Am I being precious or is this a reasonable request?

[Faberdashery]

DS is in Y8. His art teacher evaluates homework by getting each student to hold up their work in front of the class while he gives feedback.

DS struggles with anything creative and finds this really humiliating. He understands that he isn't the only student to have his work laughed at by the rest of the class but he takes it very personally.

Would I be making an arse of myself if I contacted his teacher and requested that he finds a different way to evaluate DS's homework in future? Or is this just a part of growing up?

I don't think it's precious. I don't think anyone would accept a teacher holding up a maths homework and the teacher evaluating it in front of the class so I don't see why it's fine for an art class. I would have found that terrifying at that age. In fact, I'd find it terrifying now.

Thanks treacle

Have to get ready now but I'm interested in any other opinions. Particularly from any secondary school teachers.

I am a primary school teacher and that is a very poor way to evaluate work, in any sense. On occasion during a lesson I will make an example of two or three good pieces of work to give the children an idea of what they SHOULD be doing, but I would never, ever hold up a piece of creative homework for it to be judged by their peers, particularly to a child of that age.

And how much of the lesson time is that teacher wasting by going through this rigmorale for every student? To me this sounds like a lazy teacher, I would report straight to the Head of Year or Head of Department.

I think it very strongly depends how it is done. Part of art is about appreciating others work so it could be very valuable but only if it was done in a very positive, constructive way.

As above, it depends on how it is done. We do it a lot of in my class, but the student presents the work, and then they call on three people to make a comment about it. The emphasis is on art appreciation, and rather than just "I liked your picture" they will say things which are positive and relating to what we are working on. It's not something they learn overnight, but we start it straight away, and they learn very quickly. Most of my students say the best part of any art activity is that we schedule ten minutes at the end to appreciate the work of other students. If we run overtime and can't fit it in, then they get upset and we have to do it before it is all packed up.

There is no harm in having a chat with the teacher and discussing the concerns your son has if it is upsetting him.

I agree this depends on how it is done and how the child feels about it. If it is done in a positive way it could be beneficial. I agree with what MidniteScribbler says

That sounds cruel.

Often I think parents are very precious when they complain about schools and teachers, but in this instance I think this is a horrible thing for kids to have to do, and really think that the teacher should stop doing it. Takes quite a bit for me to side with parents but I would HATE that.

Thanks everyone. It's good to hear why the teacher might be doing this so I appreciate all your posts.

DS has an art lesson today so I will speak to him this evening about how it went. If he felt humiliated or uncomfortable I will have a word with the school tomorrow.

Thanks.

Doesn't sound v fair but I like that DS school set for everything including art so he can fly along in the top sets for most things and be with similar less able peers in the bottom art set. They're all equally devoid of any art talent so much less bothered about being critiqued.

Sounds wrong. I went to Art College and we rarely did that there - only at the end of a major project and not always then - and we were all good enough to be on a course with 20+ applicants for each place.

It would be like having your sporting prowess judged after every PE lesson.

By all means pick out a few pieces of work that demonstrate particular ideas, use of media or interpretation of the brief - and try not to always pick the 'best' pieces of work, but a whole class 'show and tell' is cruel and will put children off.

Ofsted INSIST on seeing evidence of "peer assessment!, but there should be no laughing involved. It should be made clear to students that only constructive comments are acceptable, they should be taught what is constructive, and also to evaluate the feedback they get.