Talking About Why It All Matters
In the last couple years, many faculty in The New School – and across the country – have expressed frustration with students now: they don’t come to class, they don’t participate; they don’t do the work; they don’t meet deadlines. And they don’t seem to understand why those things matter.
One of the most important factors in their experiences was online learning during the pandemic: Students learned that they didn’t need to do work in real time, because they could find their materials online. And everyone promoted “flexibility.” Because they were learning – and socializing – remotely during this critical time in their emotional and social development, they didn’t learn that, as a student, they have an obligation to show up because the best learning happens collectively, with fellow students and the faculty, not just alone, online.
We know that students expect transparency: they want to know the why of everything, from why you’re grading the way you are to why you dock their grade if they miss X classes to why you selected this video to why you felt it was okay to use certain language that they find insensitive.
One of the best things you can do from the start of the semester is talk about it all:
- Talk about why coming to class and being there for their fellow students – and for you – is so important for their learning.
- Consider a conversation about what happens when a student comes in late:
- Everyone looks up and away from whatever they were doing;
- Their minds speculate about the late person (probably not flatteringly);
- Moments are lost as the late person gets settled and the faculty member has to return to whatever was transpiring before the interruption;
- And students have to wrench their brains back to that.
- It takes a LOT of mental energy from everyone, just because one person was late.
- Then discuss with the class what should be the consequences for someone coming late. Or if someone is repeatedly late. Students are often stricter than faculty. They may come up with a consequence such as: they’re not allowed to come in if they’re later than ten minutes.
- Then, when it comes time to actually implement that consequence, have the discussion again and consider whether things should be revised. And ask the late student how the class can help them be on time, because we assume they want to be. (Here are some materials to share with students on time management.)
Rather than imposing their own, faculty can come to agreement with students about an attendance “policy.” Just be sure they all truly agree. (You can call it a “policy” or make it one of many “community agreements,” which might be better because it’s not supposed to be “just another rule” that students push against.) The same can apply for lateness, missed deadlines, late homework, etc. But having the discussion about why each of those matters – and where there might sometimes genuinely be flexibility – is essential. They can hand in this particular assignment late, but they will not receive formative feedback to be able to improve the work and their grade, for instance.
Students appreciate clarity, so if there really is flexibility, let them know ahead of time: “This deadline means I will have time to review thoroughly and provide feedback that you can use to make it better for when you submit it again on X date. You can hand it in later than this deadline, but then you won’t get feedback. Better to hand in unfinished or unpolished work than to hand in nothing at all.”
If you’re thinking about acting on these suggestions, consider really implementing community agreements. Faculty sometimes worry that doing so takes “too much time” but if you lose students or aren’t able to bring them along with you, it won’t much matter: they’ll have checked out anyway.
And especially during these challenging times, establishing community agreements with your students sets the stage for constructive and respectful dialogue if things get heated or difficult. We need to help students learn to hear each other, even if they disagree. That’s what they’re here for.