[EloiseStar]

This is probably a really weird question but where I go to school, despite having a uniform, very strict rules there is a general informal atmosphere. Students can talk to teachers and this in particular people find weird- one of my friends went to a private school but moved for money reasons and said that he was shocked to find how casual this state school was despite attending one before (his family moves a lot).
It's not like I go to a bad school (OFSTED said it was outstanding) and the grades are really good for GCSEs and A-Levels but I'm really conscious that when I go to university I'm going to struggle to know what is acceptable and what isn't when talking to my tutor/lecturer.

Help?

[AverageExcellence]

Academic levels are irrelevant. Anywhere you go where young people are left to their own devices theres going to be a laddish and informal style. Ull find different circles of people with varying levels of formality i guess.

[loupgarou]

In my experience most of my lecturers are really informal, you get the odd one who is less 'approachable'. You will gauge how formal/informal the relationship between them and students by how they interact. This really isn't something to worry about

[Gubey]

Well it will obviously vary depending on which uni you go to and of course on the particular lecturer. But generally it will be quite informal and especially with the lecturers you get on with you will develop an excellent repore. No doubt some will be quite formal, but in general don't stress about it at all it won't be much of a change from your current school.

[dee_is_kenco]

Yeah its rare that you get a lecturer that is formal. The only one I have had like that was very old school - he didnt even do emails untill he was practically forced into it lol.

I have other lecturers who although are informal still maintain a professional approach when speaking. But my fav lecturers curse and swear during lectures, can be approached at any time about literally anything including any personal issues and are all really great.

As people have said its something that will become apparent when you meet the lecturers. Having said all that, the one formal lecturer I have has a different attitute towards the students who actually apply themselves and make an effort and is more friendly towards them. I find that by doing simple things like always being the one who answers questions and the likes, makes the lecturers so much more willing to help you

[Ocarinaoftime]

I think as others have said, some lecturers will be formal and some not so much. I went to a public school (if that matters) and some teachers I would never approach at all, however I'm actually good friends with my old art teacher, we used to go and get pizza from pizza hut and go get food from morrisons and such when we did the school show and we have a lot of similar interests and even though I'm on my gap year I used to go in and help out in his classes all the time. I also get on with my old Geography teacher and we still keep in contact as I'm going to study Geography and before summer started I would pop in and visit a lot. Again though, some teachers I would never have done this with.

I really don't think you should worry, most people are 18 now and therefore it does tend to be less formal because you're not 14 any more and you've matured a lot, so for the most part it's not an adult trying to teach and keep a bunch of teens under control :P

EDIT: I also agree with the person above, being dedicated and enthusiastic in class such as answering questions and actually doing your work makes your teacher/lecturer a lot more willing to help you and be friendly towards you. The two teachers I'm friends with taught my two favourite subjects which were also the two I performed best in.

[Jake22]

As with any other person - you will quickly pick up the gist of it when you try to speak to them.

[Origami Bullets]

Not particularly formal at all. Obviously you need to follow the rules of common courtesy - not talking over your seminar leader, waiting for an appropriate point (usually a break / the end) in a lecture to ask questions for instance. However, in general there's a fairly informal atmosphere - less formal than school, anyway. No students, and only the rare lecturer even wears a suit. Even when societies try to organise formal events, they generally just descend into what can only be described as inappropriate behaviour as soon as people start drinking

[Craig_D]

(Original post by EloiseStar)
This is probably a really weird question but where I go to school, despite having a uniform, very strict rules there is a general informal atmosphere. Students can talk to teachers and this in particular people find weird- one of my friends went to a private school but moved for money reasons and said that he was shocked to find how casual this state school was despite attending one before (his family moves a lot).
It's not like I go to a bad school (OFSTED said it was outstanding) and the grades are really good for GCSEs and A-Levels but I'm really conscious that when I go to university I'm going to struggle to know what is acceptable and what isn't when talking to my tutor/lecturer.

Help?

As a good indicator of how informal university can be, it is not at all rare for students to turn up to lectures in pyjamas. I've seen it, and I bet there are other people here who have too.

Knowing the correct 'tone' to take with a lecturer can be difficult, each lecturer will have their own comfort zone and I'd recommend following their lead. Some will be happy to talk about their lives and current affairs, with others it's strictly university business. In the past I've talked with a lecturer about his children, but don't talk about something like that unless they bring it up first.

The issue of what you call your lecturer seems to come up fairly often. Every lecturer I had was happy to be called by their first name (in fact anything else would've been awkward) but I suppose it's possible that there are still some stuffy ones out there who insist on being called "Dr/Professor Smith". Again, follow their lead. I suppose a good indicator is that if they introduce themselves (in person or in their module handbook) as "Dr John Smith", call them John. If they introduce themselves as "Dr Smith" - even if you know their first name - stick to Dr Smith.

I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that generally the older staff are more formal and the younger staff are more informal, but that isn't always the case.

[Kim-x]

Good advice from the poster above. Addressing lecturers in the same way that they sign off in emails that they send to all students can be an indication. That said, some of my lecturers have signed off with their initials and I wouldn't go that far!


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[roh]

(Original post by Origami Bullets)
Not particularly formal at all. Obviously you need to follow the rules of common courtesy - not talking over your seminar leader, waiting for an appropriate point (usually a break / the end) in a lecture to ask questions for instance. However, in general there's a fairly informal atmosphere - less formal than school, anyway. No students, and only the rare lecturer even wears a suit. Even when societies try to organise formal events, they generally just descend into what can only be described as inappropriate behaviour as soon as people start drinking

I'm fairly certain, in fact I hope, this is the original intention of most social secs

[littleone271]

Are lecturers addressed on a first name basis like at college or is it back to mr, mrs, miss, professor, dr etc. like at school?

[LSD]

(Original post by littleone271)
Are lecturers addressed on a first name basis like at college or is it back to mr, mrs, miss, professor, dr etc. like at school?

It depends on the lecturer, some of them are really up themselves and demand "professor" I've met a few like that.
However most of mine are on first name terms with the students :P Makes them more approachable I think.

[littleone271]

(Original post by LSD)
It depends on the lecturer, some of them are really up themselves and demand "professor" I've met a few like that.
However most of mine are on first name terms with the students :P Makes them more approachable I think.

Oh ok thanks

I agree that it makes them more approachable. One of the things I really liked about college was being on first name terms with lecturers. It's nice when there's a true feeling of mutual respect. Do the same lecturers who demand to be called professor tend to reciprocate by addressing students as mr and miss/mrs?

[LSD]

(Original post by littleone271)
Oh ok thanks

I agree that it makes them more approachable. One of the things I really liked about college was being on first name terms with lecturers. It's nice when there's a true feeling of mutual respect. Do the same lecturers who demand to be called professor tend to reciprocate by addressing students as mr and miss/mrs?

Yeah that's true, it makes it easier. But no as far as I know the ones who demand professor/doctor generally don't talk to the students much and so don't address the students as anything :P

[littleone271]

(Original post by LSD)
Yeah that's true, it makes it easier. But no as far as I know the ones who demand professor/doctor generally don't talk to the students much and so don't address the students as anything :P

Oh that's ok then.. otherwise I'd find that a bit annoying tbh lol. I might be younger and far less qualified than them but I'm still an adult.. one that will be paying 9k a year to be taught by them and 5.5k in the first year to live on campus. Personally in my eyes that means I deserve mutual respect so if they want to be called professor then I'd object to them calling me by my first name.

And now I sound like I've got a really bad attitude lol I just hate being spoken down to!

[LSD]

(Original post by littleone271)
Oh that's ok then.. otherwise I'd find that a bit annoying tbh lol. I might be younger and far less qualified than them but I'm still an adult.. one that will be paying 9k a year to be taught by them and 5.5k in the first year to live on campus. Personally in my eyes that means I deserve mutual respect so if they want to be called professor then I'd object to them calling me by my first name.

And now I sound like I've got a really bad attitude lol I just hate being spoken down to!

Lol fair enough :P

[monk_keys]

(Original post by littleone271)
Are lecturers addressed on a first name basis like at college or is it back to mr, mrs, miss, professor, dr etc. like at school?

I remember having a lecture from our head of faculty about some students being too informal to professors. You've really got to judge it by their personality and in the first instance play it safe.

[littleone271]

(Original post by monk_keys)
I remember having a lecture from our head of faculty about some students being too informal to professors. You've really got to judge it by their personality and in the first instance play it safe.

Yeah I guess so... It's going to be so different to college though! Might take a bit of getting used to haha..

[Origami Bullets]

(Original post by roh)
I'm fairly certain, in fact I hope, this is the original intention of most social secs

Well of course! But the point is that even when students try to come over all formal, we invariably fail!