In all areas of society – higher education included – many people have the sense that incivility has escalated in both degree and frequency. For those of us in the professoriate who have been here awhile, the change has been marked and it’s been difficult to reconcile for ourselves and our colleagues.
Considering the fact that students arrive in your classroom with increasing amounts of baggage–and varying levels of instruction and modeling about ‘civil’ behavior–you cannot expect your teaching to be immune from disruptive incidents. Although there are no guarantees nor foolproof preventative methods, it’s always wise to get to know your students and to let them get to know you. Developing positive relationships is a first step toward staving off inappropriate behavior or being able to curtail it, should it become an issue.
But let’s just say that you have done everything you can to keep disruptive behavior from occurring – and yet it does anyway. Common misbehaviors include loud and excessive talking, profane or defamatory language, physical invasion of others’ space, bringing in food containers and spreading them out as if sitting in a fast food restaurant, putting one’s head down to sleep, and the like. In an increasingly accountability-minded and litigious society, you cannot fail to respond when students cross the line with you or with their fellow students. Not responding to unacceptable behavior from a student creates a hostile environment for other students, reduces the effectiveness of instruction, and detracts from your standing with students.
The following practices can become part of your toolkit for addressing such situations:
- Maintain your most professional stance and refrain from being angry, sarcastic, or accusatory. If you sink to their level (or respond in a knee-jerk fashion to their inappropriate behavior, language, or attitudes, you end up making the situation far worse and the students may even support the student who is behaving badly rather than you. However, when you stay poised, yet firm, you are likely to rally support from the other students.
- Confront students quietly outside of class. Whenever possible, address the students who are misbehaving outside the earshot of other students. In rare instances, you have to take a student to task in front of the whole class, but that should be avoided whenever possible. You can speak to students after class (asking them to stay), you can call students out of class, or you can ask students to stop by your office. First, give the students a chance to explain and/or save face.
- Go the extra mile to preserve the dignity of all concerned. Assume the best until proven otherwise. Students are reasonably fragile and their inappropriate behavior may be due to not knowing any better (incredible, but true). Explain what the behavior is that you find unacceptable, give them the alternative that you’ll expect to see (and why), and treat them respectfully.
- Keep private issues private. Inexperienced professors, especially those who are younger and/or those who want the students to ‘like’ them will often be sucked into sharing concerns about one student with another. Be VERY wary of students who try to get you to talk about other students. No one is served by this. If you had a private conversation with a student about his/her behavior, keep it private.
- Document actions and words immediately, and inform those who have responsibility for student affairs. Unfortunately, there are some situations that are far worse that clomping into the classroom late or using profane language in the heat of an argument with another student. Some students are dangers to themselves and others. Other times, there are behaviors that persist. Whether the problem is the severity or the frequency, begin to document what is happening so that you have it later. Just keep a note in your lecture notes or planner. It’s not necessary to use specifics but it’s wise to have the beginning of a record.
- Refer students to campus support resources. Some situations are far beyond your ability to handle. Either refer out those students who need help that you can’t provide and/or contact the campus support centers yourself to find out what might be an appropriate next step.
- Let your department chair or other unit leader know about problems that are extreme or pervasive. I only had a handful of situations over my 15 years of being a faculty member that I felt the need to tell my department chair about – and I was always glad I had. One involved a student who was ultimately excluded from the program (as he had been from several other programs in other states). Another involved a “student” who had been released from an institution (apparently too soon) and wasn’t even enrolled at the university. I felt I was in over my head with both students and was glad to have an administrator’s support, especially as a young faculty member.
You and your students deserve open, positive, productive arenas for teaching and learning. Keeping the behavior within the acceptable range is one key step.
