Photo – evaluation project at "Verslo" 2005 – 2006: successes and failures

Beginning...

A decision was taken at the beginning of the autumn term to launch a big photo-evaluation project

Idea and inspiration: presentation of the whole concept in Rzezsow and further implementation in Rowaniemi

Objective: to engage students (in their last year who have almost four year “experience” at the school) in work on self-evaluation, along with some of their teachers, and to discover strengths and weaknesses

Participants: all students of the last year (9 classes; est. total number of students just over 200...)

Every class should produce 4-5 photographs of what they considered positive about the school and other 4-5 of things that needed to improve

The principal supported the project (and had, incidentally, encouraged the students in their last year to think about positive and negative aspects of the school on a visit he made to each class in the autumn )

Original plan: an exhibition of photos (similar to that done in Hamburg)

Meeting of SEFES group with the “supervisor teachers” of each class took place in November then: end-of-term

exams and Christmas! Change of plan in

January: each class would present their evaluation in two common sessions in the biggest hall in the school (the "Blue Hall")

The actual photo-evaluation

Four classes presented their evaluation on March 8 and 15 The presentations that were introduced, were objective and

informative The students present seemed to like the idea and the

presentations Minus side: too few classes participated! Why the lack of participation?

bad timing (needs to start early in the autumn, before everyone gets to busy with their teaching and studies)

wrong target-group? (Maybe the motivation would be stronger if the people were not actually leaving the school in two months...)

administrative problem: the motivation of the "supervising" teachers failed

An example...

What follows is a photo-evaluation from one of the groups/classes

It was accompanied by verbal explanation when presented

Strengths and weaknesses: The Commercial College

6-D

Strengths

Information screens

Good DVD collection (at the library)

Water

Fine art

Printers

Toilet facilities for the disabled

Bankomat

Good gym

Good library

Weaknesses

Women's outdoor running (in Gymnastics)

A problem at the WC

Parking space

Long queu at the diner

Ugly shower facilities