As a student in Harvard's Linear Algebra course, known as Math E-21b, I was well-acquainted with the familiar lecture style of teaching. Numbering roughly 70-80, we'd attend class on Thursday evenings, sit through a two hour presentation of mathematical concepts, and occasionally have a short exam based on the lecture material. The professor would assign problems from a textbook for homework, and that would be about all the work we did outside of class.
Our professor was an excellent lecturer; he devoted time each week to holding Q&A sessions with us and was very good at answering our myriad questions. However, there's a specific thing about this class that bothered me very much this semester, and the way the professor reacted says a lot about how college educators in general don't have the training to remedy this kind of conflict.
You see, we had a mentally disabled student in our math class, whom I'll refer to as "Frank" for purposes of anonymity. Now don't get me wrong, Frank was very nice young man if you got to know him. I later found out that he enjoys singing and is in fact very good at understanding mathematical and scientific concepts. However, Frank had a tendency to express short but sometimes frequent outbursts during class; he especially liked to repeat after the professor in a singsong voice. These weren't really a problem; they were generally very short and I felt they didn't distract us from learning the material.
But my professor felt differently.
After each outburst, his superficial calm behavior would give way to rage as he shouted at Frank to be quiet, to shut up, to stop talking. Sometimes his harsh treatment would make Frank quiet down, but a lot of the time it simply made Frank burst into tears. I remember halfway through the semester he threatened to force Frank to leave the course. As I would sometimes sit near Frank, I noticed his usual happy demeanor gave way to fear and confusion. He didn't understand why the normally cheery professor would get so angry at him, why he couldn't speak out loud when he wanted to, why everyone would shush him if he started to pipe up. While he used to be a regular presence at the professor's Q&A meetings, he stopped attending those, and I recall one occasion where he wanted to approach the professor and ask him a question, but he backed away, remembering how harshly he might get treated. Of course, to our discredit, not one of us attempted to speak up for Frank or help him out, something of which I am ashamed.
What these incidences highlight is the lack of training our professors and teaching assistants have in dealing with students who might suffer from mental illness. Let me be very clear, I do not necessarily blame the professor for the way he reacted; I understand it can be stressful trying to lecture nearly a hundred students and maintaining a suitable learning environment. However, as more and more people with mental illnesses apply and are accepted to college, professors and other faculty should be aware of how they can help educate these students without resorting to harsh tactics like my professor did. All I am simply advocating for is colleges to hold seminars and other instructional meetings with their faculty, so that all students can receive the education they deserve.
No student like Frank should be made to suffer simply because they don't fit in with the rest of the campus. No student like Frank should be dealt with so harshly simply because he or she might be different from the rest of us. Every student like Frank should have the same opportunities to succeed in college, which means professors should be trained to deal with any such problems that might arise.
