Why Don't My Colleagues Enforce Their Own Policies?

Dear Dr. Kirk:

I've noticed that my colleagues usually have policies on their syllabi dealing with tardiness, attendance, late papers, etc., but that many of them do not enforce these.  Any idea as to why this is true?

Professor at Anywhere University

Dear Professor Anywhere: 

There are a variety of reasons why professors ignore undesired behavior by their students.  These include:

• Lack of training:  They haven’t been taught the skills necessary to handle behavioral issues.
• Fear:  They are not sure that the administration will support their actions when the student goes to them to complain.
• Feeling that they are the only one: Other professors don’t seem to care if students are sleeping in class or coming to class tardy.
• Loss of status:  They don’t want others to know they are having problems controlling their classroom. 
• Time loss:  It takes time to discuss behavioral issues with students.
• Loss of temper:  They're afraid of getting angry or upset when confronting a student. Or that the student will get angry or violent with them.
• Rationalization:  The student knows to come to class on time so why do they need to talk about it?
• Loss of friendship:  They want the students to like them.

However, once most students understand what is required in the class, they can usually be counted on to meet expectations.  Following your own policies is how you reinforce those expectations.  I tell my students that just as managers can't make their employees do anything in the workplace, I can't make them come to class every day or on time.  But just like a manager, I can set consequences.  And I do this because I want to role model the types of behaviors that will enable them to be successful. 

Comments

[Mike Wagner]

Your last listed reason rings true for me in the business world as well as your classroom world:

"Loss of friendship: They want the students to like them."

The professors that had the deepest impact on my life never started as friends or anything remotely like friendship.

But some ended as my friends.

Thoughtful post!

Keep creating,
Mike

[Delaney Kirk]

I think our students will like and appreciate us even more in the long run if we insist that they learn what they need to know in order to be successful. I take my job as role model very seriously. Thanks for coming by to comment.

[Will Wallace]

Most students will follow basic rules, and respect faculty that enforce them. The problem is that administration does not back faculty up, to the point where they will support students that are obviously lying. The faculty, afterall, are employees, and the students customers! The days of a respected faculty member becoming a chair or dean are gone. Today's "academic leaders" have little or no teaching experience, and are searching for their next job as soon as they arrive at their current one. It all comes down to the fact that it is easier to bully an untenured professor than it is to stand up to a student bully. Want a healthy classroom environment? Let administration set the rules, and enforce them by removing disruptive students. Then the faculty can concentrate on teaching the students that want to learn.

[Delaney Kirk]

Thanks for coming by Will. I have to admit there are moments when I don't enjoy teaching as much as I used to...and it's due to having to deal with disruptive students at times. One of the reasons I started this blog is so we could share ideas and suggestions on how to get back to teaching.

[C.S.]

I am a brand new instructor....I have been practicing at the bedside as a registered nurse for 16 years and am now teaching. I thought I was too old for people's behavior to take me by surprise, boy was I wrong. The first month I sat in on a class to "learn" how to teach. The students were coming in 15 minutes late, setting down their belongings and then leaving for 45 minutes, being generally disruptive and talking out of turn. I would never dream of having my cell phone "on" during a class (guess because they weren't around then), but I had to make that part of the code of conduct. Now that I'm "on my own" I feel like a drill sargeant, but the best advice I got from a colleague was, act very stern now and you can soften up as you go along. It's working!

[charlotte Annejonge]

One of my instructors at a community college would allow her small class of twenty women to do whatever they wanted in class. I'd be in the front row trying to listen to the well-rehearsed monologue and there would be three young women right behind me in row two talking to each other. They weren't even whispering; they were talking in low voices. When I turned around and said, "You know, it really bothers me that you all are talking right behind my head while the teacher is lecturing." One of the girls said, "Well, That's YOUR problem!!!!" I got up and walked out of the class and went to the Dean of Student Services to complain. Nothing changed and nothing was done. Women were sleeping in class, coming in late, and we had no tests the entire semester. It's too bad that these diploma mill programs still exist in some of the community colleges in the Deep South States.

[Dr. Delaney Kirk]

That is just wrong on so many levels-teachers who aren't teaching, students who aren't learning. I'm really sorry to hear this. Unfortunately a lot of instructors are not trained in how to handle situations like this.