Editor's Corner: Civility in the Classroom

• Author: Tonia Murphy
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1722.2010.01082.x
• Date: 01 January 2011
• Published date: 01 January 2011

Editor’s Corner: Civility in the

Classroom

In this issue’s first article, Professors Lorrie Willey and Debra Burke de-

scribe a classroom exercise in which teams of students in a business ethics

course work to develop a Student Code of Professional Conduct. Students

thereby are encouraged to reflect on the business world’s expectations

regarding ethical behavior and professionalism. The article includes a

model code developed by students, which, among other standards, calls for

students to behave civilly and with respect for the opinions of others.

This article prompted me to think about expectations for the behav-

ior of professors. What would be included in a Professor’s Code of

Professional Conduct, especially with regard to professors’ dealings with

students? The Statement on Professional Ethics drafted by the American

Association of University Professors (AAUP)

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serves as a useful starting

point. In part, this statement provides: ‘‘As teachers, professors encourage

the free pursuit of learning in their students. . . . Professors demonstrate

respect for students as individuals and adhere to their proper roles as in-

tellectual guides and counselors.’’

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Two leading scholars on professorial misconduct,

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Braxton and

Bayer, propose a more specific ‘‘Code of Conduct for Undergraduate

r2011 The Author

Journal of Legal Studies Education r2011 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

v

1

Am. Ass’n Univ.Professors, Statement on Professional Ethics (2009), http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/

pubres/policydocs/contents/statementonprofessionalethics.htm.

2

Id.

3

This is a topic that has attracted increased attention in recent years. See, e.g.,Special Issue,

Addressing Faculty and Student Classroom Improprieties,99N

EW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING &

LEARNING 3–106 (2004). Improprieties, of course, may also be perpetrated by students. Dis-

cussion abounds on such student improprieties as violence, rudeness, or cheating. While some

student misconduct poses a serious threat either to physical safety or to academic integrity,

readers may be amused by a recent alleged incident, recounted at Rabbit-FearingTeacher Loses

Out (July 20, 2010), http://www.news24.com/World/News/Rabbit-fearing-teacher-loses-out-

20100720 (concerning a lawsuit brought by a teacher with an alleged ‘‘paralysing fear of

rabbits’’ against a student who allegedly ‘‘torment[ed] her by scrawling pictures of rabbits on

the blackboard’’). For an interesting recent study on causes of student incivility, see Bruce R.

Elder et al., Lost in a Crowd: Anonymity and Incivility in the Accounting Classroom,20A

CCT.ED-

UCATORS’ J. 91 (2010) (surveying the literature, reporting results of study suggesting that student

anonymity increases student incivility, and proposing methods for reducing anonymity). For