Order and Respect in the Classroom

Order and Respect in the ClassroomLitreracy Weblog)

[Note: I’ve changed the title of this entry and edited it slightly — mostly by changing which words I used to link to Mike Arnzen’s blog. The previous version the previous version implied an association that I didn’t mean to create.]

On his PEDABLOGUE, Mike Arnzen confesses he raised his voice at his students today, because they were rustling papers and preparing a portfolio to be collected at the end of the period, rather than paying attention to his lecture. I also had a lot of students submitting work today, but I specifically asked them not to use binders — just a staple or a clip was fine. I admire my colleague for trying to get some serious teaching in the day before a vacation — I just used the day to preview some upcoming assignments and grade part of a quiz in-class, and let them go about 5 minutes early.

Due to the power differential in a classroom, I try to be very careful about raising my voice or getting mad. I try to smile almost all the time; I’ve felt since high school that, when I listen to recordings of my own voice, I often sound annoyed or angry. [And sometimes, I let students get away with behavior that would offend me if I were a fellow student. I was already pondering this issue when I learned that…] According to Stuart Twemlow, there’s a problem in schools — teachers are bullying their students. See the article responding to Twemlow, on “Irascible Professor.”

Twemlow (with his associates) has a few academic articles on his website, www.backoffbully.com, but as you can guess from the name that website markets videos and a curriculum to school systems. Of the articles posted on his site, one — “Feeling Safe in School (PDF)” is identified as having been published elsewhere in a shorter form; when it was peer-reviewed, apparently parts of it were cut. The bibliography for that paper mentions at least four articles by the same researchers (in varying combinations of names) that hadn’t yet been published.

So… researcher makes claims about a problem. Researcher also happens to sell videos and other materials to solve that problem.

I trust that the academic peer-review process will do its job and ensure the accuracy of Tremlow’s published works and the validity of his research methods. There’s nothing wrong with making an honest buck, but this is a potential conflict of interest. A good journalist should notice and be skeptical. There’s a difference between cynics and skeptics, of course — I don’t want to exaggerate the issue. Nevertheless… keep an open mind, but double-check publicity information coming from somebody with a product to sell (something the TV reporter duped by the “Hunting for Bambi” hoax didn’t do).

5 thoughts on “Order and Respect in the Classroom

  1. Mike, I actually added the link to your blog late — after the topic of the blog entry had shifted considerably. And I poorly chose which words to hyperlink.

    Will, as an outsider I can’t comment on whether your teacher’s behavior is appropriate, but I don’t know of any teacher who would in a public place identify a student by name and then complain about that student. There are in fact privacy laws that prevent us even from telling a student’s parents how the student is doing in a course or whether they are even attending classes. And some teacher-bloggers I know don’t even mention the name of their school online, in order to protect the privacy of people they might blog about. I think of it more as a fairness issue, regardless of whether the person you are criticizing has a secure job or not. And by the way, even a tenured professor is evaluated annually for such things as promotions and raises. But I think you did the right thing by adding your name.

  2. I think Rosemary made a good point, but Will had already filled in his own name before I saw his comment. And Mike, as I was driving home today I wondered about whether the association between raising one’s voice and bullying would appear too strong… I don’t think that raising one’s voice counts as bullying, and you’re right — the chain of association in my own mind was much more meandering than it appears in my blog entry now. In fact I wanted to call into the question the whole concept of blaming the teacher. After all, since the threat of lawsuits and concerns about student self-esteem has robbed elementary and middleschool teachers of traditional methods of maintaining order (even a “time out” was considered a last resort at my son’s preschool in Wisconsin), I’d be grasping at straws if I had to teach under those constraints. Thank goodness a college student who simply doesn’t want to come to class can just stay home.

  3. Hrrm. I know you were drawing a simple connection between two articles you recently read (and thereby blogging two birds with one stone) but in my opinion this particular entry creates a false association and mischaracterizes my teaching. I’m not pushy or beligerant like some neurotic grumpus still working out his playground traumas. I only tend to assert my authority when I see behavior going on that interrupts the learning environment or prevents some students in the class from being able to get their work done. I tend to be an expressive lecturer (especially in my creative expression courses) and most students know that I’m not out to get them. And I believe that some students actually appreciate it when I speak up about some problem behaviors if no one else does. Nonetheless, good link to a great article on Irascible Prof…that’s becoming one of my favorite sites on the web!

  4. To the poster of the previous comment: I find it very wrong and unfair for you to name the professor but not have the courage to identify yourself. You could have gotten your points acorss just fine and had your say without naming names or by just using Mr. X.
    To Dennis: How do you feel about deleting that post or blanking out the professor’s name with an explaination?

  5. Here in Eau Claire, we have one professor is quite definitely a big bully. That’s not just a phrase – Mr Moore is the only professor I’ve had in my college career that I actually hate. He demands the class answers his questions, then when a student starts to answer, interupts that student to tell them what an idiot they are. He marked off points on a test when students didn’t physically write in all the white space provided for the question. This isn’t a couple of incidents, these kind of things are very routine in his class. The dean knows about this stuff, the chair of the department knows about it. Last year they had a big fuss about it. But of course he keeps on teaching classes, and no one actually does anything about it, because he has tenure.
    I forgot to add my name – I’ve added it now. Although as a side note, I’m not sure I understand the whole “don’t name the professor” thing. A professor who has tenure, as I seem to have learned, doesn’t have anything to worry about concerning his job. A student, however, has to wonder if they will have to have the professor again. Or if the professor will find some other way to strike back. Anyways, there you go.

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