Civility in the Classroom
An Annotated Link List

Advice: Start with Bauer’s article.

Adams, M.S. (2004). Welcome to Civility 101. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://www.townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/ma20040105.shtml

This mock letter announces to students that anyone who is late or whose cell phone rings during class will be ejected and must write a 2500-word essay on civility to gain readmission. How many of us have days when that policy doesn’t sound half bad?

Baldwin, R.G. (1999, March). Academic Civility Begins in the Classroom. TIP-IT Online Newsletter, 16(2). Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://www.mwc.edu/inte/collaborations/TIP-IT/tipit162/article_one.html

Baldwin ascribes rising incivility to increased differences between students and faculty and among students themselves, and offers some strategies to promote the “core academic value” of civility.

Thanks to Rick Grossman for finding this one.

Bauer, H.H. The New Generations: Students Who Don’t Study. (1997). Retrieved March 19, 2004 from http://www.bus.lsu.edu/accounting/faculty/lcrumbley/study.htm

In this long, highly readable, and depressing article, Bauer argues that the same consumerist student attitudes that manifest in poor performance, failure to study, etc., also show up in general rudeness in and out of the classroom. Some (not all) of this comes from grade inflation and from student evaluations of faculty, when accepted uncritically by administrators as truth. Numerous quotes from students and faculty illustrate and anchor the argument.

Chalk, J. (2001). Chalk Talk with Jonas Chalk: Chalk on Civility in the Classroom. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from Northeastern University, GE Master Teachers for Freshman Engineering Web site: http://gemasterteachers.neu.edu/chalktalk/00_01/civility.htm

Chalk offers suggestions for dealing with specific behaviors, and which ones should probably be ignored.

Reed, R. (1997). Strategies for Dealing with Troublesome Behaviors in the Classroom [Electronic version]. The National Teaching & Learning Forum, 6(6). Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9710/strat.htm

Very, very specific suggestions.

Smolarski, D.C. (1999). Classroom Etiquette and Courtesy. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from Santa Clara University, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Web site: http://math.scu.edu/~dsmolars/class.html

You may or may not agree with all of Smolarski’s requirements, but he does an excellent job of explaining the rationale for each one.

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. (n.d.). The Learning Environment at ESF. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://www.esf.edu/facgov/ExecChDocs/civpldge.pdf

Students are asked to sign this one-page pledge to “ensur[e] a productive and conducive learning environment”, which lists some general principles and specific behavioral guidelines.

Texas Tech University. (2002). Faculty Guide — Civility in the Classroom: Tips for Dealing with Troublesome Behavior 2002–2003. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://www.studentaffairs.ttu.edu/publications/civility2002.pdf

A handy front&back “pocket card” with guidelines for faculty.

Warma, S.J. (1998). Classroom Demeanor: an Excerpt from One Syllabus. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://math.scu.edu/~dsmolars/warma.html

Four no-nonsense paragraphs, almost in words of one syllable, deal with the most common problems of classroom etiquette. “Everyone who registers for this class is an adult. You are legally able to marry without parental consent, buy a home, pay taxes, vote, ... etc. You should also be adult enough not to disturb others.”

Wibowo, K. (2003). Classroom Civility. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology, course IFMG300 Web site: http://144.80.81.29/ifmg300/classCivility.htm

Dr. Wibowo’s one-page statement to students lays down clear expectations and lists about a dozen behaviors that are not acceptable.

Wise, P.S. (2002). Civility in the Classroom Is Important. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://time.wiu.edu/civility/features/classroom.asp

This gently humorous guide might be distributed to students. A sample: “Although it’s probably true that one of the functions of school is mate selection, don’t consider class time as an opportunity to meet new friends and/or lovers.”