Friday, April 24, 2015

What Did I Miss?

On Fridays, I meet with two sections of Freshman Composition II, a course centering around reading and writing about literature.   It's one of my favorite classes to teach--a wonderful mixture of encountering poetry, short fiction, and drama, and learning to appreciate some really amazing texts.

Today, the class and I were 20 minutes into an energetic discussion about Susan Glaspell's Trifles when a student walked into the room, late. That in and of itself is not terribly unusual, nor are tardy students generally a problem (unless the same individual is repeatedly late and/or disruptive when joining the class).  

Today, though, upon entering the room, this student stopped in front of me, interrupting the class discussion.  When I paused, here is what he said:  

"I am late because I had to run home and get something that I forgot.

What did I miss?"  

Yes, this is a direct quote.

I could be offended by the fact that this student would have the audacity to expect a teacher to drop everything and attend to his needs.  And yes, that was frustrating.  But that's not what concerns me.

What's really troubling is that this student showed no awareness of the inconvenience that his request created for the rest of the class.  Not only did he expect me to immediately stop and come to his assistance. This student also actually expected  the other twenty-some-odd students to wait patiently while I updated him on what we'd been doing and they listened.  

At this point, I'm tempted to chime in with the next verse of the endless song so many educators are singing about our students.  The most oft-repeated word in that song is "entitled."  Believe me:  it's not hard to find reasons to join in that chorus. 

Instead, though, I'm imagining this student in the workplace. What's going to happen when he takes a similar course of action with an employer?

I'm imagining this student in a relationship.  What's going to happen when he has similar expectations from someone important to him?

Here, though, is an even more sobering question:  What--and who--has allowed this student to believe his actions and expectations today were appropriate?  How has he arrived at that conclusion? 

I hope I'm wrong, but experience tells me I'm not the only teacher who experiences similar scenarios on an increasingly regular basis. Such behaviors are becoming less of an exception and more like a new normal in the classroom.  

This leads me to another question:  Have I done anything to reinforce such a point of view amongst my students?

What did I miss?

Before we join in the increasingly loud lament about this generation's lack of self-awareness, perhaps parents, educators, and leaders need to do some of our own reflection.  

Perhaps we need to consider how we may be part of the problem, by unintentionally cultivating these kinds of expectations in our children, students, and society.

Perhaps we need to examine our own actions and expectations, and ask ourselves:
  
What are we missing?