I’ve been following along with MsBaby’s semi-scary interaction with her disgruntled student. This spurred me to thinking about how to best handle hostility in the classroom: one-on-one discussion? Respectful disagreement? Gentle encouragement to try a different course?
Here is how not to handle it: sue your students and your college for harassment.
Dartmouth lecturer (and ‘90) Priya Venkatesan emailed her students:
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:56:35
From: Priya Venkatesan
Subject: WRIT.005.17.18-WI08: Possible lawsuitDear former class members of Science, Technology and Society:
I tried to send an email through my server but got undelivered messages. I regret to inform you that I am pursuing a lawsuit in which I am accusing some of you (whom shall go unmentioned in this email) of violating Title VII of anti-federal discrimination laws.
The feeling that I am getting from the outside world is that Dartmouth is considered a bigoted place, so this may not be news and I may be successful in this lawsuit. I am also writing a book detailing my eperiences as your instructor, which will “name names” so to speak. I have all of your evaluation and these will be reproduced in the book.
Have a nice day.
I couldn’t believe that she was serious. What really got me was that deliciously passive-aggressive “have a nice day.” Awesome.
This is why people hate the academy: they think we are a bunch of shriveled, neurotic, thin-skinned elitists. Exhibit A: Priya Venkatesan.
Apparently, the class applauded after a student attacked her views on post-modernism; she then cancelled class for the following week because it caused her “intellectual and emotional distress.” Give me a break. You’re a freaking teacher. Grow some ‘nads and handle it in a professional and thoughtful manner. What would she do if a student sued her for intellectual harassment (which is not covered by title VII, from what I can tell)?
Her academic interests suggest a generally pretentious outlook: applying literary theory to the laboratory. What? French narrative structure applied to biology…if I had to sit through that class, I would probably hate literary theory, too. Thank god I’m in history. Moreover, all of her writing had at least one grammatical error…it’s probably a very good thing that she’s no longer teaching writing.
For her sake, I hope she makes a lot of $ off her tell-all book (who does she think would buy it, anyway?); with this rash move, she’s pretty much doomed her teaching career. What university would want to hire her as a professor now?
I’m just shocked and appalled. I thought (hoped) that academics weren’t this petty.
Post-modern analysis of science is a hard sell to undergraduates. Smart professors know this in advance and find clever ways of explaining to students why it might be a valid, or at least interesting, approach. Stupid ones assume it’s self-evident and bitch to their fellow profs and grad students that the undergrads “just don’t get it.” Let me guess which category Dr. Venkatesan falls into.
MsBaby’s disgruntled student is my worst nightmare. I am so easily intimidated and pushed off my game that I don’t know how I would handle a student who essentially told me “your teaching is crap, it’s your fault I don’t understand.” I hope I’d be seized with a sense of righteous anger and find enough courage to use your phrase — “I am sorry you don’t think this course is challenging you appropriately, but I will not change my teaching style and syllabus to suit one student out of 15/30/400.”
It sucks to realize that this is one of those things that’s always a bit trickier for women. If I were a 6′5 male, or a kickass martial arts expert, I wouldn’t be as frightened by an overwrought student calling me names.
Comment by Lindy — April 30, 2008 @ 9:56 am |
I think that it’s especially difficult with freshmen. So as a teacher, one has to make allowances for their inexperience; if the whole class applauded, however, it seems that there was some simmering resentment that she either didn’t notice or chose to ignore. As a teacher, you have a responsibility to be more self-controlled and diplomatic than your students.
Who sues their students, seriously? Unless they are harassing you on a personal level, intellectual disagreement is certainly not enough to spur a lawsuit.
I guess it is kind of funny, actually. Perhaps I’m wrong to attack her; it may be enough to pity the insecurity that would lead to this sort of action.
Comment by apricot — April 30, 2008 @ 12:13 pm |
I was telling mr. babe about this the other day and we decided that she is a) wackadoo b) amnesiac–she went to the big green and therefore should know what to expect c) in need of a new motto: “sack up.”
Seriously. Cancelling class for a week? They could sue her for not doing her job. I know the feeling of intense disappointment when your students do not love what you love and do not see things as you do, but especially in a writing-based course, indoctrination is hardly the point. Pomo in particular is rough on non-specialists and it’s your job to make them see it as a useful tool–and if they got to the point where they were outright disrespecting her, the simmering resentment you mentioned, I’m with lindy: she was likely dismissive of and condescending about their skepticism all along.
Comment by mb — April 30, 2008 @ 4:06 pm |