ANST - New Subject - Sniping

[K.C. Moon]

At 12:15 PM 6/23/99 -0500, Xene wrote:

>After attending a wonderful King's College, I was wondering what everyone
>else thought of "sniping", that is, attending someone else's class and
>butting in constantly, or the non-instructor taking over the class from the
>instructor.

Sorry for the length, folks, but this is a bone I was born to chew!

"Sniping" is an unfortunate occurrence in classes sometimes.  It is,
however, a 2 way street.  

>I have to be very careful not to do that myself, having been guilty of it in
>the past.  Sometimes, we are overcome with enthusiasm and want to add to the
>instructor's words.  It is not usually intentional, but is usually seen as a
>challenge to the instructor's knowledge.

Sometimes it is intentional.  But yes, I understand how difficult it is not
to add some additional information that you're just certain the instructor
and everyone else in class needs to know.

However, the sniper (whether it be you or anyone else) did not offer to
teach the class, or perhaps was not selected to teach it. 

The instructor of the class, whether you feel that person to be your
superior or subordinate in a given field, has offered this service and
(hopefully) done the work and research necessary to put the class together
in good form and present it. 

Classes in the SCA are not required like freshman English.  You don't have
to be there.  If you are attending a class, you are assumed to be
interested in the subject, or what the instructor has to say.  Therefore,
you owe them respect and attention.

The instructor owes the students, in turn, the information promised in as
palatable a form as possible. (My view of instructing, possibly not anyone
else's.)  The instructor can't very well fulfil their promise if they spend
their class time wrangling with snipers and dealing with interruptions.  An
instructor who allows a sniper to take control of his or her class often
upsets me more than the sniper.

>How would you as an instructor handle a "sniper"? 

I've handled many, and I've never had to be rude.  Usually I just say
"That's an interesting point, and I'm going to cover it later in the
lecture", "Or, I'm sorry, I have a lot of material to cover, so I'll have
to take questions after class."  If the sniper persists, I simply repeat
myself.  If the sniper ignores my message and keeps raising a hand or
trying to interject, I'll make eye-contact and hold up a finger, trying to
communicate "wait til after class".  If it continues after that, I will
simply ignore the person and not make eye-contact.  This, however, usually
only works with people who just want your attention, not those who are out
to "ruin your class".  I personally have never run into any of those folks
in my classes.

If I did, however, I would say something like this: "I'm glad you're
interested in this subject, and I would enjoy discussing it with you later.
 I also understand you may not agree with my research.  However, this is
the class I agreed to present, and need the time I have left to do that."
If the sniper continued, I would say "I'm sorry you disagree (or whatever)
but I can't take time for any further interruptions.  If you feel you're
not getting anything out of this class, you're welcome to leave."  And I
would say it with as little affect as possible.

>How would you handle the situation if you were a student?  

I remember once attending a poetry class in which I was really interested.
Alas, a good friend of the instructor was there, someone the instructor
obviously respected.  This person started inserting his own ideas and
instructions into the class.  OK, that was a tad rude, and I didn't
appreciate it.  However, what I *really* didn't appreciate was the fact
that the instructor pretty much handed the class over to him.  From that
point on, it became a discussion of "poetics" and did not teach me what I
had come into the class to learn.  To top it all off, I had chosen this
class over another I was equally interested in.  Grrrr.

Did I think about saying something?  Yep, I did.  But I decided it would be
inappropriate to do so at the time.  I felt then, and I still feel, that
it's the instructor's responsibility to maintain "control" of his or her
classes. 

If the situation arose again, I might say something, I might not.  It would
depend on the situation.  But I would certainly have a talk with the
instructor after class.

>Is it different if the sniper is a Laurel?  Or a non-laurel, but respected
>in the field?  

It's still inappropriate.  If you know something about the subject being
presented (whether you're a Laurel or not) and you think the instructor is
unaware of some things, go to them after the class is over and ask if
they'd like to discuss the subject further.  That's the point where you can
bring up new information, compare sources, and give the instructor your ideas.

Obviously, a Laurel or expert interrupting a non-Laurel/amateur's class is
pretty scary for the instructor.  I sure all kinds of thoughts would rush
thru an instructor's head -- "My god, a Laurel!  She must know more about
this than I do!  If I correct her, maybe I'll never get a Laurel, or any
other award!  My god, maybe she knows my school advisor, and she'll tell
him I don't know anything and my thesis won't be accepted and I'll never
get my PhD and I'll have to go home to Podunk and become a propane
salesman!  Aiiiiiiieeeeee!"  

My suggestion?  Deal with them exactly as described above.  Maintain
control of your class.  Politely defer interruptions.  Ignore them if they
persist.  Banish them if you absolutely must.  Even if the Laurel/expert
sniper huffs and puffs, there are many more people out there who will
respect your handling of the situation.

>Just food for thought....(or is it throwing a new bone to gnaw upon?)

Chomp chomp. ;-)

Mari

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