes several schools, enters the classroom and leads. Conduct exemplary exercises, be part of success and failure. In this context, he will be able to judge and propose measures to restructure the education system and improve the teacher. Now the teacher is evaluated every four years for two forty minutes. As defined, evaluation becomes a structured process in which teachers showcase their best,” adds Mr. Papadopoulos. “There is no trust in the leadership of the ministry,” Mr. Papadopoulos adds, while in the same context, many long-term, experienced teachers are wondering with what institutional guarantees they will be assessed by consultants from September.

“Everything that depends on human judgment contains elements of subjectivity. However, the framework protects teachers from the subjective judgments of consultant assessors. There is a process of acquaintance, exchange of opinions, discussion of the teacher with his assessor, there is even the possibility of objections. There are gaps,” notes IEP President Giannis Antoniou, emphasizing that “evaluation is taking place all over Europe. Her idea mobilizes the entire school.”