Now teachers are ordered to smile at their pupils - PAU inglés 2010

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A secondary school has ordered teachers to welcome children with a smile at the start of every lesson as part of a drive to hand more power to pupils. Staff have also been told to ensure they are not boring students by setting work that is too hard.
The move is the latest example of a Government initiative to give pupils a major say in many aspects of their schooling, but some critics say this is putting children in charge. Yesterday the Mail revealed that 20 students at a Kent secondary school were given iPhones to provide instant feedback of teachers to senior staff. In another incident, a teacher being interviewed for a job by a student panel was asked to sing the Michael Jackson song ‘Bad’. She failed to get the job after refusing. Pupils on another interview panel voted in favour of a female candidate because she was the ‘prettiest’, although she was not hired.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls admitted the approach used by some schools was ‘completely wrong’, ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’. ‘The people who are in charge are the head teachers, the governors and the teachers,’ he said. ‘The idea that you would give out iPhones to secretly spy on teachers, that would be in my view, completely wrong’. ‘Any head teacher doing that needs to look hard at themselves and consider the way in which they are doing things’.
But far from dismissing the practice, he added: ‘Some schools do ask teachers to get a report from the children about how lessons are going’.

Daily Mail, Tuesday, April 6th, 2010, p. 10

RESPUESTAS 

READING COMPREHENSION

I. Answer the following questions using your own words but taking into account the information in the text.

• a. What measures have teachers been forced to take in secondary schools? PAR. 1
• b. Why have mobile phones been used in some schools? PAR. 3

II. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? Identify the part of the text that supports your answer by copying the exact passage on the answer sheet.

a. Teachers have been told not to assign homework.

• FALSE: Staff have also been told to ensure they are not boring students by setting work that is too hard.

b. In Kent, iPhones were given to every student.

• FALSE: Yesterday the Mail revealed that 20 students at a Kent secondary school were given iPhones to provide instant feedback of teachers to senior staff.

c. Some schools want their students to express their opinion about their classes.

• TRUE: ‘Some schools do ask teachers to get a report from the children about how lessons are going’.
• Si te interesa profundizar en esta respuesta, la tienes comentada más abajo.

III. Find a synonym for each of the four words below from these six options:
       staff    schooling     feedback     incident     panel     governors

• a. staff: employees
• b. feedback: response, opinion
• c. incident: event, episode  
• d. panel: jury, committee

IV. Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct.
1. A teacher was asked to sing ‘Bad’...

• a. and got the job.
• b. and never got the job.
• c. and was then asked to refuse the job.

2. Ed Balls stated that...

• a. students should have more power.
• b. teachers should be secretly observed.
• c. iPhones are not a good tool to provide feedback.

3. Some schools want students to...

• a. give their opinion on lessons.
• b. describe teachers.
• c. report about the use of iPhones.

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