Thread: Just for the Teachers/Professors

For some ridiculous reason, I figured college kids would know better (not sure where I got that idea.) As it turns out the entitlement mentality may be even worse at the college level. "I paid good money for an A so that's what I'll get whether or not I made the slightest effort."

Yup, I have taught a few classes at the college level. Entitlement was the worst at a private for profit college. I do not care how much they pay for the classes. They still need to earn the grade. Hell, I dropped the bar a lot for them because I knew they were juggling jobs and family. Still, at least try to earn the grade. And do not yell at me when they do not like the grade they earned.

One of the reasons I became a University lecturer is so I could deliver my content and let the students sort themselves out. I do not hand hold. I do not countenance excuses. I will not give someone any of my time who has not given me any of theirs (ie if you don't come to lectures and tutorials, forget any help from me).

I take no responsibility for their learning. They take it fully. I deliver material and "facilitate" their learning, but in the end they are big boys and girls now and they either step up or they don't.

That's not to say I am not supportive, I am. That's not to say I do not constantly look for ways to improve content and course delivery. I do. But when you are in my class you are my student, not my client. The University administration and bean counters may care about your demands and silly excuses (ie your money) but I do not. I care about generating graduates with actual skills and the ability to think independently and take responsibility for their actions. I do not believe I can achieve that by letting them off the hook whenever they ask for it. A deadline is a deadline. Full stop.

Failure can sometimes be the best teacher. I've been the "best teacher" for many a slack-ass student. I hope they are now in a better place, and good luck to them all.

James.

I think the sad truth these days is that most kids are raised in this lovely little bubble where everything is fair, everyone gets a trophy, promotion to the next grade is a given, and no matter what they do, there are no consequences. Unfortunately, their coddling little bubble bears absolutely no resemblance to the real world.

I took the Jimbo approach as well. My students were adults and so I treated them accordingly. I made it very clear at the outset what was expected of them, and what the consequences would be should they fail to meet those expectations. I never took attendance in lectures for the same reason. If they thought they could skip class and still do well, that was their decision. That having been said, I was always available for students who needed help, particularly those who had never studied history before and who needed help with research and writing - as long as they didn't show up at the last minute expecting me to do their work for them.

Out of all my students, I ran into two with whom I had conversations that were very similar to this one. One nearly failed out but returned the following year having straightened herself out. She ended up being an excellent student. The other had a conversation with me like that towards the end of the fall semester and failed my course. (he had done the lot: missed class, missed assignments, demanded to know why I effectively hadn't written his papers for him, griped about needing a certain grade to get into an Education program (!), etc.) He then signed up for another course with me in the winter semester during which I nailed him for plagiarism. Some people just don't learn...

The good news is that these were the exception. On the whole there is probably a significantly higher sense of entitlement amongst students than there was when I was an undergrad. But I think most of them are still there for the right reasons, and trying to do well.

As graduate school became a reality, one of the profs defined it this way: "A Bachelor's degree certifies that you know how to use a library. A Master's degree implies that you have learned to differentiate fact from opinion. A Doctorate means that you will be allowed to own an opinion for yourself, but, you will have to defend it against all comers."

Sadly that was back in the day when the library was a place to go to look through books to find stuff. Now Google just does it for you and you can't tell if it's fact or opinion. ;(

For the past few years I have laid down the law with regards sources. No Wikipedia. Ever. lol.

Bricks and mortar libraries are becoming a thing of the past too, unfortunately. At my current University the library itself is little more than a study centre for students who want a bit of quiet - with a few monographs and periodicals scattered around to give the illusion of a library. Most of its collection is online now.

I love libraries. My favourite is the Bodleian in Oxford. I ordered a particular book from there once: it took them 6 days to get it to me. Apparently it was in a tunnel 60 miles away, and they had to send some old librarian in a golf buggy down there to grab it from the archives. How could you not love that?

James.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I teach high school seniors-this sounds sadly familiar, alas. There's an entitlement mentality out there that makes some young people really think that they are literally supposed to get something for nothing. Way too many teachers play along trying to be "cool" instead of doing their jobs.

I think that the teachers that you call "cool" are afraid of their jobs and will make the grade themselves in passing enough students to make "their grade". The problem I see here is how to judge a good teacher from the bad. If you get a student that is low to begin with and raise them how is that shown? If a student enters the 4th grade level at a 3rd grade level, don't judge the teacher if they are not ready for the 5th.

Here in Thailand we avoid this problem by just graduating the students into the next year level. As a foreigner I am not allowed to give them a grade because I would cause trouble by failing students.

Originally Posted by ndw76

Here in Thailand we avoid this problem by just graduating the students into the next year level. As a foreigner I am not allowed to give them a grade because I would cause trouble by failing students.

I want to go to Bangkok, I'm just afraid ill never get back on the airplane:-)