I AM NOT A TV: Confessions of a Professor

Originally distributed on the Professional and Organizational Development listserv on October 4, 1999.   http://www.umanitoba.ca/academic_support/uts/sigfted/iefdi/feb02/ufo7-8.htm

By David Jaffee

 "I am not a TV"!  

That is what I repeatedly tell my students. But I'm not sure they get it, because when I tell them this they continue to stare at me with expressionless faces. Again, they have failed to see the profound insight, or even the humor, of my observation. Again, they confirm my thesis.  

How did I come to the revelation that, in the eyes of my students, I am a television set? As a sociologist I should probably say that I arrived at this proposition after many years of careful data collection and observation in undergraduates courses with disengaged students. But that would be untrue. In fact, for many years I never really noticed student expressions and demeanor. Fresh out of graduate school, with an abundance of self-important intellectual energy coupled with some nervousness about public speaking, the strategy was to lecture endlessly. I would just focus on a spot above the student's heads at the back of the class and pontificate on things sociological. However, over time, as I became more self-confident and also more concerned with classroom dynamics, I thought it might be worth taking a peek at their faces. This was a big mistake.  

Most of the students either stared at me with no expression whatsoever -- even when I attempted a joke, or asked a question, or launched into an animated diatribe -- or they were looking elsewhere (like out the window, or at their notebooks, or at one another). Occasionally, some would just get up and walk out of the classroom and then return a few moments later. Either no eye contact, glazed eye contact, or total disregard for my human existence. And then it hit me -- they think I'm a TV.  

How else can you explain this behavior? When we watch TV -- lets say a standup comic -- we can wear any expression we want, we can fail to laugh at the jokes, we can fall asleep, we can go the fridge for a beer. None of this has any impact on the comic. "It" continues to perform because it cannot see us. Students treat professors the same way. They assume we can't see them. So, it makes no difference what they do. Under these circumstances, why should students bother wasting valuable energy on social niceties like a nod of the head, a smile, or any other social cue acknowledging the humanity of the instructor.  

I once had a student who "sat" in the front row sleeping through the entire class period. At the end of class I told him he would be more comfortable sleeping in a bed. He was incredibly embarrassed, horrified, and shocked that I had "caught him" engaging in this deviant academic behavior, even though he committed the crime directly beneath my nose. Did he think I was blind? Did he think I was totally insensitive to his behavior? No, he thought I was a talking head who could not see the television audience.  

Another form of antisocial classroom behavior, that further cements the case for my thesis, is represented by the student who strolls (some actually strut), into class ten minutes late, right in front of the lecturing instructor. It is often the same student who, 15 minutes later, gets up to leave the class, only to schlep (they are now getting tired) back in 5 minutes later, with absolutely no self-conscious awareness of the social impact of these actions. I should report that this behavior is clearly on the rise. There are a number of possible explanations. Maybe there is an evolutionary process underway involving a shrinking bladder capacity. Maybe students are much more active today in the stock market and must constantly contact their broker. Or, what I really suspect, students don't believe a TV set will mind one way or the other.  

There is a well-known concept in sociology called "the looking-glass self". It says that our sense of self is shaped by the reactions of others. Now, if my sense of self hinged on the reaction of my students, I would be selling advertising time to commercial sponsors or maybe trying to figure out a way to convert myself into a full screen model (it's a good thing I don't come with a remote).

I am now in the habit of confronting students about their classroom demeanor and making comments to students when they walk into class late. Students really hate this. They long for the good old days when I stared at the back of the room and lectured to the collective unconscious. But those days are past and my student evaluations reflect it. After all, who wants a TV that not only observes the viewer but evaluates their behavior. How would you like it if your TV could comment on your posture ("don't slouch") or your eating habits ("do you really need that second piece of cheesecake?").  

So, I am not sure what strategy to pursue. However, I have been entertaining the idea of taping myself lecturing and then having media services televise the lectures to my students. This would make student behavior perfectly congruous with the educational delivery mode. I would also be integrating technology and teaching (some people think this is important). Yes, a true "televersity"! Don't worry, I would still hold office hours and attend department meetings. And if students missed a lecture they could always catch a rerun.