Eija Valli wrote about students expecting accommodations in respect to work commitments.
This is endemic to Chinese post-grad classrooms. In each class of MBAs or PhDs, I'd have 10% who expect special dispensation due to work.
I try to ground all "class problems" in a management context and, in this case, point to the simple fact that it is not my decision to make. The school requires 80% attendance for a grade and they require me to keep accurate records.
Of course, their entreaties tend to continue, however the "broken record" technique limits the time-wasting. "You'll have to speak with the Dean". "You'll have to speak with the Dean." etc etc. Any additional elaboration only opens other avenues of quite futile discussion.
I also introduce the concept "Don't accept other people's monkeys" in the first lesson and mention the "I-have-a-business-trip" phenomenon as a classic example.
Terence Egan
Associate Professor
Central University of Finance and Economics
Beijing
This seems like a very timely theme and is discussed somewhat in Finland
as well. In our case the problem is not so much in e-mail adresses
being questionable since most students use the adress provided to
them by the University. However we have a growing problem with
students who use their oblications (especially work) as an excuse to
ask for all kinds of favors in a rude manner. They register to a course
requiring attendance and activity fully knowing that they have no plans
to attend in reality yet they expect that the teacher accomodates things
around their needs and schedules.
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