is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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the fairest of them all.
Lots of studies have shown that �attractive� teachers get higher ratings on course evaluations filled out by students. (For instance, one study showed that �attractive� teachers earned on average .8 more on a scale of 1-5; another controlled for other factors to show that it really was attractiveness and not a bunch of other qualities earning the higher ratings; and so on.) What that means is that whenever I find myself in a discussion of teaching effectiveness and the topic of course evaluations comes up, someone says to me, �you know, students always give higher ratings to attractive professors.� And then what am I supposed to say? I usually say something like, �Well, I suppose, since I do have some features that are considered attractive in this time and place--and some of those features are not of my choosing while others are--that it is inevitable that all of that will have some impact on how I am perceived and thus judged by others.� [Pause.] But then I can�t help myself, and I have to add, �But, you know, given what it is like to live in this time and place, I have also, my whole life, because of what �attractiveness� and �female� mean, had occasion to observe people assuming I�m not smart, failing to take me seriously, or figuring that if I have achieved anything it was probably at least in part because of how fortune smiled upon me and made me 'attractive,' and not because of my intelligence or hard work.�
So, there is an irony in this particular use of social science data-gathering. On the one hand, the studies tell us something about how human judgment is functioning in the space of the student-authored course evaluation. It is surely a snapshot of some part of what is going on in that process. But why do we care? I suppose we care because we use evaluations as tools for judging teaching effectiveness (and, really, there are SO MANY REASONS why they are not the best tools for that. Add to the �attractiveness� problem the categories �difficult or welcoming subject matter,� �hard or easy grader,� �strict or mean or awkward or kind or nurturing or personable teacher,� and then think about whether an easy grader who teaches a welcoming subject and who is kind and nurturing and personable is always necessarily doing a better job than an awkward but knowledgeable hardass teaching a difficult subject, and you get the idea). But why do we care? We care because, if we are using these tools to evaluate teaching effectiveness, we want the assessing to be fair. And it wouldn�t be fair if someone were getting higher rankings because he or she is attractive rather than good at teaching.
Side note: As I just said, these studies give us a snapshot of some part of what is going on. And that is a very partial view. Very few students are going to rank someone highly only for attractiveness. Over the space of semester, being attractive is not going to compensate fully for a lack of preparedness, enthusiasm, competency or knowledge. You can�t fail in those categories and earn high marks. Students just aren�t that shallow or dumb or unsavvy.
So we care about the attractiveness problem because we want to be fair. But then! If someone is attractive and also a good teacher, what does she hear? She hears that she gets high marks because she is attractive. And then all the concern about fairness begins to look very strange.
It�s one of those moments when the science-fetish of this time and place makes things inscrutable in the very act of trying to explain them.
The next question to ask is: what does it mean to be attractive? When we are drawn to other human beings, it is rarely due only to the symmetry of their features or their choice of shoes. The things that matter most about attraction cannot be measured using social science methods. And if "attractiveness" really is part of what matters about teaching, it is probably that attractiveness that is at stake. The good news is that it is equally open to everyone to cultivate.
8:36 a.m. - June 09, 2012
NYC Cuz - 2012-06-10 02:19:50
Can I join your army?
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js - 2012-06-12 16:15:26
YES.
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