A thought-provoking piece about motivating students to impress you enough to warrant
a recommendation letter (otherwise you won't write one):
https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1657-claiming-your-right-to-say-no
(If you're in a hurry, skip half way down that page to the italicised paragraph.)
I'm torn about this, but in the end I think I'd disagree with Weldon's particular
approach. It probably has the potential to motivate students, and she claims never to
have received a complaint about it; but I'd be concerned about the effect on students
with anxiety issues and personal difficulties affecting attendance and participation
(who are least likely to step forward and complain anyway). It could also magnify the
disenchanting spiral effect of being a mediocre student and feeling like you've
failed anyway. Why bother trying when even your tutors won't recommend you in the
end? And, despite no complaints from students, Weldon is unlikely ever to hear from
down-and-out graduates who couldn't get work because they didn't get a recommendation
letter. Sad fact: many HR hiring systems simply grind to a halt without ticking that
box - academics might be innocently unaware of that kind of bureaucratic logjam, but
it has harsh consequences.
I do give a lot of similar cautions to my students, for example that although first
year grades don't officially 'count' towards your degree grade, they'll be very
important when applying for mid-degree work placements; I show them a graph
correlating past attendance and grades; I explain that the topics in the first year
will be mobilised in later years so they need to understand them fully. But I don't
make threats, naked or veiled. For me that's a little heavy-handed. How do other
TeachLingers approach this?
Dave
--
Dr. Dave Sayers, ORCID no. 0000-0003-1124-7132
Senior Lecturer, Dept Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University | www.shu.ac.uk
Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University & WISERD | www.wiserd.ac.uk
[log in to unmask] | http://shu.academia.edu/DaveSayers
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
|
