Incivility

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education,  Winter 2000  by Berger, Bruce A

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Incivility1

PROLOGUE

Despite our best efforts or because of inappropriate efforts, incivilities between faculty and students occur. Some believe that classroom incivilities are on the rise as a result of a consumer mentality on the part of students. Others blame the problem on ill-prepared and indifferent teachers. Regardless of the reason for incivilities, when they occur they can have devastating effects on faculty self-efficacy and self-concept, hurt morale of both faculty and students, make classroom environments emotionally unsafe, and impede student learning. This manuscript attempts to define and describe incivilities between college faculty and students, identify reasons for uncivil behavior, and offer solutions, based upon research findings, of how to prevent and/or manage uncivil behavior.

INTRODUCTION

A student walks into class ten minutes late, climbs over (and disrupts) four other students, and slams his backpack down on his desk. Another student's cell phone goes off in the middle of class and rather than leave the room, she proceeds to have a five-minute conversation. After receiving his grade on his midterm exam, a student raises his hand and states belligerently, "This exam sucks and this course sucks." A student walks into your office without knocking, throws a class paper onto your desk and says angrily, "This is ridiculous. Twenty f*ckin' points off for grammar and spelling? I didn't know this was a f*ckin' English class!" In the middle of a lecture, a student stands up and says, "We're not paying you to read to us and put us to sleep!" and walks out of the class. A female student confronts a male professor in the hall and states, "Is there anything you can think of that I could do to get a better grade?" "Yeah," he says, "Study harder." She winks and says, "Come on now, I'm sure you can think of something else..."

A professor returns a midterm exam to his class, announces that the average was 53, then states, "You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You call yourselves professional students? This is pathetic!" A student knocks on a professor's office door. The professor abruptly says, "Yes?" The student steps in and politely says, "I would like to make an appointment some time to talk to you about some of the course material. I am very confused." The professor motions her out the door and says, "See my secretary. She keeps my appointments." A male professor pulls a female student aside and says, "Are you seriously involved with anyone right now?" "No," she replies. "Good," he says and walks away. On the first day of class, a professor walks into the classroom and states, "This is a hard class. I don't believe in giving A's and I don't have a problem with failing every one of you if you can't keep up." Another professor tells his students, "If you are looking for entertainment, go to the movies. They don't reward me to be a good teacher here. They reward me to do research! I don't keep office hours for this course. If you have problems, see the teaching assistants."

Those of you who have taught at the college level for any period of time have probably observed or heard about each of the above instances. What all of the examples have in common is that they represent incivilities. Incivilities are a speech or action that is disrespectful or rude(l). What should also be noted is that incivilities are inflicted by both students and teachers. In fact, research confirms that a much higher frequency of incivilities by students occur in classrooms where the teacher has been uncivil or does not establish appropriate boundaries or guidelines right away(2). Moreover, if you go back and read the examples again, they will probably stir up a lot of emotions. Generally speaking, when incivilities are discussed, situations are described, blame is often ascribed, but rarely do people discuss the emotional affect that incivilities can have on the person who has been perpetrated against. The emotional impact of an incivility can be devastating. Incivilities can cause professors to: lose self-esteem and self-confidence in their teaching, lose self-confidence in their research efforts, abandon teaching, become indifferent in the classroom, and fear for their safety (this is especially true for female faculty). For students, incivilities can cause them to: become increasingly uninvolved in a course, become increasingly hostile in the classroom, fear for their safety (this is especially true when boundaries are violated - more on this later), and lose their desire to learn(2).

Have incivilities in the classroom gotten worse or occur more frequently than they used to occur? Kathy Franklin, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Arkansas says, "Historically, what's happening today isn't unusual. Are students today different from students ten years ago? Probably, because of demographic changes, consumerism, K-12 experiences. But is this a new trend? No."(3) What is different, she says is that professors are held in lower esteem today and this seems particularly insulting to many academics. As a result, many professors "retaliate" with equally insulting behavior(3). While we are often quick to point a finger at students and say that they are "less respectful than they used to be," Boice concluded the following as a result of a study on classroom incivilities(CI), "Clearly teachers were the most crucial initiators of CI. And, as a rule, their most telling provocations occurred during the first few days of courses. Conversely, professors who most consistently displayed immediacies and positive motivators were least involved in incidents of CI, their own or their students"(2). What this means is teachers have a great deal of influence on whether incivilities occur in their classrooms.