Dealing with Disruptive Students

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I teach business law at a community college, and am a very young looking
43 year old black woman. Many of my students are older, some have degrees
and are returning to take a specific course, and some are convinced they
know much more than I ever could. I have had students attempt to take
over the class by doing some of the same kinds of things you mention.
This is my 23rd year of teaching. After being raked over the coals when I
began teaching at university level when I was 26 because I looked "like a
child"  I had to learn some survival techniques.
 
I have also had students enter the room, see only a black woman and ask
where the professor or teacher was. How does one obtain and retain
authority with that person? I have suggested to students with that
problem that perhaps they would be happier with an instructor they would
immediately respect, instead of destroying the class for all the other
students who didn't have their biases. Ugly and difficult, but effective.
 
 I am also a mother and cannot be intimidated by someone else's
parenthood. We establish on the first day of class that I am crazy, I
have survived 6 children, numerous dogs and cats, birds and other
animals, 2 husbands and various other relationships,  got my doctorate
from the univ of chic. and have been teaching for ___ years.  We then go
on to cover the rules of discussion, and everyone must agree to follow
them. These rules are not democratic, but are my rules. Take it or leave
it.  Very authoritarian in that they cannot be modified by students who
just decide to take over, but are subject to modification if the class
sees a need for change. I also give the students an opportunity to share
a little about themselves, their background, and what they hope to get
out of the class. It points up the difference between  students and
teacher immediately without my having to say a word.
 
Students do not have to participate in the out of class assignments,
which consist of small group projects and occassional homework when we
cover points which need additional emphasis. However, their grade
reflects their lack of participation. Any student who doesn't contribute
work to the group projects is dropped from the group by group members,
who notify me and I send a note informing the student of the group's
action and the academic consequences of that action. The collaborative
learning takes place in the applications phase of my class, within the
small groups and discussion. And the students control their groups
internally.
 
I have also suggested to students who claim that they don't have time to
do the reading, etc. that they should take another section of the class
with another instructor, because being in this class requires these
assignments.
 
I also ignore comments, on occassion, when they are red herrings or so
far off the point I was trying to make. I have said to the class gently
but firmly, that this is an example of just where I don't want the class
to go in their thinking. Then I turn the discussion in the direction I
want it to go. The person will constantly try to make the class go in the
direction they choose, but I remain vigilant. I am always exhausted when
class is over.
 
Finally, I encourage students who know it all to teach a particular
topic, and I play their role while they are doing the teaching. That is
an instructive position to be in. They don't like their own behavior when
it is directed at themselves.
 
As I was reading your description of this woman, it reminds me of a
community board on which I sit. There is a woman who does the same kind
of behavior. When we have discussions, she jumps in with a comment on
every thing that is said. When the paid staff make comments, she agrees
with the more senior staff and says things like "I agree" and "Just what
I was thinking" as though her words alone are needed to put the final
seal of approval on pending actions.  Many of us on this board have
gotten together to decide what to do with this woman, and have not come
up with an answer. We have decided to try scarcasm, which goes right past
her. We have asked the chair to not call on her, but she barrels right
into whatever is going on. We finally asked the chair to have a talk with
her about her participation. I have come to the conclusion that she would
like to be chair of one of the groups that will be formed when we finish
our reorganization and believes her active "participation" and
identification with leadership will help her reach that goal. Her
behavior is linked to the need you identified -  to be special -  and
with the need for power.
 
I wish you luck with your classes.
 
Patty [Patricia L. T.Camp]
bia43  @  juno.com
-In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Albert Einstein
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I am still on the student
side, but I get this same type of negative reaction when taking feminist
 approaches - sometimes even from the teacher.
Occasionally, I  approach classmates very determinedly and ask them what exactly
 is so funny to make them grin or what is so disturbing that makesthem roll
 their eyes. Sometimes it generates a useful discussion, and sometimes it
 doesn't.
 
The worst of all is that many students seem to believe that women's studies has
 nothing to do with science and everything to do with what they believe or don't
 believe. In a class on D.H. Lawrence last year, three students (2 m, 1f) did a
presentation on "a feminist reading of Lady Chatterley" without using any kind
of background literature *at all*. I am sure they picked this topic from the
 list because they figured it didn't require any work. Only opinions! (needless
 to
say their results had nothing to do with feminist analysis)
 
On the other hand, two women students talking about sexuality in this book with
a decidedly feminist approach got almost torn apart by both students & prof.
 
Consequently, I think that the main problem surrounding this issue re:
 aggressiveness in WS classes is that a lot of people don't take WS seriously.
 
Michaela Blaha
Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
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        I have been thinking about Prof. Pendleton's experience with his
authority in the classrom being unchallenged in any serious or disruptive
way, and I think he has given us an excellent demonstration of how the
assumptions surrounding male privilege work, even for those who don't "demand
their rights as men."
 
        That's what it's all about--the assumption, the granting, the
acknowledging of male authority and the denial, the challenging, the mocking,
the undermining, the subverting, of female authority.
 
          One of the most important short stories I have ever come across is
called "For The Sake of Grace" by Suzette Hayden Elgin.  It is a story about
just this--how women are derpived of authority by a custom so heavy and old
and oppessive that people think it's "nature"--
 
                --and it only takes one rape every nine minutes (or is it
seconds), one woman murdered every nine days (or is it minutes) by a man who
is her "lover(?)" to keep us thinking the assumption of male authority is
"natural."
 
Susan Koppelman  <<huddis  @  aol.com>>
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The current conversation on disruptive students reminds me of an
experience I had a few years ago.  I had a student (in a science fiction
and fantasy literature class) who talked loudly and often in the back of
the class, generally when I was speaking.  I could hear his comments at
the front of the room, and so could everyone else.  He also disagreed
with me on every point I made, no matter what it was.  Students began
very quickly to complain about his behavior in their journals and suggest
methods, generally designed to humiliate, of dealing with him.  I tried
several things from the beginning, but finally called he and his
confidante in class up to the front at the end of class one day and
scheduled appointments with me in my office.  I made sure I had witnesses
to these appointments as well -- one of the perks of being in a shared
office space.  The confidante, I believe, had been trapped into that role
-- the other student just utilized his body as a means to disruption.
When I met with the bully, he came in with sunglasses on and a totally
defiant behavior.  I started with "Why don't you tell me what's going on
in the back of the room..." and he responded, "I disagree with you."  I
attempted to talk about this and met with silence.  It was not until I
told him that other students were complaining and suggesting treatments
for the situation that he listened.  His body language totally changed as
did his manner.  I didn't have a problem with him from then on.  My basic
understanding of this little teaching lesson was that students who
display contempt for the teacher might very well be brought into check by
other students.  After all, he thought he was showing off for them and
found that they didn't want to hear or see it.
I have, by the way, found all of these conversations to be very
eddifying.  Thank you for sharing your experiences.
 
Alyson Buckman
buckmana  @  omni.cc.purdue.edu
===========================================================================

 
A year or so ago I decided to try to pre-empt some of the disruptive
behavior, rudeness, and borderline harassment that sometimes popped up in my
classes.  I put the following statement as the first item under
"requirements and policies" on every syllabus:
 
        Students should treat all members of the class with the same respect
that they want for themselves.  They should         strive for excellence
and improvement in all aspects of their work.  As your instructor, I pledge
that I will treat         you with respect; I will judge your work fairly; I
will work hard to help you learn and improve your reading,         thinking,
discussion, and writing skills.
 
Then I talk about what this statement means -- that it is the classroom
contract between me and them and between them and their fellow students.  I
talk about civil discourse, telling them that it is ok to disagree (in fact
I encourage them to think for themselves and to work at exploring and
backing up ideas) but that we all have to treat each other properly, both
because it's ethically right and because they'll learn a lot better if they
feel safe and respected.   I tell them that if they ever feel they have been
insulted, squashed, etc. that they should talk to me about it, especially if
they feel I'm the squasher -- that if I do such things, it's unintentional
and they'll be helping me.  Or they should talk with their academic advisor,
etc. if they feel uncomfortable approaching me.  It does seem to have helped
-- they know the groundrules from the first day, and they can't say that I
have been unfair.  And I point to this contract when there _are_ problems.
 
Obviously this will not prevent all problems -- especially not students who
are determined to be obnoxious.  For the rest, I suspect that many of them
just don't know how to disagree civilly, how to argue without attacking.  So
I try to think of this as another skill I have to help them learn.
 
I've been glad to see this thread -- many thanks to all of you for your
useful strategies.
 
Andrea
 
Andrea M. Atkin
Dept. of English
Wake Forest Univ.
atkinam  @  wfu.edu
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Christine Smith -- 10casmith  @  bsuvc.bsu.edu said:
 
they sit there and roll their eyes, shoot looks to each other, write notes,
make brief comments, have very hostile body language, and they sit in a
group.  the classroom is very tense (I've had others tell me  this).....
They are not blatantly hostile or bullying in the traditional sense, but it
is creating an uncomfortable environment. It is obvious to many students
that they don't want to be there and think it is a load of crap.  Quite
honestly, I am not overly interested in wasting valuable class time in their
hostility....
 
Christine--
 
Another way to deal with this kind of discipline problem, which I have faced
in all sorts of classes, not just wmst, came to me courtesy of my dad,
former pblic h.s. principal--"Don't do discipline with your mouth; you will
lose"
 
That is, don't engage in a classroom argument and do  try to allow all
concerned to save face.  For instance, if they are talking while you are
talking, stop talking (mid-word if nec), look at them, (a vaguely disdainful
look helps), then start back up when they shut up because everyone is
looking at them. If that doesn't stop the crap, I usually look right at the
culprit and calmly say, "Joe, I'd like to see you after class." (Or "see me
after class to set up an appointment in my office" -- if you've got several
students you should *not* meet with them as a group).   Then continue with
class; do not respond to "what did I do" etc -- just say, "after class,
please."  Everyone knows Joe is in trouble, but you aren't berating him in
front of the others so it hasn;t escalated too much.  After class, say
something like, "Well, Joe, we have a real problem here; what do you propose
to do to solve it?"  If Joe claims he hasn't done anything or doesn;t know
what you're talking about, explain what the disruptive behavior is and why
it is a problem, how it makes it hard for the other students to learn, etc.
Sometimes I will also say that it's junior high behavior and you expect
better from college students, from adults.   Then repeat "how do you think
you can resolve this". Be calm and reasonable through the whole thing.  It
is likely that kids engaging in the low-grade disruptive behavior you
describe will stop and won't go on to worse behavior.  I would also talk to
someone higher up in the dept -- your chair if s/he is approachable -- about
what's happening and what you're doing, ask for suggestions.  If things get
worse, the chair has already heard your side and sees you as trying to
resolve problems intelligently and on your own.
 
If it gets worse, meet with the student and your chair and/or the dean; you
can invite the student's academic advisor too.  I've done this a couple of
times -- very effective, particularly if you meet with the chair/dean ahead
of time to talk about what the problems are, what you've tried, and so on.
At the end of this meeting, I suggest that the student state what actions he
will take to resolve the problem; after the meeting I write them out and
send a copy to the chair/dean and to the student (student's copy says "copy
sent to Dean So-and-So").
 
BTW-- I'd break that group up ASAP -- Mix up the whole class for a group
activity, then tell them at the end of class that this is their
class-discussion group for the rest of the term, then announce at the start
of the next class that they should sit with their group, give them another
activity; do it for a couple of days and they'll start sitting with the new
group automatically.
 
Hope this helps!
 
Andrea
 
Andrea M. Atkin
Dept. of English
Wake Forest Univ.
atkinam  @  wfu.edu
===========================================================================

 
  Recently, for the first time in my long career, I told students to e-mail
me if they felt the circumstances warranted.  Out of ca. 50 students in
required Landmarks of World Lit. core courses,  9 students responded--two to
vent upsets because they wanted A's and they felt outraged about the gap
between what they anticipated and what they received.
 I explained how they got the grades they received according to the syllabus
requirements and directed them to pertinent passages in the syllabus for
them to re-read. I then pointed out what they could do to improve their
grades and signed off "Fondly," before my name. Their exam grades
immediately picked up, but the greatest shift was in their class
participation.  They were more relaxed and positive in their body language,
stopped scowling and making faces, which I'm sure the other students
appreciated fully as much as I did. After the semester was over, I bumped
into one of the students, the female,  whose eyes lit up  on sight of me.
She  then proceeded to  hug me with spontaneous feeling.
I keep all student documents in my files for a year.
 In fact, I loved corresponding with my students.  Most of them wrote me
letters of admiration which they did not feel free to express in the
classroom situation (uncool in our culture?).  One, a male nurse in a
Veteran's Hospital near my home requested to continue the correspondence,
but I did not do so, although he was a dream student. Another changed his
major from Music to English after further in-person discussion with me to
make sure that that was what he really wished to do.
 I think e-mail has opened up another dimension, another level in the
delicate and unique relationship of professors and students, which, of
course, needs to be handled ethically, and with dignity and care. In this
regard, someone on the list reported that students were defined as "paying
customers."  There is a slight, but crucial distinction, in my opinion,
between the buyer-seller relationship and the student-faculty relationship.
Faculty are the legal, binding, and ultimate arbiters over students'
performance, abilities, etc., and students or taxpayers pay for these expert
judgments in the form of grades on "official" transcripts.  Only in
statistically rare occurrences are these grades debated, or the faculty's
judgment questioned.  Customers are the judges of the products they purchase
which have been produced by purveyors of those products,  whereas faculty
are judges of the products which the students produce for faculty judgment.
Students have grapevines and evaluations, but occasionally have to suffer
professors from hell(haven't we all, when we were students?) faculty get
occasional problem students (haven't we all?), as is the case in any
institutional and group setting.
I was warned that I might get weirdos, but that did not happen, although
statistically it cannot fail to happen in future.  However, I feel we can
develop e-mail protocols to prevent or handle unproductive experiences
productively. Since I test my students after the first reading and the first
class discussion, failures generally disappear immediately. My syllabi, like
someone else's on the thread about bullies, spell out grading requirements
precisely, including situations which will cause students to receive a 0
that night for his/her class participation grade, such as disruptive
behavior, not being prepared, doing other work--a very similar list to the
previous writer on the thread.  The motivation to pass, the all-consuming
obsession of  my students with their  grade point averages,works.
And I have to add this. The fact is that 99.9/10 of my students are decent,
good, kind, and gentle human beings  who respect me as I respect them, and
enjoy my classes, as I enjoy teaching them.  Of course, these are people who
come to night classes after a full day's work, which also generally
precludes such horror stories as 'Becca's.
 I have done anonymous grading for many years, which further prevents
charges of gender, race, age discrimination, etc. This is how it's done.  1.
Students select their own numbers which they place on exam papers and essays
before handing in.   2. At the end of the next class, as the students are
ready to leave, I allocate 10-15 minutes to return their work.  3.  As I
call out the number on the paper, a student comes up to my desk and takes
his/her work.  4.  I then record the grade next to that student's name in my
grading and attendance book.
I never  know, until I write that grade down which students have gotten what
grades and am sometimes very surprised at the gap between their class
participation and their written performance.  So anonymous grading prevents
me from discriminating. For the most part, however, written grades do
correlate with class performance.
I grade class participation (ca. 20% of total grade) separately over the
course of the semester, as if each class were an oral exam, and when
students disagree with my grades, either on written work, or for c.p., I
meet with them privately and/or as above, on e-mail.
I ask them what grade they expected, what grade they feel they deserve, in
contrast to the grade they received.  Then we work together, focusing on
what they can do, to develop a plan for how they can close the gap. They
vent at this time, critiquing me also, and I listen very carefully to them,
because here is the opportunity for me to improve, as well as to build a
more relaxed dialogic relationship with  them, which in turn, affects the
class atmosphere.
  Mostly, they appeal to me to pay more attention to them when they
participate, call on them more, listen to them more carefully, and point out
contributions they made in class (they are so proud of them!) which they
felt merited them a higher grade than I was giving them.  I then promise to
do what they request, although I point out that I can't make promises about
their grade changing. They are very gratified when I do change a grade.
When I don't, they appreciate that I at least have listened to their
grievances and have met them half-way, because they can tell in class by my
body language when they speak that I am more attentive to them than before
our private meeting.
 I was hired after another female professor had been let go for failing a
student due to racial discrimination. I was not told about this until after
my experience with the same student.  He registered into my class
immediately after my predecessor had been let go.   And when he and his
father, an English teacher in H.S., went to my Chair to complain that I was
also discriminating against this student by giving him low grades on his
papers, my Chair asked them how, since I used anonymous grading, I could
distinguish the student's race and sex from his typewriter, and his
typewriter from that of the other students in my classes.  The case was
closed, and I'm still at Kean 26 years later.
  Phillipa Kafka, Professor of English and Director of Women's Studies, Kean
College of New Jersey.
===========================================================================

 
The arbitrary cancelling of a class by a student is not limited to
women's studies classes.  I had a student do it to a MIDTERM.  On our
campus that would be grounds for disciplinary action, and a removal from
class.  Unfortunately, the student in my case did it by anonymous posting
of a note on the classroom door to which he/she signed my intials.  Joan
Gundersen  jrgunder  @  coyote.csusm.edu
===========================================================================

 
I've been fascinated with the bullies thread, and like most of you have my
own tale involving a student (former Marine, born-again Christian, white
supremacist--he was proud to wear all of these labels) who did his best to
destroy a writing class I taught recently.
 
My strong suggestion to anyone facing bullies is first, do not ignore the
problem, hoping it will resolve itself--ask the student to meet with you
and give that student a follow-up memo stating your expectations of
appropriate classroom behavior--and second, document in writing every
aspect of the problem, from its first appearance to its ultimate
resolution.  Many universities will not do a thing to help you resolve the
situation unless you have a paper trail, and also you need to protect
yourself in case of litigation.
 
Finally, judging from the volume of responses to this thread, I hope we
will do something constructive with our collective experience. Anyone
interested in putting together a conference panel proposal?
 
confusion to our enemies,
 
susan
 
Susan Hubbard
Assistant Professor of English
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL 32816-1346
(407) 823-2212
shubbard  @  pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
===========================================================================

 
I too have had good success interacting with classes of students by
e-mail, both small classes and large classes (in the largest case, 200
students sent 1,800 messages to each other and to me over the course of a
term).  One of the main advantages is that I can get feedback immediately
after a class has ended, as students log on and begin to discuss what
happened in class.  Another advantage is that students who have concerns
about the material, the exams, grading, etc. can reach me right away or
within a few hours (I log on several times a day) instead of waiting until
the one time each week when I have an office hour (and when they might not
be able to come because of other classes or work).  I believe that this
way I am able to resolve some student concerns immediately, before anger
builds up.  I've written more about my experiences with e-mail in the
following:
 
Meacham, J. A.  (1994).  Discussions by e-mail:  Experiences from a large
class on multiculturalism.  Liberal Education, 80(4), 36-39.
 
Incidentally, I, too, have been following the thread about hostile
students with much interest.  I haven't had the experiences that have been
reported here.  I have no problem with concluding that a major reason for
this is that I am a male instructor, and so I have been educated to the
fact that what women instructors experience in the classroom can be quite
different from what I have been experiencing.  Still, there seem to be
some general principles emerging in this thread from which we can all
benefit, for example, making clear on the syllabus what is expected in
order to get a good grade in the course, making clear at the beginning
what the course content and orientation will be, etc.  Please continue
sending all the messages with the helpful suggestions.  Thanks.
 
Jack Meacham
Department of Psychology
323 Park Hall
SUNY at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY  14260-4110
tel 716-645-3650 extension 323
fax 716-645-3801
meacham  @  acsu.buffalo.edu
http://wings.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/meacham
===========================================================================

 
I second the praise for this discussion; I'm taking notes and forwarding
suggestions to friends and colleagues.
 
This is also a very timely discussion as I finish prepping my spring
syllabi (we're just finishing our January Term).  About every other
semester, I worry that (1) my policy sheet should be cut back to
something under three pages so as to be not quite so intimidating,
and (2) that I shouldn't give such a large chunk of the grade weight
(10-25%) to "class participation" unless I come up with some way to
"quantify" it more "objectively."  I think I won't worry so much about
those this semester.
 
After my own experience with a female "bully" (who took a classmate's
draft home to do the assigned peer review, and then invited three
of her friends to join her in making brutally derogatory remarks
all over the young man's paper before returning it to him), I have
added policy statements to the effect that "any serious breach of
classroom civility may result in a zero for participation" or that
"you must be a class citizen in overall good standing to receive
full credit."  In the situation I described, I had the support of
my chair and was able to elicit a written apology from the student,
but since she had completed all other work satisfactorily and it
was the last week of the semester, we decided that there were no
other good options for defensible penalties, given university
policies.
 
I would like not to have to make civil behavior a specific assignment
for a college class, but given any of the kinds of situations that
have been described on this list recently, it seems to be necessary
for the protection of the class and the sanity of the instructor.
Mostly I *do* use a participation grade to reward students who help
all of us learn (and therefore often do more learning themselves),
but I hold on to it in great part for its potential to defuse a
negative situation, particularly in classes where students are
vulnerable to other students because of the kinds of assignments
or topics I require.  As another poster quite gracefully explained,
I feel I owe my students that protection/consideration.
 
shelley
 
    *****
Shelley Reid
English Department, Austin College
(Home of the Fighting Kangaroos)
Sherman, TX  75090
SREID  @  austinc.edu
    *****
===========================================================================

 
 I want to footnote Carole Adams' points with similar tips.  On the
syllabus the students read and discuss the first night of class, there is a
class participation section which spells out what I consider c.p. in a
clear, concise list format.  c.p. is not opinion or story, or plot
summation, because then there is no proof that students have read and
thought about the specific text under discussion.  They do give opinions and
they do tell stories and anecdoes--fascinating stuff, but they know they
will not receive class participation credit, unless they LINK their comments
to the text.    Students are perfectly free to give the text their best shot
(and on the syllabus I give them guidelines for possible topics for class
discussion on the syllabus  as they read the text before they come to class.
If they say "I have nothing to say about the book" I ask them a question
based on one of the topics, or on some thread that has just preceded, and if
the student still has nothing to say, either that student is never seen
again, or the next time the class meets, that student participates, because
the student knows he/she has exposed lack of preparedness which will affect
their c.p. grade.  I tell them on the first night to phone me, write me on
e-mail, in some way inform me before class if for any reasons they will not
be prepared, to avoid embarrasment in public.
 They can stick to those topics for c.p. on the syllabus, or expatiate on a
topic which comes up for them--but always in relation to specific passages
or issues in the text.  They absolutely must link whatever they say to the
text.  That is the only criterion.Not one student in my entire career has
ever objected to this a priori requirement.  I presume those that do find
out on the very first night that they do not want to conform to the syllabus
requirements  withdraw immediately.
 If other students disagree with someone's interpretation, or wish to add to
it, which generally happens--hey, that's classs discussion, right? and
lively, at that, as a rule.  Mostly, my job turns out to be to interact with
them where they miss something, in a tactful way, and  to suggest that we
move on to other topics when I deem their thread has gone on over long,
given the class time constraints. Most times students do this for me.
In fact, come to think of it, student opinions expressed in my class mirror
our WS-list, and my role in my class is like Joan Korenman's.  Our
guidelines are set up for the threads upon our signing on and Joan then
ensures that the guidelines are adhered to, citing appropriate passages from
those guidelines where in her estimation an individual's participation does
not conform to those guidelines.  If any of us do not wish to remain within
this structure, we unsubscribe, equivalent to students' withdrawing when
they don't like the syllabus guidelines, or feel there are too many books
assigned, or want lecture format, not class participation format,etc.
 
===========================================================================

 
I've been following the thread about bullies in the classroom with much
interest and I'm glad I have!  One of my teaching assistants, who is
the newest working with me, told me this afternoon that she has a _female_
bullie in her discussion section (all the TAs and myself have breakout
sections in addition to our large lecture section).  This student, who
is first year, interrupts, tells other students that what they've said
is 'wrong' and shows general disrespect to both the TA and other students.
I've suggested that the TA call her this week and set up a conference
with her, remind her of the ground rules, tell her that other _students_
are upset with her, and suggest that if she is uninterested in doing
the reading or listening to others maybe this isn't the class for her.
I've also recommended a round-robin for the next discussion as a way
of emphasizing all students' voices.  If this doesn't work we are
considering possibility of asking student to leave.  However, the TA
says she feels that she would only do this as last resort, since she
thinks there is 'something there' if only she could tap it.  Oh yes -
other students did actively complain about this female bullie to the
TA after class.  Even her friend from home is upset by her behavior.
It sounds to me - and I think to the TA - that there is some very
real anger in this woman that she is projecting outward.  But we
do feel the main concern is the class atmosphere as a whole.  Any
other suggestions besides the ones I indicated?  Thanks - and woops!
suddenly realized singular is 'bully'!  This is an Intro WS class.
Best, Barbara Scott Winkler, WVU Center for Women's Studies
WINKLER  @  wvnvms.wvnet.edu
===========================================================================

 
I have also been following the thread on classroom bullies with great
interest, though I have not been able to read it all.  Hope this doesn't
repeat the content of anyone's posts.
 
Having taught a 100 level "gender issues" class for several years now to
an equal mix of mostly first-year male and female students with no
background whatsoever in feminism, women's studies, or gender studies in
an politically conservative, semi-rural area near Colorado Springs, home
of Amendment Two and hotbed of the Religious Right, I cannot resist
jumping in.
 
In addition to issues of gender and sexual orientation,
I also engage students in certain my first-year English composition
(research writing, argumentation) classes in semester long study of
environmental issues, which around here are fightin' topics, in order to
teach critical thinking skills, to get students to examine their
assumptions, the value systems, tendency to sterotype, the nature of
definitions, and so on, that affect their perspectives and the arguments
they attempt to develop, as well as those of others.
 
The most useful tool I have found for hosting discussions that avoid most
of the problems you have mentioned is the networked classroom, one
in which each student can sit at a computer and write over a classroom
network to other students in the same classroom.  The Daedalus Integrated
Writing Environment (D.I.W.E.) is the best program I know of for doing
this. Students can write messages, read them over and revise them
if they wish, then send them to a central document that everyone in the
class can read simultaneously. At the end of the class, the written
discussion can be printed out and duplicated or saved to a disk for them
to take home with them and study.
 
When students write to each other in this fashion, no one can dominate the
discussion.  In fact, they can all write at once (much more gets said this
way than when only the teacher or one student at a time can have the
floor). No one can bully other students because they can ignore anyone
they want to ignore and can write to those who care to engage in
productive discussion.  I do not permit flaming.
 
The teacher has much flexibility to manage her role in the conversation,
to address specific comments or students, to ask and answer questions, to
monitor without entering it, or to withdraw entirely and let the students
carry on. Students may move among several conferences as different threads
of the discussion form, or they may stay in one.  Pseudonyms may be used
for role-playing exercises or discussions of topics students might
hesitate to enter under their own names, as the teacher wishes.  The
possibilities for creative uses of such a  program are endless.
 
Students must cannot interrupt other students,  and they quickly
learn to articulate their thinking  carefully because their words become
part of a transcript of the discussion that can be analyzed for logical
flaws, bias, stereotyping, false assumptions, as well as for new ideas.
Often I have students draw essay topics from these transcripts.  Students
who hold back in oral discussions will often participate fully in written
ones.
 
I frequently observe students who violently disagree with each other
sitting next to each other for an hour, working hard to explain their
views and respond to each others' thinking.  E-mail discussion lists formed by
colleagues for 3-4 of their classes are also a useful tool for
diversifying the group  if one wishes, or for
connecting one's students with other classes with whom one is coordinating
reading assignments, although these do not have synchronicity of the
classroom discussions.
 
If you haven't looked into the possibility of doing something like this, I
highly recommend it.  Your English department may have a composition lab
running D.I.W.E. that you could borrow for a class occasionally.
 
An extensive literature is developing on the ways that the networked
classroom may change the dynamics of classroom
relationships. Look for articles by Cynthia L. Selfe and Gail Hawisher,
among others.  Several articles in the August, l997 issue of _Computers
and Composition:  An International Journal for Teachers of Writing_ a
special issue on "Computers and Diversity" that I am co-guest-editing with
Janice Walker and Laura Sullivan, will examine the pedagogical
implications of various uses of computer networking for dealing with
issues of gender, sexual orientation, class, ethnicity, ability, and so
on. I didn't start this with an intent to plug the issue, but I think the
work being done in computer-assisted composition can inform (maybe even
revolutionize?) classroom practice in other disciplines.  Hope you'll take
a look at it.
 
Margaret M. Barber
Asst. Prof. of English
University of Southern Colorado
barber  @  meteor.uscolo.edu
===========================================================================
===========================================================================

 
On Tue, 28 Jan 1997, MARGARET BARBER wrote:
 
> The most useful tool I have found for hosting discussions that avoid most
> of the problems you have mentioned is the networked classroom, one
> in which each student can sit at a computer and write over a classroom
> network to other students in the same classroom.
 
   Something about this bothers me.  In the first place, is avoiding the
problem the same as addressing it?  Several other posters have suggested
ways of using the inappropriate behavior as a learning experience for the
whole class.  I wonder whether the "bullying" student would learn as much
is they are never challenged directly for their non-verbal behavior, as
much as for their words.
   Also, the image of a room full of students, each staring into a
computer screen, seems to me not very conducive to the feminist teaching
process.  Perhaps an on-line discussion list for the class to use at
other times, but during class time?  It seems like a waste to get
everyone in the same place and then not talk as a group.
 
> Students who hold back in oral discussions will often participate
> fully in written ones.
 
   The reverse must often be true.  What about students who are less
comfortable with their writing skills, but who would be stimulated to
discuss a point verbally in class?  Many first-year students do not have
the vocabulary to express themselves in writing.
 
Kay Dodder
University of Arizona
kdodder  @  bird.library.arizona.edu
===========================================================================

 
The only case of a student cancelling a prof's class I know of on my campus
happened to my colleague, an older black professor...
 
Pat Christian
christia  @  canisius.edu
===========================================================================

 
Kay,
 
The use of written discussion for students physically present in the
same classroom seems odd to most of us when we first try it.  Since the
course I teach is in English composition, I can easily justify
having students write to each other some of the time in addition to
engaging in oral discussion. The networked classroom only adds another
option to those the teacher already has.  I would never suggest limiting
students present in the same room to written discussions only (although
the techniques of teaching effectively entirely online are being developed
with a fair measure of success by some). Often I start class with an oral
discussion, and then have students go to the computers to continue the
conversation.  If you want to challenge a student for inappropriate
non-verbal behavior you can still do it, I suppose, but I think there
are benefits to being able to operate in an  environment in which students
must verbalize their ideas much of the time.
 
I see the use of networked discussions as one possible way to help me "get
at the root of" the problem of bullying by creating a situation in which
the student must articulate his or her views and put them out on the table
for everyone else to respond to and analyze.  I am drawing on my own
experience here, but I do know that that of many of my colleagues
have observed the same phenomenon: that the quality of oral discussion in
a classroom often improves markedly after the class has engaged
in-depth written discussions online.
 
Using written discussions does not avoid the problem, I believe, but
enables me to address it more directly than I might in a face-to-face
discussion because I can directly request the student to clarify a
point without seeming personally threatening.  The bullying student has to
do the same -- i.e. use civilized means of communication, not personal
intimidation, to attempt to persuade.   We can deal directly with the
ideas expressed, and a student with a loud voice or tendency to interrupt
others cannot dominate a discussion and prevent others from participating.
 
Yes, a student who writes fluently has some advantage, as does the student
who fears expressing herself in the face of a bully.  These students get
to have a chance to express themselves in a written discussion when often
they are quiet or effectively silenced in a traditional setting. One use
of a networked discussion in this case might be to have students discuss
the offending non-verbal behavior in the classroom, using pseudonyms, so
that those behaving inappropriately can see how they are perceived by
others in the class.
 
Think of networked discussions as supplemental,  not as substitutes, for
what you are doing.
 
Margaret Barber
Univ. of So. Colorado
============================================================================

 
I hope we can talk some more about the issues that Frances raised ^ (see
subject heading).  How widespread is physical fear among feminist faculty?
 To what extent is physical fear a componant of our tendency to "get
pedagogical" when it seems (at least to me) more appropriate to "get mad?"
 That may be a bad way to bring up the subject, might make some people
defensive, and I don;t mean to. But I am trying to ask about our
consciousness at the deepest level of being endangered in this rape culure.
 How can we distinguish behavior that seems at one level and from one
perspective to be placatory and overly accommodating and at another level and
from another perspective seems to be saintly and endless nurturing
mother/teacher stuff.  How much of what people put up with that is rude,
harrassing, undermining, etc. do they put up with because they truly see
these as teaching opportunities and themselves as teachers above all
else--and how much do they put up with the way battered wives put up with it,
because they see themselves as wives and not as selves to be defended?
 
I do not mean by this to be joining the ranks of harrassers.  I do not mean
to be playing psycho-prober.  I mean to be asking a serious poitical
question.
 
I have begun of late to do a lot of informal counselling with women who are
being abused by husbands/lovers. I can't find a way to communicate to you how
strong is the impression I have of the similarity between what those women
are saying about their batterers and what some of those posting on here about
classroom bullies are saying about their students. It scares me.  It scares
me for feminist faculty more than it scares me for battered women, because we
now have an analysis of battering, we have all sorts of advocacy programs, we
have battered women's shelters, national hotlines, many many books.  We have
named the problem.
 
But what about feminist faculty?
 
I am reading Annette Kolodny's new essay "Paying the Price of Antifemnist
Intelelctual Harassment" in the new book --ANTIFEMINISM IN THE
ACADEMY--coredted by Veve Clark, Shirely Nelson Garner, Margaret Higgonet,
and Ketu H. Katrak (Routledge, 1996).  It begins:
 
"On June 11, 1993, Jane Schaberg, a professor of religious studies at the
University of Detroit-Mercy, was awakened after midnight by the sound of fire
engines hurtling through the neighborhood.  She hardly expected them to stop
at her house.  Seeing the flames through her bedroom window, however, she
realized that her 1987 Toyota tercel, parked out front, was on fire.  A rag
had been stuffed in the gas tank and then ignited.  The police report listed
the motive as `revenge.'  But to Schaberg it was simply what the CHRONICLE OF
HIGHER EDUCATION characterized oas 1the latest salvo in a nasty battled
raging over her scholarship.'"
 
Then, I read in Claude Lewis' column in my newspaper I read that "about a
dozen people across the country reported to police in New York City that they
had had 1strange' conversations with 30 year old Oliver Jovanic, a Columbia
University doctoral student charged with attacking a woman he met online.
     "Procsecutors have charged him with aggravated sexual abuse, assault and
unlawful imprisonment. alleging that he atached a Barnard Colelge student
whom he invited to his apartment on NOv. 22.
    The woman was said to have been tired up, sexually assaulted and tortured
for 20 hours after being threatened with death.  Jovcanic is in jail, unable
to poist $350,000 bail."
       When I spoke at Michigan State U. this autumn, Joyce Landenson told me
that the school has a battered women's shelter on campus--because it is
needed for women who are part of the university--I hesitate to call it a
community; we don';t usually think of communities as places where people,
women, get beaten--but what else can I call it?
        Joyce gave me a statistic about the battering that is experienced by
undegraduate women engaged in heterosexual dating that was so stunning that I
have now forgotten it, although while my speaking tour lasted, I continued to
remember and repeat the figure.  It was something like one out of every three
or four--I hope Joyce will come on line and post the correct figure.
        I am rereading Andrea Dworkin's wonderful introductory essay "Women
in the Public Domain: Sexual Harassment and Date Rape" in --SEXUAL
HARASSMENT: WOMEN SPEAK OUT-- cooedtied by Amber Coverdale Sumrall & Dena
Taylor (Crossing Press, 1992, papeback) and come across this passage:
        "In the workplace, the woman hears the beat of her unsexed heart: I
am GOOD at this, she says.  She is working for money, maybe for dignity,
maybe in pursuit of independence,maybe out of a sense of vocation or
ambition.  The man percxeives that she is close to him, a physical and mental
prozimity; under him, a poiticla and economic arrangement that is
incontrovertible; poorer than she is, a fact with consequences for her--he
per ceives that she is in the marketplace to barter, skills for money,
sexuality for advancement or advantages.  Her genitals are near him, just
under that dress, in the public domain, his domain.  Her lesser paycheck
gives him concrete measure of how much more she needs, how much more he had.
 In the academy, a grade is wealth.  In each arena, she is a strange woman,
not his wife or daughter; and her presence is a provocation.  His presumption
is a premise of patriarchy: she can be bought; her real skills are sexual
skills; the sexuality that inheres i her is for sale or barter and he has a
right to it anyway, a right to a rub or a lick or a fuck.  Once outside, she
is in the realm of the prostituted woman.  It is an economically real realm.
 The poor trade sex for money, food, shelter, work, a chance. It is a realm
created by the power of men over women, a zone of women compromised by the
need for money.  If she is there, he has a right to a piece of her.  It is a
longstnading right.  Using his power to force her seems virile, masculine, to
him, an act of civilized conquest, a natural expression of a natural potency.
 His feelings are natural, indeed, inevitable.  His acts are natural, too.
 The laws ofd man andwoman supercede, surely, the regulations or conventions
of the workplace. (p. 5)"
         I wonder what the battering and date rape stats are on the campuses
where male students (pseuod-intellectually) bully the teacher and the rest of
the students in a class?  I wonder how much male violence is tolerated,
overlooked,  or hidden for p.r. purposes (to protect the image of the college
as a safe place) on these campuses?
          I think about the slaughter in a classroom at a Canadian unversity.
 He said, "Take that! you #  @  #$ feminists!"  And went bang bang bang.  And
they all fell down dead.  And in the aftermath, when those everpresent
newspeople who stick microphones up the noses of the recently bereaved, asked
relatives and survivors, "What do you think of this terrible tragedy" they
said, dazedly, "But she wasn't even a feminist!"  I wonder if you who have
bullies in your classrooms are on campuses where that terrible act of
misogyny is commemorated?  I wonder how many of you remember how frighted we
all were for a time after that---and how quickly we put that fear behind us,
as we always do, just so we continue to leave our houses in the mornings. . .
  We swore that we would never forget the names of those students.  Do you
remember them now?
           Their silence did not protect them.
===========================================================================

 
I would like to add an observation regarding battering women and male classroom
bullies.  The situation that will describe can actually be dismissed as mere
relationship dynamics, if one wanted to.  However, I feel that there are some
subtle implications to exploiting women in academia.
    A few years ago I was teaching a very large (over 300 student) lecture
hall intro class.  There was one male/female couple that always came in
together, sat together and left together.  They probably felt that I never
noticed them because of the size of the class, but I did notice them.  Without
fail, the male always fell asleep, while his SO kept copious notes.  When the
midterms were graded and handed out, I made sure that I knew what grades these
two students received.  The woman almost failed and her male friend received an
"A"    -  there are at least two possible reasons for these grade differences:
1) she put his name on his test, etc or 2) she just did not do well for any of
a number of reasons.
    After class ended the day that I handed back the midterms, I approached
these students and asked them how they felt about their grades.  The male was
cocky as he answered that he was satisfied.  The woman was not at all happy.  I
brought up the fact that she seemed to be taking copious notes while her SO
slept.  They both looked surprised to hear me acknowledge what they probably
thought would go unnoticed.  I asked her what she thought she could do to
improve her performance.  She replied that taking such detailed notes
interferred with her understanding the material.  I suggested that they share
the notetaking, and thus give her a chance at bringing up her grade.  For the
most part after this conversation, things continued as they had begun - she
took notes and he slept.  Her final grade did pick up somewhat.
    I feel that this is an example of subtle, but possibly recurring
exploitation in relationships.  I also acknowledge that the gender exploitation
could go the other way, but most likely it wouldn't.
- Cecilia
julagay  @  ucrac1.ucr.edu
            (^- the number "one")
===========================================================================

 
I think Susan Koppelman is correct in connecting student bullies and sexual
violence. A few years ago (at another university) a man in my Introduction
to Women's Studies class threatened to rape me. I was using hypothetical
situations in class. He said, "If this was real, I'd rape you on the spot."
I froze and stared at him. I think everyone is the class quit breathing. I
stared hard at him for so long he finally started squirming. I can't
remember exactly what I did next. I think after I got my breath back, I
asked him (and the class) if sexual violence was the appropriate response
to a woman who said something you didn't like. I made it clear his threat
was way out of line. I also looked over my shoulder for a while as I went
to my car at night.
 
This man was very proud of his participation in ROTC/military and took
every opportunity to tell me and the class about his enthusiasm for the
weapons he was learning to use. He tried to disrupt the class every chance
he got.
 
Donna Hughes
Carlson Chair
University of Rhode Island
dhughes  @  uriacc.uri.edu
===========================================================================

 
  Someone requested that I let the list know how the prank in which a
student dismissed my class was resolved.  At the next class meeting I told
the class that the lecture had been held and that a hoax had been
perpetrated.  I did not penalize those who left beyond their responsiblity
to make up the missed work.  I told them it was unfair to expect the 24
students that were in attendance to provide them with notes and that I
would not repeat the lecture.  I asked the students to write a paragraph
on possible solutions to the dilemma and to include whatever other
thoughts that wanted to express about the incident.  Most of their
suggestion had to do with the student copying and disseminating the
lecture notes at his own expense.
   In front of the whole class I announced that several students had told me
who the student was and that he had better be in my office during office hours
that afternoon.  When he arrived I asked him what he thought he should do
to make ammends.  He suggested that a public apology was in order and that
he would make copies of his notes available to all 50 students that missed
class.  I agreed and also imposed a few conditions of my own.  First I made
sure his notes were accurate and complete by having him augment them. Next
he can not miss anymore classes this semester without a grade penalty.
Finally I wrote a letter to the undergraduate dean about the incident and
the resolution.  The letter is to be placed in his academic file for
reference if he is involved in any further misconduct.
   The chairperson of my department concurred with and supported my
actions and the Dean of Undergraduates has cooperated fully.  Today the
student stood in front of the class and apologized.  I asked the class if
they were satisfied with the arrangements that had been made and the apology.
They indicated that they were.  We discussed their responsiblity since most
left without verifying that class had been canceled. Several students made
comments about learning not to be so gullible.  I then asked everyone to put
the incident behind them and we got on with class.
_____________________________________________________________________
 
Von Bakanic, Ph.D.                           (803) 953-7105
Dept. of Sociology                           internet address:
College of Charleston                        bakanicv  @  cofc.edu
Charleston, S.C. 29424                       FAX (803) 953-5738
===========================================================================

 
Great resolution fro Von Bakanic!  As for the situation of my TA and
the female bully - here's the outcome so far: on my recommendation the
TA met with the student and told her of other students' complaints about
her behavior, reminded her of the ground rules for the course, and also
asked her if anything was up with her that she wanted to share - since
the TA felt that this was potentially a much better student than her
behavior had shown so far.  The student apologized, said that while
she was only taking the class (Intro to Women's Studies) to fulfill
the university-wide gender, minority, foreign cultures requirement,
and didn't 'like it' she was beginning to make some connections.  Also,
she let the TA know that she had an attention deficit disorder (which
we had not been notified about) and that made it difficult to last
through a long class, such as ours is.  I recommended to the TA that
she tell the student it's okay to take brief breaks.  The TA felt
very good about the conversation - especially the apology and the
sense that the student was having some breakthroughs around the material -
and feels she can proceed. I cannot stress how important it is to have
ground rules for classES - especially ones which the students are taking
'just to fulfill a requirement' and not because they are attracted to
the subject matter, at least initially.  Barbara Scott Winkler, WVU
==========================================================================

 
I'm behind in my WMST-L mail and just read the discussion on disruptive
students.  One experience we have had here is that when women have
complained to their chairs about disruptive students the chairs blame
them for not being able to "handle her class."  In two cases (different
departments) the students, who were valued majors, were taken out of the
classes and the chair took on the students as "independent studies."  In
one case, an assistant professor was told by her chair that she could not
tell anyone outside of the department of one student's sexual harassment
of her.  I would like to say to these chairs, "What did you do the last
time a student came to the front of the class and began screaming at you,
calling you a bitch?"   These men have such power over their students
that they can't imagine these problems.  Also, they bond with the male
students, isolating the woman professor, who is usually an assistant
professor or adjunct.
 
Our administrators -- chancellor, provost, dean, and affirmative action
officer -- are now developing a plan to change this negative climate.
The plan will include instructions to chairs of departments and
guidelines on how to handle disruptive students.
 
Mary Kay Schleiter
mks  @  cs.uwp.edu
===========================================================================