Shoo plan
I try to keep up with the sociology-related blogs, even though far too many of them are gratingly self-indulgent enclaves. Having thereby come across Shamus Khan’s post describing an anonymous student complaint, I feel compelled to constructively dissent from the majority of responses. I won’t claim vast amounts of teaching skill or experience – just a different perspective from years standing up in front of different students.
This note is tame. It’s very, very tame. If adolescent dismissals of the discipline, and you generally, are the worst student criticisms you ever receive, then count yourself fortunate (or unfortunate, depending) to have lived such a sheltered career.
Support from well-wishers is fine, but it can quickly degenerate into unproductive enabling and groupthink. This is a mundane, trivial teaching event. The more you let it, or your colleagues’ overreactions, occupy your thoughts, the more the note’s author wins.
Turn it over to the chair? You know your chair. If half-hearted student gripes fall closer to “problems the chair considers important enough to take on”, or “opportunities to bond and build morale with new colleagues”, and not “everyday troubles a faculty member worthy of tenure ought to be able to handle without supervision”, then by all means.
Turn it over to campus security? Oy. Does your campus have a teaching resources center for faculty? The staff there would likely have experience with student correspondence, from whiny to threatening, and would likely know the campus policies and guidelines regarding referrals to the police. They might also be a good source of support and some dispassionate advice.
Finally, just because the group hug dynamic going on here profoundly unsettles me… what about the student’s underlying point? This student walked away from your class with the impression that sociology is a useless discipline that studies trivial matters. Mistaken? Absolutely. Considering your teaching style and choices of illustrative examples, though, is this a mistake that half-attentive students in your class could understandably make? Is this perhaps indicative that some students, especially those who don’t even remotely share your research interests, could benefit from applications of more relevance to what they prioritize?
Even the most vicious, biting student comment can sometimes have a kernel of insight, and we’re here to try to reach the angry ones, too. Some of your colleagues, in their fervor, seem to be losing sight of that this week.
My own advice in the comments was unequivocally that Shamus should just let it go. I’m not sure how by your argument this means I’ve lost sight of something. The post you link to of mine is not about what Shamus should do with the evaluation, but what a complete jerkwad the guy with the Visible Futures blog was about it.
As for the self-indulgence of blogs, I’m actually fairly sympathetic to your position. That said, when I had a blog of my own, I never made any claim that it was a “sociology blog”, nor did I ever ask anyone to read it. Yet some people would read it and have this pissy attitude that it was too much about me and my life and not enough about sociology. While I’ve had more interest in blogging about academia since starting the team blog, I still don’t have much inclination to blog about sociology. I don’t think this means I shouldn’t blog, especially since for God knows what reason there are some people that enjoy the blogging I do. So all I can do is urge others to do their best to ignore me, and I can’t imagine that ignoring me is all that difficult.
Comment by jeremy — 8 Dec 2007 @ 2:48 pm
The thrust of the post was to ask for advice. In fact, the post explicitly states that I’m not looking for sympathy or affirmation.
As for the “tame-ness” of the comment: I disagree. The homophobic quality of the comment about me makes it far less than tame to me.
Why would students be pissed off about my class? It’s hard for me to read what the kernel of insight is in that statement. I suspect a lot of it has to do with grade inflation at Columbia. About 50% of the students get an A or A- for their end of term grades. My mean is about a 78%. I will curve. But many students have expressed frustration that they aren’t getting a clear A. My classes are very hard. That often pisses students off who are used to being told how wonderful they are. But they also find them rewarding (I get very positive evals – some of the highest in the departments I’ve taught at).
Comment by shakha — 8 Dec 2007 @ 6:10 pm
I didn’t interpret “taste the dick” as homophobic. I think s/he was calling the teacher a dick. That isn’t homophobic (yet) is it?
Comment by balto — 11 Dec 2007 @ 10:42 am