How does an adjunct instructor respond to this phone call
October 24, 2014 9:50 AM Subscribe
I'm freaking out, so would like advice to stop the freakout along with anything else. My boss told me that there had been "issues of classroom management" with regards to my teaching. What those issues are, I don't know. Neither does she. But I'm getting more job responsibilities because of it.
I teach at a community/junior college with a kind of rough demographic. I've had to take a few students aside this semester and tell them to stop the talking. I know that one of those students complained, and I met with my supervisor, and everything seemed cool.
So I was sort of blindsided when my supervisor's boss called me and said there had been issues of classroom management, and thus she wanted me to shadow an instructor who has excellent classroom management skills.
This shadowing business sounds awesome (I understand the idea of classroom management skill being an important aspect of teaching) but the demands of my existing teaching responsibilities and the fact the instructor I'm going to "shadow" teaches at a campus a fair distance from here, and I have no car, makes the shadowing thing rather burdensome. Moreover, there's the whole issue of not getting paid for this shadowing business.
In addition, I'm pretty frustrated at not knowing why this is happening. I can't get any more information until my supervisor comes back from vacation. My boss, the one who called me, couldn't tell me anything specifically. And this sort of busts my confidence -- I had thought I was doing well, and I've been teaching for a few years now, so I think know when things are going well.
Because I am an adjunct with no job security, I said yes to the shadowing without any complaint. But boy this doesn't seem fair. Fellow adjuncts or those who have been there: Should I continue my deferential approach to these requests and accept whatever complaints there are as gracefully as possible?
It is possible that all of this relates to this one girl who complained about me this semester and I'm teaching developmental classes next semester, with a more challenging demographic. But I'm spinning my wheels here, wondering if I am just the shittiest teacher in the world. Hope me.
I teach at a community/junior college with a kind of rough demographic. I've had to take a few students aside this semester and tell them to stop the talking. I know that one of those students complained, and I met with my supervisor, and everything seemed cool.
So I was sort of blindsided when my supervisor's boss called me and said there had been issues of classroom management, and thus she wanted me to shadow an instructor who has excellent classroom management skills.
This shadowing business sounds awesome (I understand the idea of classroom management skill being an important aspect of teaching) but the demands of my existing teaching responsibilities and the fact the instructor I'm going to "shadow" teaches at a campus a fair distance from here, and I have no car, makes the shadowing thing rather burdensome. Moreover, there's the whole issue of not getting paid for this shadowing business.
In addition, I'm pretty frustrated at not knowing why this is happening. I can't get any more information until my supervisor comes back from vacation. My boss, the one who called me, couldn't tell me anything specifically. And this sort of busts my confidence -- I had thought I was doing well, and I've been teaching for a few years now, so I think know when things are going well.
Because I am an adjunct with no job security, I said yes to the shadowing without any complaint. But boy this doesn't seem fair. Fellow adjuncts or those who have been there: Should I continue my deferential approach to these requests and accept whatever complaints there are as gracefully as possible?
It is possible that all of this relates to this one girl who complained about me this semester and I'm teaching developmental classes next semester, with a more challenging demographic. But I'm spinning my wheels here, wondering if I am just the shittiest teacher in the world. Hope me.
You are not the shittiest teacher in the world. I know this because you do actually care about your teaching skills, and you have been attempting to address issues with problem students.
You used the wording "...she wanted me to shadow an instructor...," this make it sound less than mandatory. In addition, she may not be aware of your transportation limitations and so may have chosen the "best" instructor for you to shadow, as opposed to the most feasible.
Do you have to start this shadowing right away? I would start by talking to your direct supervisor and say that shadowing at a far away campus won't work for you, and you'd like to try shadowing someone who teaches on your campus, preferably someone's whose class schedule means you don't have to spend a ton of extra time on campus.
Ideally, you would wait until after Boss-Boss comes back, explain the situation, and request a different assignment. It might work in your favour if you could have a good candidate already identified (so ask your direct supervisor who they would recommend).
posted by sparklemotion at 10:04 AM on October 24, 2014 [8 favorites]
You used the wording "...she wanted me to shadow an instructor...," this make it sound less than mandatory. In addition, she may not be aware of your transportation limitations and so may have chosen the "best" instructor for you to shadow, as opposed to the most feasible.
Do you have to start this shadowing right away? I would start by talking to your direct supervisor and say that shadowing at a far away campus won't work for you, and you'd like to try shadowing someone who teaches on your campus, preferably someone's whose class schedule means you don't have to spend a ton of extra time on campus.
Ideally, you would wait until after Boss-Boss comes back, explain the situation, and request a different assignment. It might work in your favour if you could have a good candidate already identified (so ask your direct supervisor who they would recommend).
posted by sparklemotion at 10:04 AM on October 24, 2014 [8 favorites]
If anyone pushes you to start this before your own boss is back, say you are looking forward to getting the most out of the shadowing and in order to do that you obviously need to know what it's supposed to teach you, viz., where you need to improve. In the "here were the problems, here's where we need improvement" conversation, also bring up that the shadowing needs to be geographically accessible to you and that you'd like to do it with X classroom (which you identified beforehand.)
Don't freak out. It's totally possible that the employee handbook just says something like "in the event of X kind of student complaint, have teacher refresh relevant skill by shadowing" and they're just following policy whether the complaint was legit or not.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:09 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Don't freak out. It's totally possible that the employee handbook just says something like "in the event of X kind of student complaint, have teacher refresh relevant skill by shadowing" and they're just following policy whether the complaint was legit or not.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:09 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Former adjunct of ~7 yrs.
You are not the shittiest teacher in the world. You are in the shittiest sort of teaching position in the world. When the helicopter parenting got obnoxious for me, I got out because it just made me a bitter bastard. That's what this is, and so long as the institutional incentives are to put butts in seats and get lots of tuition monies, instructors are going to be put in untenable positions that come down to "keep them happy but oh, also, we want to see a lot of student success."
That said, go with your instinct. You tell your supervisor what happened, why it's confusing, and get a gut check: are you screwing something up, or is this a pro forma exercise to address a specific complaint from a single student. If your supervisor can't be frank with you on that count, this person does not have your back, and should not be trusted to look out for you.
As much as I loved teaching and still love those aspects of my (utterly different) job that include those kinds of interactions, I'm pretty much always going to recommend people stay away from the contingent faculty trap. That said, if it's what you need to be doing right now, it's more than worth it in my opinion to find an institution/faculty that gives you the support it's essential you have, perhaps especially as regards parents.
Also, ensure you understand FERPA and its implications for your position.
On preview, good advice above.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 10:11 AM on October 24, 2014 [9 favorites]
You are not the shittiest teacher in the world. You are in the shittiest sort of teaching position in the world. When the helicopter parenting got obnoxious for me, I got out because it just made me a bitter bastard. That's what this is, and so long as the institutional incentives are to put butts in seats and get lots of tuition monies, instructors are going to be put in untenable positions that come down to "keep them happy but oh, also, we want to see a lot of student success."
That said, go with your instinct. You tell your supervisor what happened, why it's confusing, and get a gut check: are you screwing something up, or is this a pro forma exercise to address a specific complaint from a single student. If your supervisor can't be frank with you on that count, this person does not have your back, and should not be trusted to look out for you.
As much as I loved teaching and still love those aspects of my (utterly different) job that include those kinds of interactions, I'm pretty much always going to recommend people stay away from the contingent faculty trap. That said, if it's what you need to be doing right now, it's more than worth it in my opinion to find an institution/faculty that gives you the support it's essential you have, perhaps especially as regards parents.
Also, ensure you understand FERPA and its implications for your position.
On preview, good advice above.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 10:11 AM on October 24, 2014 [9 favorites]
I think that other people have good suggestions to deal with possibly modifying the request, but I am just dropping with another idea if you do want to work on/tackle teaching/career development.
This is something that I did use (on my own time) when I worked at university and I thought it was worth my time - I don't remember the exact name of it, but most colleges/universities that I worked at offered a "Excellence in Teaching" center or something like that. They offered 1) small classes, and 2) an activity that I learned the most from have them come in, observe your class, take a poll (get reviews) and feedback. You can start to modify your class based on this review.This did not have to go on the record- but I learned a great deal from that activity. 3) They also let you know about profs that were "best of" teaching whatever, and sometimes I observed those classes, just to get ideas.
At the time, I viewed it as the time spent was an investment in me, but I would understand if you don't want to do something that.
Good luck.
posted by Wolfster at 10:19 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is something that I did use (on my own time) when I worked at university and I thought it was worth my time - I don't remember the exact name of it, but most colleges/universities that I worked at offered a "Excellence in Teaching" center or something like that. They offered 1) small classes, and 2) an activity that I learned the most from have them come in, observe your class, take a poll (get reviews) and feedback. You can start to modify your class based on this review.This did not have to go on the record- but I learned a great deal from that activity. 3) They also let you know about profs that were "best of" teaching whatever, and sometimes I observed those classes, just to get ideas.
At the time, I viewed it as the time spent was an investment in me, but I would understand if you don't want to do something that.
Good luck.
posted by Wolfster at 10:19 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
If you're not already doing so, keeping very good documentation about which students you spoke to about what and when would be a good back-up for you, especially if you suspect that students are misrepresenting your contact with them to administration.
posted by quince at 10:30 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by quince at 10:30 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
How does an adjunct instructor respond to this phone call
I am not an academic, but whatever the particulars, the answer to this question is: by email.
Document and CYA.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:42 AM on October 24, 2014 [6 favorites]
I am not an academic, but whatever the particulars, the answer to this question is: by email.
Document and CYA.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:42 AM on October 24, 2014 [6 favorites]
Current adjunct here...
One thing that has helped me in being an adjunct is to think about how I would respond to things like this if I were an empowered male. Maybe you are male, but you don't sound empowered. When I say empowered male, I mean the kind of issues discussed here. I'm a woman and I tend to bow down in front of authority, especially as an adjunct who can be tossed aside for pretty much any reason. Having an issue comes up tends to make me feel like the world is coming to an end.
I would suggest considering looking at it like this:
1. The fact that they haven't just decided to not hire you again means that they value you.
2. You have the right to know what is going on.
3. You have the right to do this under the direction of your boss.
4. You have the right to tell them that shadowing, while interesting to you and something you're willing to do, would be a hardship given the logistics.
You can undo anything you've done, meaning, if you said you'd do it, you can say you've changed your mind and want to talk to your boss first.
As for confidence, remember that as an adjunct you usually never hear anything about your teaching unless there is a problem, which I think makes everything feel bigger than it is. If you're an adjunct, I think by definition you're committed to teaching (or incredibly desperate :)
One student complaining is not a testament to who you are as a teacher.
And I'll tell you a funny story to cheer you up.
I'm pretty much at the end of my rope personally. My daughter has developed horrible neuropathy and is pain all the time and everything just feels like its falling apart. In the face of this I've still had to teach my introductory sociology class at a community college.
For some reason, last week when I was talking about deviance and conformity I started talking about how pornography now tells women they not only have to have perfect face, but a porn-star body. Then I started talking about labiaplasty. And some of my students clearly didn't know what a labia is and the rest had never heard of labiaplasty. They, in fact, did not believe me that it existed.
So, I pulled it up on Wikipedia. And there was a small picture of a vagina with arrows pointing to the labia. The picture was small enough that no one could see what it was on the massive monitors that project my screen. Thank god.
Then, for some reason, I decided to CLICK ON IT. And the screens were FILLED with a massive, shaved vagina. (You can see the picture hereb - NSFW unless you are a sociology teacher who is out of her mind) And, instead of saying, "OH SHIT" and closing it, I just moved my cursor around casually saying, "Yep. There's the labia." And when I saw the shocked faces I said, "Oh, come one, this is college. Get over it."
I just DID NOT CARE.
All week I've been waiting for a call from the dean where I either have to explain why I put two six-by-eight foot shaved vaginas on the wall and/or I get fired for putting huge vaginas on the wall. So, at least you didn't do that.
:)
posted by orsonet at 10:55 AM on October 24, 2014 [61 favorites]
One thing that has helped me in being an adjunct is to think about how I would respond to things like this if I were an empowered male. Maybe you are male, but you don't sound empowered. When I say empowered male, I mean the kind of issues discussed here. I'm a woman and I tend to bow down in front of authority, especially as an adjunct who can be tossed aside for pretty much any reason. Having an issue comes up tends to make me feel like the world is coming to an end.
I would suggest considering looking at it like this:
1. The fact that they haven't just decided to not hire you again means that they value you.
2. You have the right to know what is going on.
3. You have the right to do this under the direction of your boss.
4. You have the right to tell them that shadowing, while interesting to you and something you're willing to do, would be a hardship given the logistics.
You can undo anything you've done, meaning, if you said you'd do it, you can say you've changed your mind and want to talk to your boss first.
As for confidence, remember that as an adjunct you usually never hear anything about your teaching unless there is a problem, which I think makes everything feel bigger than it is. If you're an adjunct, I think by definition you're committed to teaching (or incredibly desperate :)
One student complaining is not a testament to who you are as a teacher.
And I'll tell you a funny story to cheer you up.
I'm pretty much at the end of my rope personally. My daughter has developed horrible neuropathy and is pain all the time and everything just feels like its falling apart. In the face of this I've still had to teach my introductory sociology class at a community college.
For some reason, last week when I was talking about deviance and conformity I started talking about how pornography now tells women they not only have to have perfect face, but a porn-star body. Then I started talking about labiaplasty. And some of my students clearly didn't know what a labia is and the rest had never heard of labiaplasty. They, in fact, did not believe me that it existed.
So, I pulled it up on Wikipedia. And there was a small picture of a vagina with arrows pointing to the labia. The picture was small enough that no one could see what it was on the massive monitors that project my screen. Thank god.
Then, for some reason, I decided to CLICK ON IT. And the screens were FILLED with a massive, shaved vagina. (You can see the picture hereb - NSFW unless you are a sociology teacher who is out of her mind) And, instead of saying, "OH SHIT" and closing it, I just moved my cursor around casually saying, "Yep. There's the labia." And when I saw the shocked faces I said, "Oh, come one, this is college. Get over it."
I just DID NOT CARE.
All week I've been waiting for a call from the dean where I either have to explain why I put two six-by-eight foot shaved vaginas on the wall and/or I get fired for putting huge vaginas on the wall. So, at least you didn't do that.
:)
posted by orsonet at 10:55 AM on October 24, 2014 [61 favorites]
First, consult your contract. You may not want to push back on this if you're worried about losing the gig, but you're already close to losing the gig - not because of what happened or didn't happen in the classroom -- but because you're an adjunct and all adjuncts are always close to losing the gig.
If shadowing falls outside your contract, then I'd take shadowing as a suggestion and make a list of things (resources) you'd need to have to accomplish it. For some people, it's extra pay - they won't say yes and would likely not hire you again. I think it's reasonable to say "I may be able to shadow someone, but it would have to be nearby, and fit with my schedule."
The real issue here is the lack of specifics. "Can you give me some details about the specific complaint? Or the specific skills you'd like me to demonstrate?"
This idea for shadowing comes from somewhere. It's probably an effort on the administrator's part to shut the student's pie-hole without having to go through official channels. It's quite possible you could fail to do the shadowing and no one is ever going to check to see if you did it.
So some of your questions for your supervisor when he/she is back are:
What's going on here?
What are my options?
Is it a requirement that I shadow?
This scenario doesn't appear in my contract, what resources are available to compensate me for my time?
(BTW, this is why some adjuncts want a union. If you were unionized, you could've met with your boss and had a union rep sitting beside you - both as a witness, and as a fact-checker.)
posted by vitabellosi at 11:03 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
If shadowing falls outside your contract, then I'd take shadowing as a suggestion and make a list of things (resources) you'd need to have to accomplish it. For some people, it's extra pay - they won't say yes and would likely not hire you again. I think it's reasonable to say "I may be able to shadow someone, but it would have to be nearby, and fit with my schedule."
The real issue here is the lack of specifics. "Can you give me some details about the specific complaint? Or the specific skills you'd like me to demonstrate?"
This idea for shadowing comes from somewhere. It's probably an effort on the administrator's part to shut the student's pie-hole without having to go through official channels. It's quite possible you could fail to do the shadowing and no one is ever going to check to see if you did it.
So some of your questions for your supervisor when he/she is back are:
What's going on here?
What are my options?
Is it a requirement that I shadow?
This scenario doesn't appear in my contract, what resources are available to compensate me for my time?
(BTW, this is why some adjuncts want a union. If you were unionized, you could've met with your boss and had a union rep sitting beside you - both as a witness, and as a fact-checker.)
posted by vitabellosi at 11:03 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Does your college do detailed teaching evaluations at the end of term? That will clarify for you whether there was one student outlier with a chip on his/her shoulder, or whether you need to adjust your classroom style.
I strongly doubt that you are a shitty teacher. The very fact that you care suggests that you are a good teacher! Don't let it get to you.
posted by LauraJ at 12:28 PM on October 24, 2014
I strongly doubt that you are a shitty teacher. The very fact that you care suggests that you are a good teacher! Don't let it get to you.
posted by LauraJ at 12:28 PM on October 24, 2014
Would it be possible to substitute a teaching day with a shadowing day? (In other words, just cancel class.) This would mean that you were getting paid for your time. While it might appear that your current students would get short-changed in this exchange, perhaps the argument could be made that they will benefit more from your continued professional development than from that one day in class?
And I agree with orsonet's point regarding thinking like an empowered [white] man. While this is not instinctive for me, I find it easier when I focus on what I can do to make the situation better for adjuncts everywhere by asking "If I were to do this, what types of expectations will I be setting for the treatment of future adjunct?" In your specific case, what types of expectations will you be setting about the value of your time (and the time of other adjuncts).
To demonstrate your commitment to teaching, perhaps you could find some teaching workshops or other professional development opportunities and suggest that your department fund this training? As vitabellosi points out, there is little risk in pushing back. You, like every other adjunct, are close to losing the gig.
And, just for the future, do you have any classroom management policies on your syllabus? For instance, do you acknowledge in your syllabus that you have the right to ask disruptive students to leave? Do you explain the consequences for disruptive behavior? This might be something to consider next semester.
posted by ASlackerPestersMums at 1:38 PM on October 24, 2014
And I agree with orsonet's point regarding thinking like an empowered [white] man. While this is not instinctive for me, I find it easier when I focus on what I can do to make the situation better for adjuncts everywhere by asking "If I were to do this, what types of expectations will I be setting for the treatment of future adjunct?" In your specific case, what types of expectations will you be setting about the value of your time (and the time of other adjuncts).
To demonstrate your commitment to teaching, perhaps you could find some teaching workshops or other professional development opportunities and suggest that your department fund this training? As vitabellosi points out, there is little risk in pushing back. You, like every other adjunct, are close to losing the gig.
And, just for the future, do you have any classroom management policies on your syllabus? For instance, do you acknowledge in your syllabus that you have the right to ask disruptive students to leave? Do you explain the consequences for disruptive behavior? This might be something to consider next semester.
posted by ASlackerPestersMums at 1:38 PM on October 24, 2014
The shadowing thing sounds like it might be an administrator trying to cover his/her own ass. Perhaps you can agree to the shadowing, but hold off on it till some time in the semester when you have time to do it without it affecting your focus on what you are doing in the classroom, which, of course, is your main priority?
posted by wittgenstein at 2:33 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by wittgenstein at 2:33 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
the bottom-line here is that you, as an adjunct, are totally replaceable. if you think your boss has your back: you're wrong. permanent community college faculty can see that they are totally replaceable by adjuncts, who often are better teachers with better academic credentials.
face the fact that this is a dead-end job. everyone at the community college, from the students on up is taking advantage of you. look for an escape route.
this is what a learned adjunct teaching at a community college. personally, i would just not do the shadowing and dare them to fire me. they might not even notice. but the thing is that the sooner you find another job the better, this job is literally leading you nowhere.
posted by ennui.bz at 3:42 PM on October 24, 2014
face the fact that this is a dead-end job. everyone at the community college, from the students on up is taking advantage of you. look for an escape route.
this is what a learned adjunct teaching at a community college. personally, i would just not do the shadowing and dare them to fire me. they might not even notice. but the thing is that the sooner you find another job the better, this job is literally leading you nowhere.
posted by ennui.bz at 3:42 PM on October 24, 2014
Supervisor, I don't know if you're aware that I don't have a car. Shadowing Instructor X is a great idea, but the transportation will take so much time that I will only be able to do it once or twice. Is there anyone on this campus whose classes I could sit in on?
and
It would be helpful if you could give me specifics of classroom management issues for me to work on, or perhaps you have some literature on the subject.
posted by theora55 at 6:58 AM on October 25, 2014
and
It would be helpful if you could give me specifics of classroom management issues for me to work on, or perhaps you have some literature on the subject.
posted by theora55 at 6:58 AM on October 25, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks everybody.
Your comments had the great effect of calming me down. I'm going to consider carefully how much I'll push back. And I'm going to amp up my efforts to find another job.
posted by IwishIwasFordMaddoxFord at 7:13 AM on October 25, 2014
Your comments had the great effect of calming me down. I'm going to consider carefully how much I'll push back. And I'm going to amp up my efforts to find another job.
posted by IwishIwasFordMaddoxFord at 7:13 AM on October 25, 2014
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posted by k8t at 9:57 AM on October 24, 2014