When teachers (verbally) attack

He had done the research. He had written the paper. He had checked and double-checked the grammar. He had even, with his teacher's permission, shown the paper to another faculty member to make sure it was perfect. But when senior Christopher Jackson finally handed in the assignment, he did not get the praise he expected. "Do you think I'm stupid?" his teacher yelled. "Would I really believe that you did this paper?"

Jackson is not the only Blair student who has encountered a teacher who demeans him. In a recent Silver Chips poll of 100 students, 65 percent said they have felt belittled by a teacher and 90 percent say they have heard a teacher belittle another student. And according to the students, the insults are no accident—70 percent of those surveyed think that the teachers put students down knowingly.

Such belittlement is a serious concern, according to Dr. Scott Myers, an assistant professor at West Virginia University who has studied the effect of teacher aggression on college students for the past four years. "When instructors attack student competence, that seems to be the worst type of verbal aggression," he says.

Teachers' taunts

Senior Jean Li says she ran into such attacks last year from her math teacher Eric Walstein. Li feels that Walstein's words, especially in response to students' questions, had a detrimental effect on her performance in the class. "He'd say, ‘You're so stupid, why are you asking that question?' It got to the point where we were scared to ask questions because we didn't want him to yell at us," Li says.

Losing motivation as a result of teacher aggression is common, according to Myers. "When instructors make attacks on students' competence, the students are less likely to talk in class, less likely to learn and less satisfied with their education," Myers says.

Jackson, who says his teacher questioned his intelligence and character last year, reacted just as Myers describes. "Sometimes she'd just completely harp on you about how bad a student you were," Jackson says. "It was such a pain that it would make you think ‘Why am I even bothering doing the work?'"

But assaults from teachers are often not intentional, according to Myers' studies. "The instructors weren't always aware that they were being aggressive to start with," explains Myers. But according to his research, even those who do recognize their aggression often overlook the consequences. "They don't realize that the students take this to heart," he says.

Just joshin'

Walstein recognizes that he has an unusual way of running his class, but denies that he is "aggressive." He prides himself on his "banter" with students. "There's an understanding that they can joke with me, and I can joke with them," he says.

Walstein admits that the effects of his banter are not always positive. "Do I cross a line? Sure I do," he says. "I could choose not to get near the line, but I think that makes for a very static, sterile environment."

But perhaps there is a way to implement teasing without crossing a line.

Myers' research has found that some taunts are less harmful than others. When teachers attack students' physical appearance, tease students or use swear words, he says, there is no negative impact on students' motivation. "When instructors tease or joke or play around, it makes them seem equal to the students. It's when they make a comment about the student's ability that it reminds the student, ‘No, we're not equal.'" And it's those comments, Myers says, that do the damage.

The problem, then, is how to draw the line between casual teasing and hurtful attacks.

Making the change

Walstein relies on his students to keep him in check. He says that, unless students tell him that his behavior is inappropriate, there is no need to change. "If the kid doesn't tell me, I have no way to fix what I don't know about," Walstein says.

Once confronted, Walstein says he makes an effort to alter his behavior. At the beginning of this year, Li says she spoke to Walstein about her concerns, and they talked it through. He's not her teacher this semester, but she says their conversation seems to have cleared the air.

But, according to Myers, student confrontations in situations concerning aggressive teachers are rare. "Most students probably will not approach their teacher, especially if the teacher has just yelled at them," he says.

If Myers is right, perhaps Walstein's "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" strategy for knowing when he has offended a student will not be too successful. But for Walstein, a few hurt feelings are worth the goal of an improved class atmosphere. "I don't want to lose the relaxation and comfort just because there's a possibility that someone might take [my jokes] the wrong way," he says.

Although there are some students who are hurt by their teachers' jokes, there are others, like senior Jamal Thorne, who relish them.

Thorne enjoys the playful relationship he has with his anatomy teacher John Haigh. The two frequently engage in teasing during class. "He says that I'm short," says Thorne. "So I say that he wears a fake leather coat. Which is very, very true."

Thorne says that Haigh has a similar relationship with a few other students in the class and that the friendly teasing is something they all enjoy. "He's known us for quite a while, so we know that he's messing around," Thorne says. "He's one of my buddies."