Methodist Theological School in Ohio : 2003 Seminar
Narrative
Constrained by the Ethic of Nice:
The Challenge of Cultivating Critical Assessment in a Seminary Environment
{excerpt}
Professor Stephens had waited until the end of class to hand back their papers. He’d learned from past experience that any earlier distribution would result in him being largely ignored for the rest of the class. So, he was able to complete the lecture on Revelation and apocalyptic literature unimpeded by the weight of disappointment that generally settled over the classroom after the papers landed in the hands of their creators. Some of their prior reactions caused Stephens to wince at the memory: Debbie who had left crying from the class; or the scathing email from Stan, a second-career student, who, having enumerated the many demands upon him from church and family life, stated with a clarity that was lacking in his assignments, that Stephens’ expectations were too high—no other professor had given him such a low mark. Perhaps the most disturbing, was the visit from one of his better students, Janine, who placed the onus upon Stephens to improve her mark to an A because her scholarship depended upon a high grade point average. It was clear that these students viewed Stephens as their adversary, the one who wasn’t as nice as he had seemed in class...
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Constrained by the Ethic of Nice:
The Challenge of Cultivating Critical Assessment in a Seminary Environment
{excerpt}
Professor Stephens had waited until the end of class to hand back their papers. He’d learned from past experience that any earlier distribution would result in him being largely ignored for the rest of the class. So, he was able to complete the lecture on Revelation and apocalyptic literature unimpeded by the weight of disappointment that generally settled over the classroom after the papers landed in the hands of their creators. Some of their prior reactions caused Stephens to wince at the memory: Debbie who had left crying from the class; or the scathing email from Stan, a second-career student, who, having enumerated the many demands upon him from church and family life, stated with a clarity that was lacking in his assignments, that Stephens’ expectations were too high—no other professor had given him such a low mark. Perhaps the most disturbing, was the visit from one of his better students, Janine, who placed the onus upon Stephens to improve her mark to an A because her scholarship depended upon a high grade point average. It was clear that these students viewed Stephens as their adversary, the one who wasn’t as nice as he had seemed in class...
{ Read The Full Narrative by Downloading the Word Document Below }
Document Downloads: