Personal Life in the Classroom

Sharing personal history in a composition class provides valuable insight into the writing process. There are many fields – psychology, sociology, art, etc. – where revealing personal information increases the immediacy of learning, especially with 18-22 year olds who may not have much life experience to draw from (although I feel everyone has some important life experience, no matter their age!) 
Sharing personal information about relationships might not be so appropriate in an economics class, but even there, sharing financial mistakes and hardships can personalize abstract concepts.
I say, share away!

“In the composition classroom, I want my students to feel comfortable enough to share their deepest emotions — in discussion maybe, but at least (and especially) in writing. ” 

While I want my students to be comfortable in my classroom, I don’t think their deepest emotions are really any of my business. In fact, I prefer to know as little about their emotional lives as possible, not because I’m heartless, but because it interferes with teaching and evaluation. To illustrate: when I was a novice composition instructor, I required my students to write personal narratives for their first assignment. One student wrote about her decision to become an oncologist because many of her loved ones had been affected by cancer. The essay, unfortunately, was terrible, and I couldn’t get the student to see how my criticisms of the essay weren’t criticisms of her and of her experiences. Perhaps that’s a failing on my part, but I’ve found that it’s much easier to discuss the form and content of student writing when they’re not pouring their hearts out onto the page. 

Don’t be so self absorbed.  What if sharing your deepest emotions creeps them out and distances them from you?

That is a great question. As a mathematics instructor, I too share my personal experiences with my class. Of course, some aspects of our lives are taboo. However, I think you are doing an exemplary job with your students. 

It seems to me that if you go to “the deepest emotions”-level you have to study and adhere to the ethical parameters of opening those doors.   If you plan on going to “the deepest emotions”-level, students should know about it before drop-and-add…that way you can be better assured that the students you have are interested in the learning/writing experience you can offer, and you can be assured that students aren’t becoming committed to a class that may involve too much swimming in the deep end of the pool. 

Although much of the artistry of writing fiction may be in the ‘deep emotions’, freshman composition seems a little bit early in a writer’s college career to go there. Obviously, you mean to keep the class a learning experience in writing for the students, and not let it become some kind of therapy.  

Bart Schuster
Arrive2.net
Twitter.com/arrive2_net

Making a personal connection with students is one of the most powerful things we can do as educators. A colleague of my once said that she teaches students about ______. The primary focus of her teaching is to connect to the students in the seats in the classroom. I have had professors who are warm and personable and I have had professors who were cold and distant. Both groups had the same pedigree and level of intellect, but the former clearly made a much bigger impact on my academic, professional and personal lives. 

Whether it is communication, English, history or politics (I’ve taught all four at one point over the last decade), I always share how my personal experiences shape my understanding of the field. Such sharing often comes with a personal story or two and sets me apart from some of my colleagues.  Last semester, a student asked me to write him a recommendation because I was the only professor he had that term who actually knew his name. If that is not an endorsement for sharing a bit of yourself with your students, I don’t know what is.

As a provost of three years, I have had to deal with only two or three incidents where professors shared personal data in class with a negative result.  I consider that a very low number.

There is a line that marks the boundary between sharing that hinders teaching & sharing that helps it.  I think this line is usually fairly easy to see, but I work in a fairly homogeneous institution.  The more diverse your classroom, the more complicated the issue may be.

If it works for you students–and they take the class seriously– that is great.

In my composition class I share openly and honestly about my personal challenges with my writing process and my struggle to write with authority and my own voice. 

Not quite able to open up about my personal life yet. 

Since it is a Composition class, do you have standards for the class (even the college’s course description) and/or rubrics to help guide how much to share. To me, the how much is the question, not the if. I think it has to happen, especially if you engage them with some of your personal history as directed around writing and process.

Does the course prescribe things like “students will write a variety of essays, some based around personal observations and experiences”? If so, use that. Just be careful with the how much.

To me, the rubric helps you NOT to run into the issue of a student feeling his/her personal history is being attacked when his/her personal narrative essay has mechanical, structural, format, and/or content errors and problems.

YOU should draw the lines on the front end: what is shared, what is not, how the sharing happens, AND how it will be assessed relative to course competencies.

I share a huge amount of my personal life with students in the classroom.  Ocassionally, a student will criticize me for it in evaluations, but over 20 years of teaching I have gotten a far, far greater number of favorable evaluations for establishing an atmosphere of openness, trust and equality in my classes. My ultimate goal is to invite students into an ongoing dialogue within my discipline (economics), and to help them to understand the channels of mutual causation through which economics, politics, culture, etc. are related.  Dialogue does not easily take place between abstract functionaries like faceless “professors” and “students.”  It takes place between people who feel comfortable relating to each other as concrete, individual human persons.  Incidentally, I would also like to help them become better, more reflective, more morally aware people as a result of engaging in this process.

What I share about my personal life in the classroom is not an exercise in exhibitionism or catharsis, but is rather an attempt to bend the abstract, functionary relationships between “professors” and ”students” that characterize much of higher education.  I maintain my authority by earning their respect.  Since my classes are considered “rainmakers” for my department, and are highly sought after even by students whose major area of interest lies far outside of my discipline,  I do not plan on changing my method anytime soon, whether it is viewed as “professional” or not.

I think there’s a real difference between “sharing a bit of yourself” and sharing  profound emotional experiences/reactions.  I frequently tell stories “on” myself to prove that students who make errors join a big club, and sometimes stories about my son that illustrate a point I am trying to make.  This practice does establish a sense of connection.  But I would certainly NOT tell stories about hugely important, hugely affective issues.  Students are a captive audience, we’re there to teach them, not to have a built-in confessional. Arrive_2 and Wrapped up in Books make excellent points with which I concur.

I would imagine this is the perfect forum for my comment.  I just read the student survey results for the Quarter.  One student at one campus will not return for his/her BA because I graded based upon my mood.  Amazing…I remarked early in the quarter that late in the afternoon, when I receive moronic questions by email (usually an hour before the assignment is due), I become a bit terse in my response, but still respond.  Oh to have such power that a class designed to assist students in writing a resume and other professional documents would hold so much weight  in the decision to move forward from an AA. Could it be…that the documents had to be self-generated…that there were no group assignments?  Perhaps. 

At another campus a student indicated I should be told to buy “girl clothes”.  I like menswear, and wore it frequently throughout the Quarter  Two Quarters ago I dripped in pearls and wore pumps. It’s all pretty amazing what is important to note on a survey.  I had already decided to wear alot of lace and wool jersey this Quarter…but after the comments…I am tempted to give the tie another Quarter.  Don’t want the little rascal to believe he/she had that much power over me.  How very silly. 

Most of the remarks were supportive (although some would like to use the text a bit more), they like to find answers in the book. Funny…we used the text alot…but in a different way.  You had to apply what you had read.  No lower level of Bloom’s Taxonomy for me!!!

One brave soul, (with exclamation points) Best class ever!! Give her a raise!!!.  Bless whoever…not going to happen…but the thought is there.  This is a class in group dynamics and I teach it scenario based with business related interaction.  Most of the students loved it.  Some would rather yell and scream at each other about abortion and religion…nah. 

Ahhh….the student survey….any mention of technology, classes, hours?  very few.  Some whining…but mostly students had a good time, worked, and learned alot.  Mission accomplished. 

I respect what you are doing and it seems to work for you and your course. Nevertheless, and though I am not emotionally closed and rigid, I was never the type of student who would feel comfortable getting to the “deepest emotional level” in class–even in the composition class–since class is not group therapy. I was there to learn how to write well, not to learn how to pour out my innermost feelings on paper or in class discussion. When I had professors do that, it didn’t make me open up any more than I would had the professor not done that.  I did feel somewhat uncomfortable, yet I don’t think I lost any respect for the professor or considered he or she had lost authority.  I didn’t respond by baring my emotions either. I just felt it was his or her style and left it at that.   

I suggest the Ivy model – recruit them as athletes (if they qualify academically) and provide only need-based aid.  Many student-athletes would continue to qualify for full aid based on need.