Kerux: a portfolio of Calvin Theological Seminary - Volume 41.15 - 19 March 2007

Respect for professors lacking

by Kevin C. Vande Streek, Contributing Editor

Brothers and Sisters at CTS, would you mind if I voiced a concern of mine with you and asked you to please respond, whether you agree or disagree? If so, could we agree to be respectful of one another?

Although I recently learned the name for this phenomenon in Professor Nydam’s class, I had recognized and have been concerned about this condition for a few months. My concern is with a prevailing attitude of entitlement in the CTS student body.

Mostly, this sense of entitlement manifests itself verbally. I’m sad to say this, but there are a lot of nasty things being said about professors by students here at CTS. In fact, I’ve heard students gossip, cut-down and down-right slander their educators both outside of, and inside of, the walls of this institution.

Perhaps I’m biased because my dad is a college professor, or maybe I’m biased because I taught English in a university setting in China for two years (obviously vastly different than being a theology professor here, yet, they are fundamentally the same) but I feel that there is a certain amount of respect that needs to be granted to a professor, simply because he or she is a professor.

Listen, I’m not advocating that professors are perfect (in some cases, far from it). I actually believe that students have an important voice in holding their professors accountable. The question is, just what do they need to be held accountable for, and then, just how does a student provide that accountability?

It seems that a student has a right to expect a professor to be professional in the academic sense. Meaning, he/she will know the material that they teach very well and secondly, that that material will be communicated to the students to the best of the professor’s ability. It also seems fair to expect that professors will develop and maintain themselves spiritually, as well as teach orthodox Christianity with a Reformed emphasis.

But what does a student have the right to expect from a professor as far as their personality is concerned? Certainly students can expect to be treated respectfully. But just how we define “respectfully” is, I believe, where most of the friction comes from that causes much of student discord.

Does “respectfully” entail the professor eventually agreeing with me if I make an objection and disagree with what he/she is saying? I don’t believe so. In fact, I learned the hard way (at Calvin College in the philosophy department) that if you go toe to toe with a professor, and his/her argumentation is far better than yours (which, it inevitably is) and if you’re being a little arrogant about the whole thing, well, let’s just say I deserved my ego being bruised (repeatedly). It seems to me that the professor can quite respectfully put you in your place (and that my be the best thing for you).

What if we ask a professor for an extension on our paper and he/she doesn’t give it to us? Do we have any reason for being upset with them? I say no. Too often have I asked for an extension and been granted it—so much so that I almost expected it when I asked Professor Feenstra for one last quarter. When he didn’t grant me the extension that I sought, I realized that this specific action should not be considered a “given”. Instead, if an extension is given, it is an undeserved blessing. In the long run, I’m much more thankful for the drop in my grade and my professor holding to his standards than for the ability to work the system one more time.

There are a ton of other examples that I could give here, but they all revolve around a common theme: I am the student, I am the one paying tuition, I am special, I don’t like discipline because it is difficult, I, I, I…

As students, there is a temptation to attach an unhealthy sense of our self-worth onto every grade that we receive and onto interactions that we have with our professors. What’s scary is when that temptation actually morphs with entitlement into a temptation to expect that my sense of self-worth will continually be stroked.

But all of this is beside the point anyway. If a professor is genuinely not committed to academically excellence, developing him/herself spiritually or is treating students disrespectfully (when in doubt, double-check with two or three other students to see if they are also of the same opinion that a professor is not just being tough, but disrespectful) then go through one of the many avenues that CTS has provided and voice your concern. Fill out a student evaluation about that professor and respectfully submit your concerns. Or, (here’s an original idea), visit with that professor face-to-face in his office.

If you or I are upset with anyone we shouldn’t gossip about that person behind his/her back. That’s basic Christianity 101. Even if you or I feel that we’ve been treated disrespectfully by a professor, that doesn’t give us license to say whatever we want. To say something like: “Professor … is just poor. He treats people terribly,” isn’t just disrespectful of the professor, it questions God’s ordination of that person to the position that he/she is in and it questions the intellect and faith of an entire board of people, the president and vice presidents of CTS, as well as that professor’s colleagues who have allowed him to remain in his position. “Professor…is just poor. He treats people terribly.”—Really? Over thirty people involved in the hiring/tenure process of a professor and they all got it wrong? Or is it your and my sense of entitlement getting the better of us? Because if that’s the case, when we make a blanket statement like the aforementioned example, we’re the ones who look foolish and are acting disrespectfully.

As students we do have an important job of holding our professors accountable. But let’s start by showing them a certain amount of respect for who they are and the office they hold. Can we also give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that they are doing the best that they can? Also, let’s evaluate them on criteria that are realistic and in accordance with the office they hold. Finally, if we do have concerns or questions, let’s be sure to voice those through the appropriate avenues and in a way that we would want others to voice their questions and concerns with us.