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At the start of my teaching career, when I was fresh out of graduate school, I briefly considered trying to pass myself off as a cool professor. Luckily, I soon came to my senses and embraced my true identity as a young fogey.
After one too many students called me by my first name and sent me email that resembled a drunken late-night Facebook post, I took a very fogeyish step. I began attaching a page on etiquette to every syllabus: basic rules for how to address teachers and write polite, grammatically correct emails.
Over the past decade or two, college students have become far more casual in their interactions with faculty members. My colleagues around the country grumble about students' sloppy emails and blithe informality.
[...] Sociologists who surveyed undergraduate syllabuses from 2004 and 2010 found that in 2004, 14 percent addressed issues related to classroom etiquette; six years later, that number had more than doubled, to 33 percent. This phenomenon crosses socio-economic lines. My colleagues at Stanford gripe as much as the ones who teach at state schools, and students from more privileged backgrounds are often the worst offenders.
-- submitted from IRC
Source: The New York Times
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 16 2017, @09:19PM (2 children)
I never address someone familiarly (at least in a professional setting -- and despite what some may think, school is a professional setting) unless invited to do so.
I've got some experience of this in a high-school environment.
(English has dropped the familiar "thou" and now uses "you" for both familiar and formal. Welsh, among many other languages, still has and uses both.)
I've found from working in Welsh-medium schools that a significant majority of pupils now use the familiar pronoun when addressing a teacher, whereas in my time the formal was universally used. Teachers still use the formal when addressing other teachers in front of pupils, but it seems the modern pupils aren't catching on and following our lead. Perhaps it's because of the influence of the "thou"-less English?
It's important to remember that these things can change naturally over time, and aren't necessarily a sign of disrespect. I always addressed my grandparents with the formal pronoun, but my father also addressed them (his parents) with the formal pronoun. I was raised using the informal pronoun with my parents instead. Now I've got a daughter who's learning to talk. She'll definitely be using the familiar pronoun with me, and while I haven't made a conscious decision, I expect she'll use the familiar with her (Welsh-speaking) grandparents too.
Language is certainly a living thing. It changes all the time. Those changes are based upon usage and culture.
I have no problems with a changing language or a changing culture. It just seems to me that in a professional environment one should behave, well, professionally.
Given the circumstance you presented (speaking with family members), that makes some sense. It's a product of culture that one would be formal with senior family members. My forbears didn't stand on formality with family members, so I didn't either. They did insist on formality with both strangers and professional colleagues (unless first invited to do otherwise).
In a formal (read: professional) environment, however, it seems to me that it's appropriate to be respectful of those around you (as you've noted the *professionals* in the school environment do). Those students aren't professionals. They are *learning*.
For me, this was taught both in school and at home. If that's no longer the case, I'll lament the loss of civility, but so be it.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday May 17 2017, @05:05AM (1 child)
Thanks for the reply. One addendum I'd like to make: Teachers will use the formal pronoun with each other in front of pupils, but generally the familiar when alone (with selective exceptions for older teachers or heads of department, of course).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Wednesday May 17 2017, @05:41AM
Thanks for the reply. One addendum I'd like to make: Teachers will use the formal pronoun with each other in front of pupils, but generally the familiar when alone (with selective exceptions for older teachers or heads of department, of course).
That seems reasonable. Again, it's all about the culture.
I'm sure it's quite similar at many places of business when employees (in this case, teachers) are in front of customers (in this case, students). And more senior managers/executives will be accorded more formality, while peers will be more casual with each other.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr