It's that time of year again. Time to start revising the syllabi, figuring out office hours, etc. etc. Phil Ford offers some advice for back to school. The question I have on my mind as the new semester starts is my relationship (or lack thereof) with my students. This stems from two things: a discussion I had with my wife the other night (she was surprised that I preferred "Professor" to "Doctor") and my putting together my syllabi (especially my theory pedagogy syllabus).
What do your students call you? As I said above, I prefer professor. Doctor is a bit much for me, and heaven forbid someone actually confuse me with a proper doctor and ask me to start a chest tube or order a Chem-7. Some professors let their students call them by their first name--I see this particularly with studio teachers, who it seems to me have a much closer relationship than those of us who cater to the masses. Others permit their graduate students to call them by their first name (again, perhaps because of the typically close relationship). I don't let students call me by my first name.
But then, in my case, there's the awkward situation at symphony rehearsals. Half of the bass section is made up of students, some of whom I've had in class; some not. In this situation, some of the students call me Mike; some call me Doctor or Professor. Thing is, here, it doesn't bother me so much when they use my first name--we're on a sort of equal footing here that we're not on during the day.
All this talk about titles reminds me of a scene from Spies like us:
I think what I'm ultimately getting at here is what kind of relationship do we/should we have with our students? I've been to parties at homes of faculty members where students are present (this makes me quite uncomfortable). I've known of faculty members who have married students. I've known faculty members who, despite my near-perfect attendance record, never knew my name. Do I care about my students? Yes. Do I want them to succeed? Yes. Do I want them to like me? Sort of. I seem to recall reading a post about House, M.D. (it wasn't Jeremy Denk's, but I thought it was) where the author said something to the effect of "House doesn't care about people, he cares about problems." If you get an A (or an F) in my class, it's because you earned an A (or an F) in my class. Not because I like you or don't like you. As I like to tell my students, "I don't make the news, I just report it."
How do you handle the question of "What do you want to be called?" How would you describe your relationship(s) with your students? What guidelines do you adhere to in either of these arenas?
What do your students call you? As I said above, I prefer professor. Doctor is a bit much for me, and heaven forbid someone actually confuse me with a proper doctor and ask me to start a chest tube or order a Chem-7. Some professors let their students call them by their first name--I see this particularly with studio teachers, who it seems to me have a much closer relationship than those of us who cater to the masses. Others permit their graduate students to call them by their first name (again, perhaps because of the typically close relationship). I don't let students call me by my first name.
But then, in my case, there's the awkward situation at symphony rehearsals. Half of the bass section is made up of students, some of whom I've had in class; some not. In this situation, some of the students call me Mike; some call me Doctor or Professor. Thing is, here, it doesn't bother me so much when they use my first name--we're on a sort of equal footing here that we're not on during the day.
All this talk about titles reminds me of a scene from Spies like us:
I think what I'm ultimately getting at here is what kind of relationship do we/should we have with our students? I've been to parties at homes of faculty members where students are present (this makes me quite uncomfortable). I've known of faculty members who have married students. I've known faculty members who, despite my near-perfect attendance record, never knew my name. Do I care about my students? Yes. Do I want them to succeed? Yes. Do I want them to like me? Sort of. I seem to recall reading a post about House, M.D. (it wasn't Jeremy Denk's, but I thought it was) where the author said something to the effect of "House doesn't care about people, he cares about problems." If you get an A (or an F) in my class, it's because you earned an A (or an F) in my class. Not because I like you or don't like you. As I like to tell my students, "I don't make the news, I just report it."
How do you handle the question of "What do you want to be called?" How would you describe your relationship(s) with your students? What guidelines do you adhere to in either of these arenas?