What
am I talking about? Well, here’s the
situation – after experiencing a rather high level of absenteeism last semester
in my classes, I decided to try a different strategy with regard to the attendance
policy in each of my classes. Rather
than have attendance count as part of the overall grade (like 15%, or 10%), I
would not count it. Instead, only assignments/exams
would count for assessing their grade.
And attendance would only be taken to ensure students attended more than
25% of the class meetings. If they
missed more than 25%, they’d earned a F…they could not pass the course if they
missed that much. Now, the reality is
that a student who misses that much generally achieves quite little on assignments,
usually fails, in fact, because we all know that showing up is half the
equation. Study after study shows that
students who go to class do significantly better (go figure, right?!). So, that was the deal, in courses that met
MWF, you could miss 10 classes for whatever reason – appointments, slept in,
concert out of town, whatever…but if you missed more than 10, you’d earned the
F. And in classes that met T/Th, you
could miss 7. Now, the only, ONLY
exceptions were the extreme case of prolonged illness/chronic situation that a
student made known to me and if a death occurred in their family that resulted
in an absence or two for services/traveling.
This struck me as a pretty reasonable, if not lenient, policy.
Well,
here I am, exam time, it’s time to count the absences, and I’ve a pretty good
feeling that I have a number of students who are not going to be happy. And so I’m torn – do I stick with the policy,
do what I said, what the policy in each one of my syllabus clearly makes plain,
and they face the music, as it were? Or
do I make exceptions, recognize that this is college, and that somehow means
something else…
I’ll
be honest, I can’t decide if I’m torn because I want them to like me, and if I
follow through on this policy, they might not.
Or is it because I was a student once too (longer ago than I like to
admit some days), and I know it’s easy to get distracted, have conflicting
priorities…Whatever the reasons, I have been thinking about what to do. But here’s the thing…I can’t help thinking
that I should be guided by being “for” them.
And then, here’s the real question – what does that look like?
Is
being “for” my students taking responsibility for them, when they should’ve
taken it themselves? Is being “for” them
having a policy and then not following it, sending a myriad of messages that I
probably don’t want to send? Is being
“for” them setting aside principle because of personalities? Is being “for” them making excuses when
that’s all they are, over and over and over?
No. In fact, trying to argue
there’s a “yes” answer to any of these questions has a name; it’s called enabling. And that is not a place I want to go in any
way, shape, or form. Enabling
irresponsible behavior and choices among my students, or anyone for that
matter, has no place in my work and life.
So,
it’s pretty obvious, the resounding answer to every one of those questions I
posed is No. It really is a no-brainer. And there’s more…I shared with a girlfriend
of mine from college my policy and the reality of this situation I’m facing
now, and she pointed out that a policy like this translated into the real world
of the workforce would be like a person having 3 months paid vacation a
year. Who has a job like that? Please share and sign me up! She’s right.
The “situation” I’ve just said I’m in is one I’m making for myself, when
the reality is that there is no situation.
My girlfriend and my husband are right.
The policy was and is clear. And
if I really want to be a person of integrity and principle, the best thing I
can do, is stick to it. Besides indeed wanting to be a person who says what she
means and means what she says, I also recognize the matter of fairness that is
at stake here.
See,
I have plenty of students who have not missed more than the 10 or 7 absences as
stipulated in the policy. These students
have shown-up. They’ve made the effort,
perhaps not always when they wanted to either, but they did. Because they understood the consequences and
responsibility required to avoid them.
It’s a matter of equity for them.
And as just about anyone who knows me can attest, if I’m about anything,
it is fairness and what is right for all equally.
So,
I think I have my answer. On the grounds
not only of being the person I believe myself to be, but also the teacher I
strive to be, along with fairness for all, holding students accountable to the
policy is “for” them. And here’s what
else…
Being
“for” them means having them learn the lesson now. Because here, now, while it may mean they fall
short on credit hours this semester, or they have to re-take the class, have to
add a course in a semester they hadn’t planned on, have to re-think a schedule
in the future, maybe even have to take a summer class to graduate, or add a
little time to get the degree, all of those are a far cry from it meaning
losing one’s job, getting passed over for promotion, failing to get insurance
for one’s kids, or losing one’s house, to name but a few real “grown-up”
consequences. Part of being grown-up
means taking responsibility. This policy
in my classes is an example, an opportunity, for doing just that. Most have succeeded swimmingly. But a few…well, a few, are about to see how
that bed they made really feels. I do
hope its sting doesn’t linger, but lingers enough for the lesson to take. This is one surely they only need learn once
for it to sink it. One can hope.
While
reading over this post before finishing-up here, it’s not so inspiring, in the
sense of uplifting, right? The sobering
reality of responsibility in adulthood doesn’t exactly sing like beautiful prose or poetry! Yet still, I’m taking solace in the truth
that being “for” students means maintaining principle and equity. I can confidently say that is a truth worth
upholding every time!
That’s
the news around the School Yard…here’s to hoping for some sunnier words next
time!
