So far, I can only think of this in theoretical terms, outside of one instance that I will highlight, as I haven’t gotten to fully see the types of toxic behaviors that current undergraduate college students bring to the classroom. I am very curious for my full session next quarter, and I imagine that some of these toxic behaviors will shift in and out of relevance as I see more day-to-day student behavior first-hand. I think that many of the toxic behaviors, such as plagiarism in the Moore Howard readings, for example, require a closer look in order to fully understand their implications and the perspectives from which they emerge. That being said, I find certain attitudes and content choices (outside of acknowledged research and parameters in which they can be studied) toxic to my class ecosystem.

Here, the aforementioned instance is illustrative. During a presentation session over the last week, one of the groups chose to include a response from a survey that was blatantly offensive, and, more to the point, had nothing really to do with their main topic of inquiry. The reference was offensive towards women, and it served no useful function within their data other than representing the full spectrum of responses they received. There is of course room for the study of sensitive material, but, this material should be handled with care and be specific to an approved project that everyone in the class is aware of. I find offensive language, especially sexist language, to be incredibly toxic and unwelcome in my class ecosystem. If, suppose, they had been studying sexism or offensive language itself, then, perhaps, it would have been viable to include the response to the survey, however, as it was an outlier that clearly should not have been included, it felt very toxic to the overall environment.

The other toxic behavior that I don’t want to see in my classroom ties into the last paragraphs thoughts. I want my classroom to be able to go after topics that really matter and motivate student engagement. This can often lead down the road of sensitive subject matter, and I find the refusal to be open-minded or to even attempt a critical look at sensitive issues to be toxic in and of itself. In a college setting, students should have the freedom to go after sensitive issues. As long as they consult with me and the class is prepared for the subject-matter, I think it would, ultimately, be a disservice to avoid that topic completely. I am open to students needing to leave or having content warnings, but an atmosphere in which students feel cornered into studying the “proper”things is a toxic behavior that inhibits in-depth learning and problem solving. There are, of course, nuances here and things to reconsider/be cognizant of, but I feel like these are two of the truly toxic behaviors that I would like to avoid in my classroom’s ecosystem.