Classroom Incivility in Community College Classrooms

Introduction

Student incivility in class is an issue in education generally and on community college campuses in particular. At the grade school level, student conduct problems are most likely related to issues with the social development of individual students. At the high school level, student conduct problems may reflect both individual developmental issues as well as peer-group dynamics and adolescent rebelliousness. Because grade school and high school students are minors, parents and administrators have much greater authority for responding to conduct issues, including involving parents and guardians.

That is not necessarily the case when classroom conduct issues present themselves beyond high school, largely because most college students are adults and no longer as subject to external authority as minors. More particularly, community college students may exhibit higher levels of incivility than four-year college students as a function of some of the characteristic differences between those respective student populations. To a great extent, student incivility in class can be prevented by effective awareness and response strategies on the part of professors and instructors.

Types of Classroom Incivility

According to Gonzalez and Lopez (2001), there are mainly six specific types of student incivility in the community college classroom: (1) disengagement, (2) disinterest, (3) disrespect, (4) disruption, (5) defiance, and (6) inappropriate behavioral disturbances. They describe those types of student incivility as follows:

"For example, disengaged and disinterested students distract other students by reading newspapers or napping or performing personal grooming rituals. Disrespectful students engage in conversations with each other during class time to the extent that other students have problems hearing the instructor. Disruptive students enter class late or exit early — often interrupting the flow of lecture or discussion. Defiant students make unrealistic demands for accommodations and refuse to follow assignment requirements. Instructors may feel at wit's end balancing how to please one student while remaining fair to the rest of the class. Disturbed students display behaviors that instill anxiety or fear for physical safety on the part of others" (Gonzalez & Lopez, 2001).

Community College vs. Four-Year College Student Populations

Generally, community college students are less accomplished academically than their four-year-college-program counterparts. That is a function of the fact that many community colleges have either very lenient admissions standards in comparison to four-year college institutions or, in many cases, none at all beyond the requirement that matriculating students possess a high school diploma. As a result, community colleges are likely to have higher proportions of students who are not highly motivated or well suited to success in higher education. Community college students, on average, have lower SAT and other aptitude test scores and require remedial academic assistance upon enrollment compared to students who enroll in four-year colleges.

Likewise, community college students are less likely to come from communities and families that value academic achievement and that have a high level of respect for academic institutions, processes, and for instructors and administrators simply by virtue of their position and the nature of the environment. While many entering college freshmen lack effective study habits, those enrolling in community colleges are likely to have even weaker study skills and habits, since many of them had no other option than community college in the first place because they failed to gain admission into any four-year institutions.

Conclusion

Classroom incivility is an issue at all levels of contemporary education. It is less likely to be a problem in institutions of higher learning than in high school or grade school, but instructors may have fewer resources and recourses in higher education institutions because of the greater independence of students. Classroom incivility is more of a problem in community colleges than in four-year colleges, mainly because student qualifications and motivation for learning are lower in the community college setting than in more competitive academic institutions. Instructors share in the responsibility for preventing classroom incivility, especially with regard to those types of incivility that are triggered by students' responses to disrespect or embarrassment arising from classroom exchanges with instructors.