Dealing with Student Rudeness: Teacher mental health means setting boundaries AND surviving setting boundaries!

Ah, rudeness. Most college professors do not expect it from their students (or from anybody). The hierarchy in colleges and universities is pretty clear, and the stakes of messing with it are generally high for students. So what do you do when a student tells you to wait while they finish typing their text?

In other words, how does student rudeness affect teachers? Even if you handle the student effectively in the moment, what if you feel bad about it afterwards? Teacher mental health (everyone’s mental health) includes surviving boundary hangover, or the regret that can follow doing the right interpersonal thing.

In this episode, we hear some college professors in a Teacher Support Group wrestle with this very thing: setting an appropriate boundary and feeling bad about it afterwards.

We discuss

* Who’s in Charge: What to do when the authority structure gets flipped upside down

* The Class Placeholder: The possible ramifications when students scramble to change their course schedule

* Student Distractions: Do students need help fitting into your classroom reality?

* The Teacher Ego: Why it’s crucial to teacher mental health

* Objectification: What the antidote is to the common experience of being turned into an object for someone else’s use

You don’t have to be a college professor to relate to this story! High school teachers, elementary and pre-school teachers, even parents — everyone who interacts with other people, especially members of Gen Z, can benefit from hearing how these teachers work through their reactions to student rudeness. Teacher mental health is crucial. Check it out!

External links

Teaching through Emotions