Teaching at the university level is hardly different from doing so at the preschool through secondary phases of education. Many people assume that it's easier to teach undergraduates (graduates, yes, but that's material for another post) than three-year-olds or fifteen-year-olds. I concede that each grade requires specialized expertise, but in all, we share the profound burden of being "semi" in loco parentis, not with legal responsibility but the even greater moral challenges of helping them become better people while preserving their sanity (and ours).
Being female, younger (less than 20 years older than them), and short in stature (height does matter!), I encounter at least one student every semester who insists on criticizing and "re-educating" me. I am still not sure what motivates all of these individuals (all male, to date) to take on the mission of informing me that I am wrong and flawed, but I admire their attention to detail. Sometimes the criticisms occur in face-to-face conversations (ok, bearable and manageable), through email (where we can start really heated textual debates), and now to take the cake, verbal shaming on Facebook (wow, the bar goes up or down, depending on how you choose to think about it).
I wasn't too surprised that my current self-appointed tutor, Student A, has decided to vent his frustration and dislike of me on Facebook. Students do it all the time for all sorts of reasons. Student A may have even learned a lesson because despite getting some support for his vitriol, he has also encountered some pushback, others wondering why he wants to critique me for being a foreigner, for not understanding his language and culture, etc. Being born and growing up as an ethnic minority and then reprising the same role here, I'm used to all of these forms of disparagement, but I'm not 100% prepared to dismiss each and every case as it manifests.
I do wonder if I'm not being empathetic enough -- students may find me an easy target to disrespect (for my gender, my nationality, my ethnicity, my amount of professional experience), they may gain a tremendously fulfilling sense of empowerment by threatening me (despite my attempts to engage them in productive dialogue and to be considerate of their needs). Maybe they will develop into more mature versions of themselves through nit-picking, although I wish that they would cultivate self-confidence and a sense of purpose in other ways. And as my father always reminds me, their hatred is small potatoes as problems go.
But my general conclusion is that I don't understand what causes certain students to revile my teaching methods or to find fault with every little thing that I do. I know that not every teacher suits every student (and vice versa!) but I would prefer indifference to the passionate frenzy that drives them to hate me. I can learn from some of their discontents, and I have definitely tried to be objective about them, but I also wish that they will utilize their youthful energy in other ways that will be more constructive for their education.
All of this relates to parenting because I've heard that children can be the harshest critics of their parents, so I realize I have to brace myself for soul-crushing commentary from my daughter and her siblings, if they come into existence. When I am in (full) loco parentis, will I be able to handle it? That is the question.
Being female, younger (less than 20 years older than them), and short in stature (height does matter!), I encounter at least one student every semester who insists on criticizing and "re-educating" me. I am still not sure what motivates all of these individuals (all male, to date) to take on the mission of informing me that I am wrong and flawed, but I admire their attention to detail. Sometimes the criticisms occur in face-to-face conversations (ok, bearable and manageable), through email (where we can start really heated textual debates), and now to take the cake, verbal shaming on Facebook (wow, the bar goes up or down, depending on how you choose to think about it).
I wasn't too surprised that my current self-appointed tutor, Student A, has decided to vent his frustration and dislike of me on Facebook. Students do it all the time for all sorts of reasons. Student A may have even learned a lesson because despite getting some support for his vitriol, he has also encountered some pushback, others wondering why he wants to critique me for being a foreigner, for not understanding his language and culture, etc. Being born and growing up as an ethnic minority and then reprising the same role here, I'm used to all of these forms of disparagement, but I'm not 100% prepared to dismiss each and every case as it manifests.
I do wonder if I'm not being empathetic enough -- students may find me an easy target to disrespect (for my gender, my nationality, my ethnicity, my amount of professional experience), they may gain a tremendously fulfilling sense of empowerment by threatening me (despite my attempts to engage them in productive dialogue and to be considerate of their needs). Maybe they will develop into more mature versions of themselves through nit-picking, although I wish that they would cultivate self-confidence and a sense of purpose in other ways. And as my father always reminds me, their hatred is small potatoes as problems go.
But my general conclusion is that I don't understand what causes certain students to revile my teaching methods or to find fault with every little thing that I do. I know that not every teacher suits every student (and vice versa!) but I would prefer indifference to the passionate frenzy that drives them to hate me. I can learn from some of their discontents, and I have definitely tried to be objective about them, but I also wish that they will utilize their youthful energy in other ways that will be more constructive for their education.
All of this relates to parenting because I've heard that children can be the harshest critics of their parents, so I realize I have to brace myself for soul-crushing commentary from my daughter and her siblings, if they come into existence. When I am in (full) loco parentis, will I be able to handle it? That is the question.
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