Civility: Training for Citizenship

Citizenship is our first Core Curriculum outcome; we want our students to be good citizens of our nation, the world, and the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, the college mission says that a King education will occur in a collegiate setting.

I have heard Greg Jordan on more than one occasion expand on the word "collegiate;" to him, the framer of the mission statement, it means that we all operate in a climate of civility.

Civility appeared on my radar last week when I read an article by Robert J. Connelly titled "Introducing a Culture of Civility in First-Year College Classes." This article lists 29 student behaviors that exhibit incivility. Many of the things on the list--like cheating, inappropriate emails to profs, sleeping in class, being unprepared, demands from students for make-up exams or deadline extensions, and hostile verbal attacks or challenges--come to my attention from you every week of the academic year.

Thomas Benton in a 2008 column in the Chronicle of Higher Education said what many of us are feeling, "Whatever the explanation, I sometimes feel stung by students' rudeness. I try to make my classes interesting and relevant, and I care about their learning. I try to conduct myself in a kindly but professional manner. But, more and more, I think the student culture of incivility is a larger impediment to their success than anything they might fail to learn about western Civilization or whatever it is I am teaching."

A quick Google of "civility" brings up George Washington's 110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior. Washington copied these rules in his best hand in one of his exercise books when he was about 16 years old. The copying was supposed to improve both his penmanship and his behavior. A second interesting find is a link to a website about a civility initiative at Johns Hopkins.

Part of the discussion consists of attempts to define civility. It is more than merely manners and less than law. I think it must be our willingness to give up some of our selfish desires for the common good. In classrooms that means we must be able to proceed without disruptions so that learning and respectful dialog can occur.

I think we at King College would agree that on civility--or collegiality--is at a new low. I experienced an incident in one of my classes last semester that jolted me; that blatant act of incivility made me realize that we probably need to do something overt to improve our campus climate. Our response could be institutional or individual. Connelly recommends that an institution draft a Code of Academic Civility and teach to that code especially in first-year classes. P.M. Forni, the Johns Hopkins professor behind the Civility Initiative, suggests a written covenant for every class (as part of the course's syllabus) outlining not only what he expects from students but also what they can expect from him.

What action might we at King want to take?

I have posted on the Faculty Workspace both the piece by Connelly and one by Forni. I suggest that you read these two articles. I would really like to see a discussion among us such as the recent exchange about honor and the R.T.L. Liston Award--an issue not unrelated to this larger concern about civility and and academic integrity.

Let's inventory the problems we've been experiencing on our campus, consider the issue, and prepare to take action.

The painting reproduced at the top depicts the "Cartoon for Parson Weems' Fable" painted by Grant Wood in 1939, and Washington's own hand-written copy of the Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, ca. 1744.