A Civil Classroom

When the majority of class time focuses on the instructor lecturing, explaining, or demonstrating, students can fall into a passive role. Moreover, students frequently report frustration with instructors who move through lectures so quickly that there isn’t even time to ask questions, much less to assess their understanding of the material (Knepp, 2012). Students who don’t believe there is any work for them to do in the class or, worse, that it simply isn’t possible for them to keep up with what is happening, will find ways to distract themselves (and sometimes others). Pausing class regularly to have students engage in a learning activity, respond to a question, ask questions, review and recap their notes, or engage in a discussion can make a big difference in their perception of your willingness to help them learn.  

One easy-to-implement strategy for engaging students is called think-pair-share: you pose a question and ask students to write down their answer, ask students to share their ideas in pairs, and then ask some of the pairs to share their thinking with the whole class. Pausing for one or two think-pair-share activities during a class period encourages civility by engaging students.  

Students are more likely to believe that an instructor cares about their learning when that instructor asks what is or isn’t helping them learn. While there are formal measures for collecting extensive feedback from students (like CATLOE’s Early Semester Survey service), there are also some simpler, more informal strategies to facilitate communication with students. For example, you might ask students to respond in writing to some basic questions like “What is one thing that is helping you learn in this class?” or “What is one thing that the instructor could do differently to help you learn in this class?” Collecting this feedback just two or three times during the semester and responding to concerns can demonstrate that student learning is important to you.  

The belief that an instructor isn’t willing to devote time to helping them learn can help students justify uncivil behavior to themselves. Observing regular office hours shows students know they have dedicated time to meet with their instructor for help. To send a clear message that you want students to use you as a resource, consider taking students on a “field trip” to your office in the first week of class. Knowing where your office is located is important, but more important is the explicit invitation to visit!  

When instructors find themselves fielding questions that are answered in the syllabus, having to repeat information that was just presented, or listening to ill-formed student opinions, it can be easy to show frustration in a curt or sarcastic response. However, sarcasm can be perceived as disrespectful, damaging the instructor’s relationship with not only the student involved in the exchange, but also with the class witnessing the interaction. If you find yourself facing these kinds of frustrating situations, it’s important to pause, take a breath, and consider what might be behind the student’s question or behavior. Sometimes a student has simply fallen behind, is struggling to make sense of a great deal of information, or is also feeling frustrated in that moment. Pausing creates an opportunity to defuse the situation and offer students a thoughtful and respectful reply.  

This can be especially difficult in large classes, but it is a challenge worth taking on. When instructors take the time to learn students’ names (even just a few of them!), interact with them individually, and give some individual feedback on their work, students believe that they matter to the instructor (Knepp, 2012). You can reduce anonymity by asking students to give their name when asking a question or contributing to a discussion and calling on students by name whenever possible. Another basic instructor behavior that can create a sense of community is arriving early to class and having informal conversations with students. Finally, even in large classes you can have students turn in very short writings (maybe only a sentence) to create the sense of an individual relationship and some opportunity for individual feedback. All these small steps help create a positive learning environment that shows respect for students and mitigates incivility.  

Instructors are often frustrated by students who come to class late or leave early. Similarly, students report frustration with instructors who come to class late or keep students over class time (Knepp, 2012; Rawlins, 2017). This overlap tells us something about students’ expectations: they want instructors to set a positive example by showing respect for their time (just as instructors expect students to respect theirs). It may seem simplistic, but one of the most important things you can do to create a civil classroom is to come to class on time (or, even better, a little early!) and end class on time. When you do this, you send the important message that you respect students and value a civil classroom.  

Sometimes individual behaviors that annoy us aren’t truly disruptive because they don’t affect other students. It is best to ignore some non-disruptive behaviors (i.e., those that aren’t bothering other students), or respond to them privately with individual students. Responding too strongly or publicly to these behaviors can actually lead to disruption that the behavior itself wouldn’t have caused. For example, if a student enters the room a couple of minutes late but quietly slips into a seat into the back row without disturbing the people around her, you may choose not to acknowledge that behavior or to talk with the student after class and remind her of the importance of arriving to class on time.  

One of the biggest challenges instructors may face is determining how to respond to disruptive behavior productively. If they ignore behavior that is interfering with student learning, they risk escalating the behavior and losing the trust of students who look to them to maintain order in the classroom (Boysen, 2012). It is important to handle disruptions firmly but respectfully and positively. If students are talking loudly, for example, politely ask them to stop: “Excuse me—that noise is disrupting the class. If you need to talk about classwork, that’s fine, but speak quietly so that your classmates can focus.” If students persist, ask them to speak with you after class.  

If a pattern of disruptive or problematic behavior emerges or you have reason to believe that a student needs further intervention, don’t hesitate to talk with your department chair and seek advice on how to proceed. If a student displays behavior that concerns you, you can make a report to Student CARE Services by emailing [email protected] or calling 518-442-5501. That office can coordinate support and advise you on how best to work with the student.