Education Accountability: Trust Teachers, Dump Classroom Cams

Intrusive surveillance will hurt an endeavor that thrives on professional ethics and human bonds

- ANURAG BEHAR

Would you want a camera watching over you at your desk all day? Your answer, like mine, is likely to be a resolute 'no'. The thought itself is intrusive, a violation of your most rudimentary space and autonomy, which are not only needed to think and work, but are also essential for your basic dignity. Why then do so many find it acceptable to advocate in favor of this setup in our schools and classrooms?

Let's be clear. This is not about cameras in school corridors or driveways installed for safety. This is about cameras specifically placed to monitor teachers, turning classrooms into a panopticon. Such surveillance is not just highly intrusive and disruptive to the functioning of the class; it signifies a deep and underlying mistrust in the teacher and the classroom as a community, and a profound misunderstanding of education and human nature.

Streaming video feeds from classrooms and other such approaches are knee-jerk responses; over-simplistic centralized 'solutions' to the complex challenge of building accountability in our vast education system. That word 'accountability' itself is fraught with oversimplification, carried over from its overuse in simpler, often mechanistic or unidimensional environments such as businesses. In endeavors such as teaching, the notion of deep responsibility is far more real. In other words, it is 'internal accountability,' which involves holding yourself accountable to a professional ethic and purpose.