Friday 24 May 2013

Caveat Invigilator!


A busy time at Hedges Towers. Exam season is upon us once more, which means I'm currently doing my third part-time job as an invigilator. For those who don't live in the UK - invigilators are people who supervise public exams in secondary schools. In the past, it was a job done internally by teachers, but now it is done externally by us. Unsurprisingly, many invigilators are retired teachers -  after all we know the system and are used to working with groups of teenagers. It is a pleasant way to supplement our meagre incomes which doesn't involve unsocial hours and stacking shelves.

Basically, invigilating involves the ability to sit reasonably still for a couple of hours with one's eyes open. It is a lot harder than it seems. To distinguish us from the teachers and students, invigilators wear green lanyards with an ID badge. I'd really like something a little more distinctive - maybe a nice black leather jacket with Invigilator on the back in big brass studs, so that I could also supplement the meagre income by doing door work at the weekends. I have floated the idea past the Exams Officer, but he is thinking Exams Office budget, so as yet there is no interface.

The thing people always say when they discover I work as an invigilator is:  'Oh, exams were much harder in my day.' Not sure about that. Certainly not in the subject I tutor, English Literature. I have exam questions going back to the 1970's, courtesy of my old English teacher, and I often set them for students. The texts haven't changed much either. This year I have been teaching Paradise Lost Book 9, King Lear, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, Othello, Dr Faustus, and The Pardoner's Tale, among other texts. The first two were books I studied for A level back in the 1960's.

Exam pencil case, courtesy of Kim
What has changed is that back then if you were dyslexic, dyspraxic or, as in my case, just plain disruptic, no allowance was made. Now, students can get extra time. Some have readers or scribes. Or both. And the rise of the internet has brought a whole new rise in opportunities to cheat, so students can only use clear pencil cases and bring unlabelled bottles of water into the exam room, as it is possible to download 'fake' labels with formulae on the back. Seriously.

We are all extremely vigilant, but even so, we had an incidence of cheating a couple of years ago. It is still referred to in hushed tones. It was during an A-level resit. The senior invigilator noticed a student's ruler was sitting proud from the desk. She picked it up, and several strips of paper with notes cascaded down. The student, who had joined the Sixth Form in Year 12 from a posh private girls' school was escorted to the Exams Office, where the 'evidence' was photocopied. Her father was then phoned. His only response: 'Oh, you caught her, then?' Unbelievable.  Ultimate irony: she was resitting a Philosophy and Ethics paper.

Now I would never condone cheating in any form whatsoever, but the pressure students are under today is immense. I managed to score two unconditional offers to read English and Archaeology from London and York universities. Wouldn't happen today. In fact some of the 'top' universities are now asking for A* grades. In certain subjects, namely Art, Design, and Creative Writing, they expect students to have a blog up and running too.

Back then we left with a degree, the expectation of a reasonably paid job, and if you managed it correctly, no debt. I ran a baby-sitting business, and worked for John Lewis at the weekend and in the holidays, so I came out with money in my pocket. In many ways, I'd hate to be eighteen today. Which is just as well, because even with the huge advances in medical science and plastic surgery, it is extremely unlikely to happen!

32 comments:

  1. 'Oh, you caught her, then?' What the...

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  2. Quite!!! we were pretty amazed. Found out later from one of my students who also came from that posh school that she had cheated on her Year 111 exams too. Parents were complicit.That's how some of them roll. Must be the same in your school system...

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  3. Carol, I read yesterday that English pupils need four or five A levels now to get into uni. Is that true? When I was applying (also to do Archaeology), I had to have three A levels and I was also expected to get A's and B's as conditions for my place. Liverpool wanted 2 A's and Exeter too. I remember this clearly because I didn't get them…haha. I went to Bournemouth instead and did a teaching degree. Cheating is a problem everywhere. At Erasmus, they say it's their top issue. Most of our invigilators are also retired teachers as well. Luckily, in my subject, they can't really cheat as they can't prepare for the topic of their assignments.

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    1. It's still technically 3 A levels Val...in subjects like Art, it's on your portfolio, so can be technically just one.

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  4. Haha. I used to invigilate, and I took along a book to read, generally something serious so that I wouldn't laugh. On one occasion it was a history of philosophy, and I realised that I hadn't taken in anything from the last couple of thousand words, so I looked at the chapter heading at the top of the page. Aristotle and his terrible problem. When I stopped sniggering, I put the book away and looked out of the window instead. No one cheated.

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    1. Not allowed to sit and read now! And the exam boards do surprise visits toe check! Those were the days!

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  5. Well, I expected a serious discussion of this topic over breakfast, your having triggered lots of serious points, but instead had some invigilator anecdotes, one of which was about an R.E. A level exam many years ago, in the days when one teacher sat for the three-hour exam because it went on until 4.30, way after normal end-of-school. In this case, the Head of R.E. invigilated and dozed off in the warm summer afternoon sunshine. The students finished the exam on time, collected the papers, patted him on the shoulder and left quietly. And no, he wasn't disciplined.

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    1. Everyone has a story...I think the rules are much tighter now for invigilators

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  6. It's so tough for young people now - and somehow they believe that if they do all this work, slave over their books, slog though uni, then they'll get wonderful jobs. I wonder if we'll every help them understand that learning, for its own sake (not for exams, not for jobs) is worth the effort ...

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    1. Mot while the media/politicians still promote affluence as the ideal.

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  7. That was so interesting!!...( no..there isn't an undertone of 'surprise' there...you always entertain )...I'm amazed at the evolution of cheating with the James Bond methodology.....'it is possible to download 'fake' labels with formulae on the back'......staggering!
    Back in the day if you were caught cheating at my school...Sister Whiplash of the Merciless Mangling would poke you in the eye with her splintered glances...and that was enough to thwart anyone from doing so....( may I quickly add...I NEVER cheated...however, I have bathed the bleeding eyes of a few who had ).
    Love the idea of the jacket...very Pink Lady esque...( please tell me you've watched Grease otherwise that reference is wasted on you! )...Good stuff Hedges...enjoyed it!

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    1. Amazingly, the Exams Officer told us on Friday he'd had parents 'complaining' because their little darlings were freaked by having to work in silence....and then, when they finished early, having to sit in silence with nothing to do. Modern adolescence can't deal with 'nothing'.

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  8. I'm so angry I've practically poked a hole through the keyboard with my typing finger!!!....I despair of these parents who serve no better purpose than to fuel the ignorance and pampered nonsense of their over privileged offspring!!...I'm not going to drone on about it here....'cos I feel I may never stop!!!!...............Bring back the feral Nuns!!

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    1. Lynn, I suspect it was those feral nuns (in my case, de la Salle brothers and Marist priests) who, with their godly rods and medieval menaces, so stupefied their fearful charges that, years later, those same charges, now parents, exhibit resentments, hatreds and indifferences towards the establishment and its ethical demands. The nuns fostered discontent along with the bruises! Discuss in no more than 200 words.

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    2. ..... you will be marked on language form and structure, as well as context.

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  9. You are very good at promoting procrastination, Hedges Major. I currently have an old dressing case in my office containing my journals from age 12 to 21 which are due for the bonfire. (Oh, yes they are. I've read them.) In one of them, I'd kept some O level papers, including English. University of London Board, Language one AND two (separate papers, two and a half hours each)and Literature. Gor blimey. Lit was Twelfth Night, Henry 4 Part 1, The Prisoner of Chillon, Peter Grimes, Milton, Tennyson, Jane Eyre and The Trumpet Major. (There are more sub-divisions.) As for History, I just gaped at it. And French!!! I must have been a lot cleverer then than I am now. I may keep them and try them out on the children. Who, as they are all grown ups now will probably be as blank as I am.

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  10. Hah! You would look hot in a leather jacket with studs.

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    1. I already have 3. Look hot in all of them!! Hahaha.

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  11. When I was working in adult literacy, I also worked as one-to-one support for a fantastic young man with cerebral palsy. When he sat his GCSE English, I was the invigilator and I knew - even with a PC - he would need the unlimited time he was allowed. Eight solid hours later and with the tiniest 'tips' from me, he got a B! If anyone deserved it, he did :)

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    1. Brill. I have tutored kids with dyslexia etc, always go the extra mile.

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  12. This was such a fascinating post. Being from the US I know your exams are a bit different than ours. I think it is wonderful that kids with dyslexia or other learning needs get the extra time they need. :)

    Thanks for sharing!
    ~Jess

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  13. How can we expect an open, honest society when corruption starts in the classroom?
    Good blog - Ten out of ten!

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  14. Like poster DMS, I am also in the US. I never thought I'd say that I wouldn't want to be sixteen again, but the pressure students are under these days is terrifying. I was what they called an "Egghead." School was my passion. Now, though, it's all about meeting arbitrary performance goals rather than true mastery of material. The point of education is learning HOW to learn and using that skill over a lifetime, both for professional purposes and for personal fulfillment. Instead we've made learning stressful and frightening. Never thought I'd consider my teenage years "the good old days."

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    1. Very good reply, I concur. there is an expectation that by following a rigid sets of pathways, one will achieve. The system makes no allowance for free thinking, nor does it encourage creativity.

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  15. Hi Carol,
    Thanks for this behind the scenes look into the world of testing and an 'invigilator' (which sounds just a tad bit naughty). I am a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and have had my own share of dealing with concerns about cheating on final exams, especially in large classes. You are right to point out the incredible pressure that students are under to 'perform' in every way--often without much enjoyment for actual learning. I remind them that several studies of UK and US employers show that they want graduates who are creative and adaptive and not just good test takers.

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    1. Another person pointing out that too much emphasis is placed on 'tests' and not enough on inititative. WHY will our respective governments not pay heed!!! Thanks Michele, welcome to the blog!

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  16. Hi Carol,
    Thanks for this behind the scenes look into the world of testing and an 'invigilator' (which sounds just a tad bit naughty). I am a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and have had my own share of dealing with concerns about cheating on final exams, especially in large classes. You are right to point out the incredible pressure that students are under to 'perform' in every way--often without much enjoyment for actual learning. I remind them that several studies of UK and US employers show that they want graduates who are creative and adaptive and not just good test takers.
    from Michele Berger of She Writes

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  17. Times are definitely changing, aren't they?

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  18. I used to hate invigilating. I am ashamed to say that I once got into trouble for whispering with another invigilating during a huge exam-sitting in the sports hall. I certainly never heard of anyone going to such extreme cheating methods as downloading fake labels. Who'd have even imagined?! When I was at Uni there was a rumour going round that a student had leapt onto his desk in the middle of an exam and shouted, "I'm an orange and oranges don't take exams!" It could have been an urban myth but at the time we were all delighted that someone had 'broken' in such a spectacular way!

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    1. Like the sound of that!!! Last year a whole gang of Yr 11's were 'banned' because on their final day, they sprayed a giant willie in weed killer on the rugby pitch.School takes rugby VERY seriously. Sad to say, we invigilators all laughed.

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  19. I've been asked to invigilate in the past but I wouldn't do it because I couldn't take the boredom! Not being allowed to talk, read or put my eyes anywhere other than on a roomful of students...? Especially when I feel for all of them so much, poor souls. Thanks for the post, Carol, it brought back so many memories of sweaty halls, full of the scent of anxiety and Impulse-spray, as we desperately tried to recall the two memorised Shakespeare quotes that we were using to illustrate every single point...

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    1. Yes... as an A level Eng Lit tutor, I can relate to the' 2 Shakespeare quotes....'...every essay...same quotes... Hahaha

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