Franken: The Importance of Learning from Others’ Stories

CANYON, Texas — She remained quiet during the first night of class, but she stayed afterwards, waiting for everyone else to leave before approaching me.

I, a young and flustered professor teaching his first master’s-level seminar in communications, wasn’t sure what to expect. I smiled nervously, but she was scowling when she abruptly said, “I’ll have you know that I have already been treated unfairly by others in the department and will not put up with any more.”

This was my first introduction to a female, international student in her mid-40s whom I’ll call Z. But I was already aware of her reputation in the school: While applying to the program, she yelled at the graduate director and department chair when they told her that her writing sample would be run through an online plagiarism check, following standard procedure.

“I was singled out, and they discriminated against me,” Z told me.

“Oh, um, I’m sure it was just, uh, um, a misunderstanding and I’m sorry,” I said, stumbling over my words, but before I could finish, she said, “Nope. No misunderstanding,” and quickly turned around and left.

I felt defeated. Not only had I failed to stand up for my colleagues, I had allowed Z to control the interaction and, thus, set the tone for our relationship.

Before too long, she began challenging her classmates aggressively during discussion. Her arguments frequently were superior — she had read and understood the material and could engage intellectually — but her approach was rude and snarly. My attempts to calm the environment were clumsy and without conviction. Soon, she was challenging me directly, telling me during class that the material was high school level and my lectures were average and not interesting.

After I learned that she had been disruptive in my colleagues’ classes and that some students felt concerned about their safety, Z never showed up in my classroom again. She was off my roster the following week.

I never learned if Z withdrew on her own, but there was a lot of Z’s story that I never knew. I’m sure her story — as a foreign, female student with a dark complexion and a thick accent now living in rural West Texas — is more complicated than I considered at the time.

I could have tried to understand the circumstances that led to her behavior. I could have made it a priority to present clear, firm guidelines on acceptable classroom behavior at the beginning of the semester, and also make clear the consequences for violations and follow through by enforcing them.

And I also could have considered that she came from a different culture and that she may have different expectations of me as an instructor. In a communication classroom, particularly, I could have used this as a springboard for a conversation about the influence of culture on communication and the meaning of a democratic balance of power in a context where a clear (and unelected) authority figure exists. Beyond just discussion, this could have been an experiential learning activity.

Disruptive student behavior is increasing in college classrooms, yet many instructors are not adequately trained to manage it. Further, many instructors may be reluctant or embarrassed to admit that, at times, they lose control of their classrooms.

There is a lot we do not know about each other’s stories, which is why it is not only important to make a point to provide opportunities for our students, whether in the classroom or in office hours, to share their stories and to listen. It is simple to do — to step back and listen — but we often forget, especially as people used to lecturing and being listened to, how impactful that can be. 

Dr. Noah Franken is an assistant professor of communication studies at West Texas A&M University. He joined the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities in 2014. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Marquette University in 2006, a Master of Arts degree in communication studies from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2010, and a doctorate in communication studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2014. A version of this article was published in the academic journal “Communication Education.” The comments in this article are the author's personal opinions and should not be attributed to West Texas A&M University.

—WTAMU—