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posted by on Tuesday May 16 2017, @03:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the wassup-prof? dept.

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


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  • (Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday May 17 2017, @05:05AM (1 child)

    by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 17 2017, @05:05AM (#510923)

    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).

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  • (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