Should I do anything about this person in my classes?

Question

I am a grad student getting a masters in education. I am having some serious issues with a woman in my classes and I am not sure if I should talk to the professor or not. In our class last semester, she always paired up with me in groups. I didn't mind at first, but I then got the sense that she was trying to use my words and ideas. Now we are in another class together and she asks me what is going on in the class every time we meet. I am just not sure she should be in grad school to be a teacher and I have no idea how she got here. Her spelling and pronounciation of words is horrendous - like that of a second or third grade student. She has also made some very racist remarks and huge generalizations about "minorities". Her presentations have been lacking in research and it seems like a lot of the information she presents is made-up. Should I have a talk with the professor about her? I am sure that her shortcomings have been noticed, but I don't think she should be teaching anyone!

Thank you so much for all of the thoughtful answers. I have to think about this one. Obviously, I have been in school a long time if I have made it this far and have never encountered a situation like this. It really has made me reconsider wanting to be a teacher myself! I will make sure to limit contact with this person and see how that goes - I think I have been too willing to help her (I guess it's in my nature to teach!) and she has been able to get all that she needs to get by in the class from me! It makes me so angry!

Answer 1

Chances are anything you could possibly bring to the professor/coordinator's attention would only achieve one of two things ... (neither of which are beneficial to you) ... 1) Your relationship with the professor will change (whether he/she believes you or not), and you're more than likely to suffer some degree of 'blowback' from your whistle-blowing (you also need to take into consideration that telling a professor that they have been teaching an under-qualified student ... for who knows how long ... can be interpreted as an affront to their reputation). 2) The professor will take the appropriate action, but it will eventually become common knowledge that you were behind it, and you will suffer the consequences of being labeled a 'tattletale.' It would be fantastic if there was an effective way to remedy your situation, but in my professional experience that just isn't the case.

I have met fellow graduate students in Masters and Ph.D programs that obviously should not have been there -- one in particular jumps to mind. His English grammar and pronunciation bordered on unintelligible, and it was obvious to anyone with even a rudimentary education he had no idea what he was talking about at his oral defense for his Masters thesis (yet he still earned a passing grade). Sadly enough there are sometimes political or personal reasons why these people are allowed to advance educationally much further than they should be allowed. Worse still is that these same factors allow them to receive degrees for which they are completely unqualified (if not blatantly incompetent).

My best advice would be limit your contact with this person as much as possible. Obviously, there will be unavoidable situations, but you can mitigate the exposure to a minimum in most cases. Don't give any more help than is necessary (especially if this person is an 'academic leech'), and try not to voice your opinions to anyone in your program (this is where friends and family come in handy -- vent on them). The higher you get in your academic education the more you will come to recognize how political everything is (and reflexively counter-intuitive). It becomes a kind of Machiavellian dance (metaphorically speaking).

People like this can get pretty far in life, but eventually their own ineptitude will be their own undoing -- better to let them bring themselves down, than to risk your own career/reputation for idealistic designs. As cliche as it might sound ... life is not fair.

Answer 2

What would you tell the professor? Unless she is doing something against university policy (like cheating), there is probably nothing the professor could do at this point. Perhaps you could say you are concerned about the student and recommend she get additional help. If her education is that poor, hopefully she won't pass her classes and won't graduate and become a teacher.

Answer 3

The rich working class people would be the politicians. The church and the military. The professors and the scientist.The directors of the theater and movie industry. The editors and publishers just to name a few. The middle class would be the ones who earn a living by working their own business like the horse breeders. the farmers have been pushed aside as high earners, anyone else are the poor class of earners those most dependent on prayer to get them through the day's of hard decisions by the Ellette

Answer 4

There could be another way of looking at it.

The glaring discrepancy between a well thought out , stolen idea, and the normal output of this person will make the theft obvious.

there is no obligation on you to pass on your ideas. If you want to be generous, that is your choice.

Such persons can never make good on borrowed feathers.

Why not concentrate on your work and let the other stew in her own juice?

Answer 5

One thing that I can suggest that is quick and pretty easy is the next time you get an assignment, gather your thoughts, jot them down in a semi-organized fashion, and then give it to your professor and tell him/her you have written down some thoughts and notes and that you suspect that your partner/classmate my be stealing your ideas. This way you can bring it up to him/her later and you will have some proof of the horrendous behavior of your classmate. Hope things work out, I would really hate to have this problem, in grad school of all places. Hope this helps

Answer 6

I think that you should report it to your teacher, since you could get introuble if she decides to copy something you said word for word on a project or test, when you'd be putting that same answer down. About the racial remarks, I don't know if there is really anything you could do, since you don't have any proof, but still report it as well.

Answer 7

Yeh I think you probably should. I had someone like that in one my classes once. Just sat down in my spare time and thought about exactly what I would say and then spoke to the teacher about it., let him observe the situation for himself and resolve the situation. Tell the teacher wats happening and hopefully everythin will be resolved without hut feelings

Answer 8

Yes, you should speak to your professor, but here is the only thing you need to say:

You should tell your professor that you are uncomfortable with this student asking you to clarify every lecture and reading for her, and that from this moment on, you will be referring the student to him/her for this assistance.

That's it. And believe me, it will suffice.

I realize that you have good grounds upon which to judge your classmate's pedagogical capabilities, but it is up to your professor to evaluate her performance.

Best wishes to you!