The student assumes the professor’s facial expressions resulted from observing the race of the student. It could result from her observing a student who hadn’t bother to show up to class. A professor has a right to glower at any student who who they feel hasn’t complied with the demands of the class. In my opinion, of course. If it was a huge anonymous class, then there would be no need for the glowering.
I don’t take as 100% objective truth the account of a student who repeatedly emphasizes their own extraordinary talent, while claiming to have suffered from a teacher who gave them A’s for everything and chose their essay for publication in an anthology, and phoned them to tell them about it.
Disagree. College is not K-12 and Profs are not supposed to act as effective babysitters or take a student’s absence in his/her class personally…assuming they are well-adjusted and professional.
If a student in college wants to skip a college class…that’s the student’s own business…along with whatever consequences negative or otherwise result. It shouldn’t be a skin off the Prof’s nose unless the college mandates it for some convoluted reason*.
And even then, I disagree with that philosophically as unlike K-12…Profs aren’t supposed IMO to babysit ostensibly young adult students.
Taking something that personally also speaks to a Prof’s level of extreme personal insecurity that’s beneath professionals whose position and usually much higher level of education conveys a greater position of influence and yes…power compared with the student taking the course.
I say this as someone who never cut class in undergrad and only skipped classes due to sickness or for legitimate reasons which the Profs knew about and excused.
The community college where a friend teaches as an adjunct and where I served as a substitute adjunct with his department chair's approval when he had a sudden emergency had mandatory attendance reporting requirements from local government higher-ed authorities. Felt that was a bit of mandatory babysitting that infantilized the students...especially considering a sizable minority were well over 22. More than a fifth were over 30 from my estimation and judging by their comments relating their personal experiences and prior educational experiences to what was covered in the 2 lectures I was entrusted to give.
A Prof who glowers at a student for skipping class is IMO demonstrating an extreme lack of professionalism and betraying an extreme sense of insecurity that’s quite unbecoming considering the greater position of influence and power he/she holds in relation to the student. Why is he/she giving the student such power to elicit such an emotional reaction?
If a student skipped a class I held as a tutor or a lecturer, it’s not worth my time, energy, or emotions to get worked up enough to exhibit such unprofessional behavior.
Especially if the student is doing well. If anything, if a student manages to do well despite skipping most/all my lectures…I’m more inclined to admire and be impressed by the student for managing to stay on top of the course/material and possibly recommend the student challenge him/herself by taking a much higher level course.
The real value of attending a premier college is not with the teachers, but the peer students. You can learn the facts of a topic just as well from a State U or even an online course. But in discussion classes, it is the quality of the peer students that adds richness to the class.
Skipping once in a while with good reason is understandable. Doing it constantly in a discussion class shows contempt for both the teacher and your peers.
I think it’s possible both to think skipping class is disrespectful (I do think so) and to think that Waiting’s experience was racist and offensive (I do think so).
I’m disgusted. Going to college in the U.S. is a privilege most people in this world would cut off their right arm to have. Someone worked very hard so you could be there – whether it was your own parents paying the tuition or the generosity of the donors making scholarships possible. In either case, attending class regularly is part of your “job” as a student. Otherwise, don’t bother with a residential college and just take courses online. Don’t bother choosing a school based on the smartness of your eventual classmates if you’re not going to engage with them in the classroom. Don’t bother choosing a school for its award-winning or accomplished profs if you’re not going to engage with them.
This has nothing to do with the college or prof being a babysitter. This is called doing the right thing. If you’re a college student, you show up for your classes because that’s what you signed up for. Not drunken binges, not sleeping late and rolling out of bed at noon. I get an occasional absence due to illness or a valuable EC commitment but really, if you can’t be bothered to go to class, grow the heck up.
Skipping class routinely is on the same level of crassness and immaturity as cobrat’s “raiding other people’s parties for food and drink.”
I too would glower at a student who didn’t show up regularly (and didn’t otherwise have an excuse). How many students come on here in a panic because they skipped class, didn’t have an excuse and now they’re flunking out? How many “help me appeal my suspension” letters have we virtually written here on CC where we had to say to people - you need to attend class whether you feel like it or not, and if clinical depression prevents you from doing so, then you need to take a leave and get the appropriate help so you can return and engage?
How entitled of a person must you be to routinely skip a class and assume the prof glowered at you because of your race? Pro tip: it was your disrespect and laziness that earned you the glowering.
“Especially if the student is doing well. If anything, if a student manages to do well despite skipping most/all my lectures…I’m more inclined to admire and be impressed by the student for managing to stay on top of the course/material and possibly recommend the student challenge him/herself by taking a much higher level course.”
If a student does well despite skipping your lectures, doesn’t that tell you that your lectures aren’t adding value? Why would you be satisfied with that? That would cause me to reexamine what I brought to the party.
And if your student was that smart, wouldn’t you want him in class to stimulate discussion with the other students and enrich their learning, too?
"If a student in college wants to skip a college class…that’s the student’s own business…along with whatever consequences negative or otherwise result. "
Yeah, let’s see what tune you’d sing if the student were, let’s say, a developmental admit, legacy, or frat boy skipping class. Then you’d hold it up as evidence of laziness, entitlement, and taking a spot at the college that should have gone to a more deserving individual.
Not every class is worth going to. My freshman year I took a large lecture course on Shakespeare plays. It was being taught by a visiting professor who was wretched. Really his lectures were completely useless. After many weeks of this the guy sitting in front of me stood up in the middle of the lecture and announced he wasn’t wasting any more time. I followed him out. Luckily the TA was great. I read all the plays, wrote the papers and did reasonably well on the final.
As for the glowering professor. I don’t know what the class size was. It could have been racism or it good have been annoyance about the skipping classes. In any event, it seems like the prof gave him/her an A and published the paper. That doesn’t sound like the actions of a typical racist. The other comment about remedial help, however, was pretty snarky.
To stand up in the middle of a lecture and announce you’re leaving is completely rude and classless. Don’t people know how to behave any more? Good grief. People have feelings. How would you feel if you were the prof and someone was that blatantly rude? What was this guy doing that was so important he couldn’t have just waited til a break or the end? Grandstanding, it sounds like.
Glowering isn’t an emotional reaction, it is a behavior modification technique. As a parent, professor, and consumer of sometimes inefficient services, I can switch glowering on and off any time I want to.
A student who routinely skips classes is IMO demonstrating a lack of professionalism and seriousness of purpose in being a student. It’s quite unbecoming.
Assuming this is a parent sharing an account with a current college freshman, she would have attended college before
online class lectures were common.
I agree that the issue may have been the fact that she rarely attended class. I’m picturing a professor making a point to the class about how the student who wrote the paper had synthesized her lectures and the assigned readings, only to find out publicly that the student was one whose face no one consistently saw in class. Not only disrespectful on the student’s part but embarrassing for the teacher. I can see why she would question whether the student was the one doing the written work seeing as she wasn’t in class to hear her lectures.
According to Waiting2exhale the prof still gave her an A, supported her on the committee judging student work for publication, and was pleased at her success. I have no idea why she was asked to write an additional paper but I would at least consider the possibility the prof was trying to help the student further her academic career as she had identified her as a particularly strong student. I’ve seen students asked to do additional work in preparation for a PhD or when the prof is looking for research help in his/her field. This would usually be done by a TA or RA, but again, the story is a bit fuzzy so I can’t tell exactly what was going on.
“a student who routinely skips classes is in IMO demonstrating a lack of professionalism and seriousness of purpose”
Have you never heard of Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg? Mr Zuckerberg missed most of the class called “art in the time of Augustus” Both of them are college dropouts. I am aghast at their lack of professionalism.
@tiger1307 - I actually think Gates and Zuckerberg are horrible role models for most students. I also think that all the money in the world is not as important as being educated, though perhaps I’m in the minority there. My ancestors were Jewish refugees and they instilled the belief in us that “the only thing no one can take from you is your education”.
We had a Career Day presentation a few years ago at the school where I teach, and the keynote speakers were a pair of brothers who had started a successful business (successful in terms of $$) after dropping out of college. Their presentation was really disrespectful toward school and they kept saying things like, “you should sleep late and play hackey-sack and things will work out” to great laughs and applause. Needless to say, the faculty and administration were extremely upset and these people were not invited back.
Most students will not in fact have buckets of money dropped on them if they laze around. And they certainly will not become educated, concerned human beings if they slack instead of working and learning.
ETA: there are some threads on CC where “success” and “college quality” are measured in financial terms, and those irritate me for the same reasons. Granted, it takes a certain level of privilege to worry about becoming educated instead of feeding and housing your family, but my suspicion is that food/shelter are not at issue here.
Well according to that logic, everyone should skip class and drop out, right?
Your example reflects what is known as “survivorship bias”. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg get lots of press because they succeeded in spite of dropping out. How much press do you think all the dropouts that failed get? Nothing.
As counter-examples, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin all finished their undergrad.
@fretfulmother today I believe today is acceptance day for Harvard SCEA. A few years back Zuckerberg did the acceptance video for Harvard for scea He told the students to not be a dropout like him and to make the most of their education!!! Zuckerberg along with Gates give away alot of money with the hope of improving education.
