Teachers’ Evaluation: Views of Secondary School Teachers in the Greek District of Pieria

This research presents the issue of teacher evaluation. In recent years in Greece, there are continuous efforts for implementing the evaluation of the teachers, but without success. Past experiences of institutional evaluation, and the latest unpleasant budgetary developments in Greece intensify the confrontation between the Ministry and the educational community. The purpose of this research is to investigate the teachers’ opinion about the usefulness of evaluation as it will be implemented through the new legal framework. Furthermore, the quality criteria that participants deem necessary for the optimal implementation of the institution (who, when, how and for how long) to improve and upgrade their educational role and their educational work and the connection with the pay and grading changes of teachers are analyzed. The methodological approach of the research was qualitative and the data collection was through semi-structured interviews with 12 teachers in post-compulsory secondary education in the prefecture of Pieria. The main findings of the research show the teachers’ lack of information in relevance to their evaluation, which creates their insecurities and phobic attitudes regarding the implementation and impact of the evaluation in the educational community. They recognize the usefulness of evaluation as a tool for improvement of the educational work and the school’s environment, but under conditions that they do not think that they will be fulfilled through the new legal framework. This is why the vast majority of teachers indicate quite frustrated and pessimistic about the developments and the future of post-compulsory secondary education.