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[expatinuk]

I was reading the 'You Suck' thread and I was struck by just how that would NOT happen at my university.  I'm not saying that my students are all little angels and don't trash talk behind my back. But to my face? Nooooo....

I did have a student trash talk about me on a piece of paper that he left lying in the baseroom. When it was discovered and he was called on the carpet about it, he was horribly embarrassed and wrote a very long letter to me apologizing. As a note... I never saw the piece of paper. It was seen by another Course Leader who read the student the riot act.

Have any of y'all had any problems with students cursing you to your face?

[babbinacara]

My "you suck" story:
 I was doing my three weeks in a team-taught course, and at the beginning of my final lecture I said "This is my last lecture...." And before I could continue with "and next week you'll have Prof X on subject Y", some kid at the back cheered.

I was taken aback but managed to say something like "well, at least everyone isn't clapping and cheering right now" and pressed on through my lecture. The student did come up after the lecture and apologized profusely, said hu did enjoy my lectures a lot and didn't know what had gotten into hu. Hu went on to take three more courses with me so apparently wasn't lying.

[britmom]

I've never experienced anything close to this. What intrigues me is that at a previous institution I taught a LOT of American students (around 50% of the class), but they were all perfect darlings. No abuse, no complaints about grades, no requests for extensions (over and above the norm). Some were exchange students, whilst others were studying in the UK full time. I've wondered whether they were copying the behaviour of local students, or whether I got the cream of the crop.

[scotia]

I have only once been sworn at by a student. Given that we were on a soccer pitch and I had just proved rather niftier than he expected in a tackle I forgave him (he was a mature postgraduate and usually a very polite young man). I can't imagine any student who swore at a staff or faculty member in a professional context lasting more than about 2 minutes with our Dean for Student Affairs (and we would be expected to report any incidents). Even the merest suggestion of eye-rolling would result in a severe rebuke from most of my colleagues.

[orienteer]

The UK version is to be charming to your face, and then do the "hu sucks" or near equivalent in the anonymous online course evaluation. And, yes it happened to me, and I really didn't like it.....

[scotia]

The UK version is to be charming to your face, and then do the "hu sucks" or near equivalent in the anonymous online course evaluation. And, yes it happened to me, and I really didn't like it.....

Our students are told that if they want their feedback to count, gratuitous offensiveness must be avoided. Any form that includes anything that is rude or personal is immediately removed from the sample. Our nice admin person also removes forms that suggest a student with a grudge (every single box marked with the lowest possible score is one of her immediate red flags). We are still using a paper-based system (the online experiment resulted in unacceptably low feedback rates) and for many courses there is no scope for comments, but where comments are possible the quality of feedback has hugely improved with the no offensiveness requirement.

[sandgrounder]

I was actually quite shocked by the original thread. If any student spoke to one of us that way we would have to report it and the dignity at work procedure would kick in. I once had a student threatening an admin assistant to make her accept late work and he was reported. He bitterly regretted it once the student disciplinary committee got involved and he was made to grovel or get thrown out...
I can't say either that I've had any unanticipated bad feedback on questionnaires - in the cases it's been personally vindictive I could tell you which student as I knew they didn't like me. But then I'm British so maybe I pick up on that 'ultra-polite I hate you' stuff earlier than non-UK folks would so it doesn't come as a surprise. Scotia's place's system sounds good though. I might suggest that to our lot. Ours let you see feedback uncensored and I really hate the way the odd vindictive comment upsets new TAs who then ignore all the good remarks that more than balance it out.
On britmom's comment - we have US exchange students from a few different colleges - most are nice and careful to adapt to local norms, they do tend to struggle academically as they lack the subject knowlege but they try hard and we try to cut them the slack their effort deserves and give them extra help. We enjoy having them and it enriches our campus. But there is one apparently fairly elite college that consistently sends us horrible, poorly educated, entitlement ridden horrors. I suspect that it's not a US-wide phenomenen but rather specific to certain college cultures where they know they can get away with it.

[ideagirl]

The UK version is to be charming to your face, and then do the "hu sucks" or near equivalent in the anonymous online course evaluation.

Bingo. Such are English social mores. When I was living in the UK, sharing a house with some British (English) students and a couple of Russian illegal immigrants, I once had the following conversation with one of the illegals--let's call him Ivan--about one of the English girls (let's call her Emma).

Ivan: Do you like Emma?
Me: Mmm... no, not really.
Ivan: Yes, this is what I am thinking, you do not like each other! So I am wondering why this happen: every time when she see you she say "Oh hallo hallo Ideagirl how are you hallo I love you it is so nice to see you," but then when you leave she is saying "Oh I hate Ideagirl, I cannot stand her!"
Me: (cracking up)
Ivan: Why is she doing this? Is this English thing? This would never happen in Russia! In Russia she would say to you, "I hate you, get away from my face," and not speak to you ever. We would not waste time with this pretending to like someone if really we do not like them. Is this English thing, are English people like this always?!

[the_walrus]

The UK version is to be charming to your face, and then do the "hu sucks" or near equivalent in the anonymous online course evaluation.

Bingo. Such are English social mores. When I was living in the UK, sharing a house with some British (English) students and a couple of Russian illegal immigrants, I once had the following conversation with one of the illegals--let's call him Ivan--about one of the English girls (let's call her Emma).

Ivan: Do you like Emma?
Me: Mmm... no, not really.
Ivan: Yes, this is what I am thinking, you do not like each other! So I am wondering why this happen: every time when she see you she say "Oh hallo hallo Ideagirl how are you hallo I love you it is so nice to see you," but then when you leave she is saying "Oh I hate Ideagirl, I cannot stand her!"
Me: (cracking up)
Ivan: Why is she doing this? Is this English thing? This would never happen in Russia! In Russia she would say to you, "I hate you, get away from my face," and not speak to you ever. We would not waste time with this pretending to like someone if really we do not like them. Is this English thing, are English people like this always?!

Great post, but why do I want to read it with the accent of Manuel from Fawlty Towers?

[ideagirl]

Great post, but why do I want to read it with the accent of Manuel from Fawlty Towers?

Because it's just that funny. :-)
But do try the Russian accent--and make sure to transform "h" (as in hallo) to that radio static/throat-clearing sound that I represent as "khkhkh." It makes it all the funnier.

I do wonder what ever became of "Ivan." He was a funny guy, though often unintentionally so. I just hope he managed not to vaporize his neurons with the bright chartreuse illegal homemade liquor he was always drinking. That stuff made my eyeballs burn from five feet away.

[frenchdoctor]

The UK version is to be charming to your face, and then do the "hu sucks" or near equivalent in the anonymous online course evaluation.

That's how these ruffians play rugby, too. And won at Azincourt.

[ideagirl]

That's how these ruffians play rugby, too. And won at Azincourt.

And won here in the US (against the Indians, I mean). I read somewhere that one of the Native American words for "white person" literally means "spider," because we're so devious and crafty. Cue Andrew Jackson: "Gee, you folks look cold, have some blankets... that are infected with smallpox..."