The issue of transparency provides an interesting insight into the nature of professionalism, and a recent policy change throws the matter into sharp focus for us.
Like all High Schools, we tell Colleges and Universities what grades we think our students will achieve. This happens at the start of the final school year for our most senior students. Like many schools, our historical practice has been not to share this information with families; but we are changing that policy, and I wrote to grade 11 parents on the topic this week. The grades will be transparently shared from now on.
We did not previously share the grades for two main reasons. Firstly, we see the possibility for school-home conflict when students’ grades do not match their College and University aspirations; we also see the resulting possibility of grade inflation – whereby teachers are persuaded to overestimate, and thereby reduce our credibility with Universities (which would be to everyone’s detriment). Secondly, we know that some anticipated grades will be wrong – because this is a human business; because children grow in unpredictable ways, and growth trajectories change midway. Error is inevitable; but many families expect complete accuracy from us. While these reasons are outweighed by the benefits of students and families knowing unambiguously where they stand, and therefore being able to make informed decisions about Higher Education, we are mindful that this change is, therefore, a significant cultural one.
The ways in which we engage with families, and in which they engage with us, on this potentially difficult issue will say much about our community. While the shift to transparency reflects our desire for openness and collaboration, it is important that the pendulum does not swing into ‘the customer is always right’ model. And this is because we are not just offering a service; we are a profession. The difference is, I believe, not generally well understood.
Professions frequently face tensions in balancing the needs of their stakeholders with broader social roles. I would go so far as to say that ethically squaring competing demands is in large part what it is to be a profession. Accountants serve clients by auditing corporate accounts and must also meet the social purpose of providing sound financial information; lawyers balance serving clients with maintaining the formal role of ‘officer of the court’; politicians should address their political bases’ needs while maintaining their integrity to the overall honour of the political process. Looking at recent financial and legal scandals, and current political electoral issues it is not hard to think of the dangers of serving only individual clients, and losing sight of the big picture.
There seems to be a contrast with the service industry, there is less complexity in this respect. I may be wrong here – and would welcome feedback – but it seems to me that if I own a store, or a hotel, or an travel agency, or a restaurant, and my customers want a new service, it’s not likely this will be in direct tension with some broader social good. And it’s not so likely that there will be an ethical tension there, as the service industry is not serving two masters like the professions do.
2 Responses
Is the grade achieved by the student propped up by tuition or is it achieved by independent learning?
Great question. Anticipated grades are the grades we think that the student is most likely to attain, on the basis of evidence demonstrated. So it's most of all about level of understanding, really, rather than anything else.