Disrespect and Disruption in the Classroom: Strategies for Prevention and Response

Students interrupting faculty presentations, challenging instructor expertise, disrupting other students’ learning during class: many faculty have experienced a rise in such behavior in recent years, and research shows that the burdens of navigating such challenges fall disproportionately on faculty of color and white women faculty.
What do you experience as disrespectful, and how does this connect to your social positionalities? What practices could work best for you in preventing and responding to disrespect and disruption? In this interactive session, participants will work in small groups to understand the range of experiences faculty have across settings and social identities at U-M. Further, participants will engage with a range of research-based strategies for responding to student challenges to their expertise or authority — as well as strategies for setting up a learning environment where disrespectful behavior is less likely to occur.

Host: Fiona Lee, LSA Associate Dean for DEI and Professional Development
Facilitators from Intergroup Relations (IGR) and the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT)

Co-sponsored by the ADVANCE Program and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Open to all faculty campus-wide