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Hate is a strong word, and many professors I've talked to bristle at the idea that they harbor such strong feelings. I bristle, too. (We also have positive emotions, but that's a different story and a different blog post.) After all, we're not the seething Professor Snape who cannot help but rake Harry Potter over the coals at every opportunity, or the wild-eyed Mr. Heyman on Seinfeld who called George Costanza "Can't-Stand-Ya!" At the same time, most of us are perfectly happy to talk (gossip?) about our "problem" students to whom we react with emotions ranging from mild irritation and annoyance to disappointment, disgust, disapproval, and dislike. Some of us are willing to get violent or at least (like Snape) wear our hatred of students as a badge of honor. But these are extreme cases. Let's talk instead about those of us who have less sweeping or severe feelings, and who really want to become better teachers.
Why Professors Hate Students
I've heard several reasons in my conversations with professors:
Intellectual: Sometimes we are offended by students who don't like our disciplines (see my "Academic Inspiration" post for a notable exception!), don't share our high standards, or don't perform to their potential.
By the way, some students falsely assume that we hate them when all we're doing is fulfilling our responsibilities to teach and to fairly evaluate them. Some students wrongly blame professors for their low grades or believe they got good grades solely because the teacher liked them.
Expedience: We often don't like students who are inconvenient—for example, who text or whisper loudly, or softly!—or in other ways make our working conditions unpleasant. Even if students are simply thoughtless or ignorant, they consume our time and energy in ways we don't like.
Personal: Students sometimes remind us of unpleasant people in our past. We have a tendency to hate people who hate us. And, we have stereotypes. We've seen the videos of professors smashing students' cell phones. These behaviors may be intellectual statements or general commentaries on classroom interruptions, but they could also be expressions of personal hatred.
Chance!: Sometimes students just happen to be in the way when we are having a bad day, have recently had an argument with a loved one, or didn't get a grant funded.
What to Do With Negative Feelings (besides calling your lawyer or going into real estate)
The first step is to recognize negative feelings and acknowledge that they are inevitable. Some professors don't realize they hate students until they notice that they're actually retaliating in subtle—and sometimes obvious—ways. Having the feelings is natural; acting on them can lead to unethical behavior and bad outcomes. I told one professor: "If you're not sure you hate a student, ask
your other students, because they'll know how you treat the student."
To behave well in the face of annoyance or dislike, I find it helpful to look through the lens of my ethical obligations. The principles of beneficence and justice remind us to do good and to treat students fairly. To me, that means that feelings of annoyance should not determine our willingness to teach, help, and evaluate students. When I go to a professional—say, a financial planner—I want her to give me good advice whether she likes me or not.
Putting beneficence into action—doing good—usually involves managing attitudes. Some professors hate all students at first, until they are convinced that they won't be any trouble or that they have enough intellectual skill that the professor won't have to work so hard. Not so good! I suggest this alternative: Start by assuming all your students are allies.
If a student is skipping class or monopolizing class discussions, your actions should be determined by educational considerations and not only issues of your personal inconvenience or annoyance. Focus on the student's development. Get in touch with your noble motivations and find ways to make this a "teachable moment" and be clear that your objective is to help the student. It's a good idea to titrate negative feelings with positive ones (empathy, compassion) to make sure your actions aren't just covering for your wanting the student to quit being such a pest.
Some professors "bend over backwards" to treat "difficult" students fairly. But be careful about bending over too far. I like to think of it as standing upright with difficult students—doing everything I can without flipping to the other side of the justice equation.
An Example
Several years ago I had a student who during the second week of the semester asked, "Should I drop this course?" She had failed the course before, she had asked lots of tangential questions during the first two weeks, and she just struck me as a "non-academic" type. She was getting on my nerves, and I realized that I would have to spend a lot of time with her so that my class could proceed smoothly.
I knew that my personal interest was conflicted with her educational interests and with her autonomy—her ability and right to choose. I had no good reason to suggest that she drop the course. To encourage her to do so would entail making up reasons that sounded good but which I knew in my heart weren't right. Then I thought, "I might have a chance to do this student some good!" When we met in my office I listened to her story, and I empathized with her striving to get an education in the face of many personal and family hardships. I told her she needed to make up her own mind, and we talked about reasons both to stay and to drop. The student chose to drop the course, and thanked me profusely for my understanding, my advice, and the respect I showed for her. My empathy and respect for her paid off.
It's not always this simple or effective. But it's a start.
Mitch Handelsman is a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Denver and the co-author (with Sharon Anderson) of Ethics for Psychotherapists and Counselors: A Proactive Approach (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).
