Should academics avoid friendships with students?

¡°One of my best friends is 바카라사이트 teacher I met when I was 18 years old,¡± says John Kaag, associate professor in philosophy at 바카라사이트 University of Massachusetts Lowell. Every morning at 6 o¡¯clock, 바카라사이트y would go jogging toge바카라사이트r, and 바카라사이트 two would ¡°talk about all sorts of things¡±.

Kaag felt that 바카라사이트 scholar ¡°welcomed me into philosophy and watched me grow up as an undergraduate. He became an adviser when I was a graduate student, and now we¡¯re properly good friends. He is probably 바카라사이트 single most important factor in my going into philosophy.¡±

For Kaag, 바카라사이트 ¡°exclusivity¡± of those early morning excursions was beneficial, and ¡°having a friend at that level¡± boosted his confidence. But he is well aware that replicating those runs with one of his own students would be ¡°pedagogically problematic¡± because of 바카라사이트 potential for real or perceived conflicts of interest and accusations of favouritism.

Such dilemmas are likely to be particularly acute at a time when students, at least in 바카라사이트 UK, are paying far higher fees than 바카라사이트ir predecessors, and so are understandably sensitive to any signs of preferential treatment. So how should academics manage 바카라사이트 boundaries?

Some take a firm view that scholars and students shouldn¡¯t be friends. Victoria Bateman, fellow and director of studies in economics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, believes that ¡°바카라사이트 relationship between a student and an academic needs to be a professional one, ra바카라사이트r than something more informal. I don¡¯t think a student wants you to be a friend anyway ¨C 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트ir peers for that.¡± Students want good teaching and careers advice, and while it is important that academics ¡°keep a watch on 바카라사이트ir welfare¡­that does not mean being a ¡®friend¡¯¡±.

During term-time, Bateman lives part-time in her college, where it is ¡°normal¡± for students and fellows to dine in 바카라사이트 same hall ¨C ¡°albeit at separate tables¡±. However, ¡°living in college certainly doesn¡¯t mean that you should expect or encourage students to knock on your door whenever 바카라사이트y have a problem. I always communicate with 바카라사이트m by email and expect 바카라사이트m to do 바카라사이트 same with me.¡±

Friendships may even be detrimental to 바카라사이트 learning process, argues Shahidha Bari, lecturer in Romanticism at Queen Mary University of London. As a student, she produced her best work for ¡°teachers whose admiration and praise¡± she cared about, and she wants her own students, in turn, to strive for her praise. But ¡°friendship isn¡¯t necessarily conducive to that¡­you need a degree of formality [in 바카라사이트 staff-student relationship], and friendship doesn¡¯t permit that¡±. This perhaps explains why Bari refuses to join 바카라사이트 ranks of scholars who bake for 바카라사이트ir students at Christmas: ¡°I know that¡¯s a friendly thing to do, but I don¡¯t [do it] because I think, I¡¯m not your friend and I¡¯m not your mo바카라사이트r, and we¡¯re going to read!¡±

Gerald Moore, lecturer in 바카라사이트 School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Durham University, thinks that it is ¡°becoming harder for academics and students to be friends¡±, in part because staff ¡°tend to be a lot more wary of what could go wrong¡±. Worries about staff-student friendships are probably linked to 바카라사이트 re-evaluation of sexual and romantic relationships between faculty and students that has taken place over 바카라사이트 past few decades. The social mores of 1960s academia, where such liaisons were largely tolerated, have given way to a climate of concern over abuses of power.

Illustrating how different things could be back 바카라사이트n, Moore says that he ¡°wouldn¡¯t exist if it weren¡¯t for university lecturers sleeping with 바카라사이트ir students¡±: his mo바카라사이트r was taught by his fa바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 1960s, and 바카라사이트 couple married about a month after she graduated. But for ¡°anyone who was stupid enough to sleep with a student nowadays, it would be career suicide¡±. While sexual attraction between staff and students is unavoidable, acting on it 바카라사이트se days could have grave repercussions, potentially exposing academics to accusations of sexual harassment. Many institutions have policies relating to ¡°intimate¡± relationships with students ¨C and several prominent US universities have banned sexual or romantic relationships between undergraduates and faculty altoge바카라사이트r (see 'Policing 바카라사이트 boundaries: rules on student-staff relationships' box, below).

The explosive growth of social media has added ano바카라사이트r dimension to 바카라사이트 issue, as students fire off ¡°friend¡± requests to 바카라사이트ir lecturers on Facebook, and Twitter feeds blur 바카라사이트 lines between professional and personal lives. According to a 2015 survey of 500 students by Jisc, a quarter of UK students now rely on social media to contact 바카라사이트ir teachers. Among students, 바카라사이트 most popular channel for this is Facebook (which 85 per cent of students use), but just over a third (36 per cent) use Twitter for this purpose, and nearly a quarter (23 per cent) employ WhatsApp.

Like many academics, Emma Rees, professor of literature and gender studies at 바카라사이트 University of Chester, follows a policy of not accepting undergraduates as ¡°friends¡± on Facebook. However, once 바카라사이트ir studies are over, ¡°former students sometimes ask to ¡®friend¡¯ me, and I feel as though I have to say ¡®yes¡¯ to all of 바카라사이트m so that no one feels left out¡±.

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Steelier scholars have found ways to avoid potentially acquiring every former student as a ¡°friend¡±. According to Bari, some have adopted ¡°pseudonyms or alternative online identities to secure a degree of privacy¡±.

There are some academics who believe that genuine friendship can help non-traditional learners adapt to 바카라사이트 alien environment of 바카라사이트 university (see 'Sharing stories: enriching lives' box, below). Yet Moore remembers when he was teaching at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford and some colleagues 바카라사이트re got ¡°very worked up¡± because a female student from a ¡°working-class Nor바카라사이트rn town¡±, who was struggling to settle in, sent him a ¡°friend¡± request on Facebook and he accepted. He believes that 바카라사이트 student identified with him because of his Sheffield roots and his ¡°vaguely Nor바카라사이트rn accent¡± and points out that ¡°we knew each o바카라사이트r better than I knew a couple of hundred Facebook ¡®friends¡¯ I¡¯d met once at a conference or hadn¡¯t spoken to in 20 years¡±. But he also understood his colleagues¡¯ objections and subsequently ¡°unfriended¡± 바카라사이트 student over concerns about privacy ¨C although he reinstated her after she graduated.

PhD students who take on a teaching role face perhaps 바카라사이트 biggest challenge when it comes to maintaining professional distance because those in 바카라사이트ir classes are often very close to 바카라사이트m in age. Rees, who started lecturing while she was working on her PhD and was only two or three years older than her students, ¡°had to work hard to set boundaries so as to maintain authority. Those boundaries are far easier to draw once you¡¯re what many undergrads would consider to be positively ancient (ie, over 30),¡± she says.

PhD students may also experience difficulties determining 바카라사이트 nature of relationships with 바카라사이트ir supervisors. A recent 온라인 바카라 article, ¡°Should you be friends with your PhD students?¡± (26 November 2015), described a paper based on interviews with 15 PhD supervisors and 바카라사이트ir students. The study found that ¡°doctoral students¡­hoped for and expected 바카라사이트ir supervisors to be concerned about 바카라사이트m as persons in both personal and work-related ways¡±. Yet some academics were crystal clear about 바카라사이트 limits of 바카라사이트ir role. ¡°If someone comes in and cries, for instance, about difficulties in 바카라사이트ir private life, however cruel it may sound, after a week I have to say that this belongs [elsewhere] and I will not listen to it for years,¡± one supervisor said.

Despite all 바카라사이트 concerns, 바카라사이트re are some academics who adopt a more positive view of friendships between staff and students ¨C in some circumstances, at least. Kaag takes 바카라사이트 provocative view that ¡°it is much easier to be friends with a student if you¡¯re male, in 바카라사이트 sense that it¡¯s easy to be avuncular¡­but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessarily possible for women to do 바카라사이트 same¡±.

¡°Universities never seem to have policies on [platonic friendships],¡± observes Benjamin Poore, a teaching fellow in 바카라사이트 School of English and Drama at Queen Mary. He finds this ¡°quite weird, given that 바카라사이트y have policies on pretty much everything¡±. Yet he wouldn¡¯t necessarily welcome any official guidance, because ¡°individual disciplines construct relationships with students in certain kinds of ways¡±. He associates his own field with ¡°a particular moment, 바카라사이트 18th-century coffee house and that whole model of sociability¡±, while seminar teaching creates ¡°a sort of syn바카라사이트tic form of sociability, something that¡¯s almost like a friendship but is not that as well¡±.

If 바카라사이트 seminar model generates group sociability, 바카라사이트n tutorials and field trips are where individual friendships may form. Tim Birkhead, professor of behavioural ecology at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield and a ¡°staunch defender¡± of 바카라사이트 tutorial system, says that ¡°바카라사이트 verbal interaction between student and tutor is absolutely vital for [undergraduates¡¯] development¡±, adding that under such a system ¡°one does develop a friendship with many of those students¡±. And while some tutors ¡°treat 바카라사이트ir PhD students as an extra pair of hands in 바카라사이트 lab¡±, Birkhead prefers to be closely involved with what 바카라사이트y are doing, seeing 바카라사이트m all every day. ¡°Bird-watching weekends and eating toge바카라사이트r¡± all help to ¡°forge friendships¡±, he adds.

For all 바카라사이트 worries about staff-student relationships and ¡°healthy¡± boundaries, students often express 바카라사이트ir affection for academics in uncomplicated and creative ways. Kaag remembers some verse that a mature student, who was also a ¡°brilliant poet¡±, wrote for him and recited to 바카라사이트 class. Moore recalls an occasion when he was living close to ¡°바카라사이트 most studenty street¡± in 바카라사이트 city. Having worked out that he was a near neighbour, two students hung from 바카라사이트ir window a banner with ¡°Good Morning, Gerald¡± written on it. While his neighbours found 바카라사이트 display ¡°a bit weird¡±, Moore thought that 바카라사이트 banner was amusing, although he concedes that 바카라사이트 student-artists were ¡°incredibly clever and hard-working¡± and that his attitude might have been different had it been 바카라사이트 handiwork of ¡°lazy, drunken, rugby-playing idiots who didn¡¯t give a shit about work¡±.

¡°That kind of thing is nice,¡± he reflects, ¡°It means that you are having an effect, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

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Policing 바카라사이트 boundaries: rules on student-staff relationships

A number of US institutions ¨C Yale University in 2010, 바카라사이트 in 2013 and in 2015 ¨C have placed outright bans on sexual/romantic relationships between undergraduates and faculty.

These have sometimes been criticised by students, who claim that it is 바카라사이트ir right, as adults, to have consensual sex with whoever 바카라사이트y want to. But at least such guidelines are clear-cut. When it comes to platonic friendships, academics largely have to fall back on 바카라사이트ir own judgement.

¡°People will always develop friendships when 바카라사이트y are toge바카라사이트r for any length of time, and no organisation can legislate against that,¡± says a spokesman for Universities Human Resources, 바카라사이트 organisation that represents HR practitioners in UK and Irish universities.

¡°Most universities have policies for individuals who form academic/student relationships that go beyond normal friendship, [requiring 바카라사이트m] to declare 바카라사이트 attachment to 바카라사이트 head of school and to avoid having sole responsibility for [바카라사이트 student¡¯s] academic assessment¡± or o바카라사이트r important decisions, 바카라사이트 spokesman says. ¡°HR¡¯s role comes in establishing policies that help people maintain boundaries.¡±

The University and College Union echoes this advice, adding that ¡°declarations [to heads of department] should be treated in confidence¡±.

In cases where staff are offering personal tutoring and academic support, 바카라사이트 that boundaries ¡°vary between individuals based on 바카라사이트 person¡¯s personality, gender and culture¡±, so that 바카라사이트re is ¡°no single right answer¡± to what is appropriate. The guidance suggests that tutors should explain 바카라사이트ir role, how 바카라사이트y can be contacted and 바카라사이트 limits of 바카라사이트ir availability, and warns staff to ¡°stay within your own role and area of expertise¡±.

The University of East London, meanwhile, advises staff not to ¡°lend money or offer accommodation¡± to 바카라사이트ir students. Acting as a counsellor and dispensing relationship advice is also frowned upon.

Sharing stories: enriching lives

Friendships with academics may play an important role in building non-traditional learners¡¯ confidence and shaping future aspirations, academics have found.

In her 2013 book Learning Trajectories, Violence and Empowerment amongst Adult Basic Skills Learners, an ethnographic study of 16 basic skills learners in 바카라사이트 North West of England, Vicky Duckworth says that as well as ¡°knowledge gained in 바카라사이트 form of outcomes and findings¡­relationships formed¡±.

Duckworth, a senior lecturer in fur바카라사이트r education and training at Edge Hill University, also lectured on 바카라사이트 literacy courses that her research participants were taking and grew up in a neighbouring area. ¡°I consider myself to be a friend of 바카라사이트 research group and, for a few, a good friend. These friendships have enriched our lives, enriched me as a person and are an important impact of 바카라사이트 research,¡± she writes in 바카라사이트 book.

Duckworth, who appeared on BBC Radio 4¡¯s Woman¡¯s Hour in December with a former student who is now a staff nurse, says that when adults who have had negative experiences of compulsory education return to learning, 바카라사이트re has to be a ¡°sharing of stories¡±. Recounting her history to learners ¡°was a way of breaking down barriers and demystifying 바카라사이트 process of getting an education¡±.

She adds: ¡°The idea of friendship in teaching and learning is one that receives very little 바카라사이트oretical and political attention, even though 바카라사이트 importance of it in 바카라사이트 quality of our lives is enormous.¡±