Participation in Harkness: Is It Fair?

By: Arya Palla

It’s midterm season, and with that comes participation grades. To some, these grades may be inconsequential, just another score. To others, they can feel demoralizing. Some feel like such grades do not reflect one’s true performance in class, diminishing one’s presence. 

Many students have difficulties being heard in Harkness conversations, and having your opinions overlooked or your comments forgotten can be painful, especially when it results in a C for Harkness participation. 

Of course, this isn’t a universal issue. The variance comes with teachers. There are instructors who are extremely attentive to their class, making sure each comment is valued and understood. There are also teachers, however, that might let personal biases seep into the discussion. Biases against race and gender, for example, propagate feelings of discomfort and prejudice in our community. These biases can touch upon other identities as well, like political or religious affiliations. 

As a result, Exeter should eliminate all participation grades.

When a teacher acts on this disagreement, subconsciously or not, they might ignore or put down the student, and their biases might manifest in lower grades for the student. However, grades may not only reflect the teacher’s bias but the class’ general disposition as well.

Your peers play a big part in how you contribute and how the teacher perceives your participation. Having a class community that hears and takes time to understand each other can foster a more welcoming environment. Allowing pauses in the discussion gives an opportunity for more shy students to speak up, and for Harkness warriors to calm down. 

Awareness is also key. Being cognizant of who has and hasn’t spoken and then acting on that knowledge by pausing and nudging certain individuals makes these students feel more comfortable. The feeling of having one’s opinion valued encourages them to talk more, becoming more noticed by the teacher as well. 

Not every class environment is like this, though. You might be surrounded by students who are very impatient or distracted. Of course, we are all impatient and distracted at times, but some classrooms are consistently in this state. Your peers might constantly talk over you, ignore your points, or just not participate at all, not because they are a little more nervous and shy, but just constantly bored and distracted. These types of atmospheres make it hard to feel like your comment is wanted. They stifle your voice in the conversation and result in lower participation grades. 

Along with teachers and the class environment, your identity may play a part as well. Everyone has inherent biases, which start to manifest themselves in the discussion when we ignore or criticize other individuals’ remarks. Like I said before, this can be done by a teacher or a student. 

Though this is not persistent through all classrooms, it noticeable enough to have become a problem to the Exeter community. For example, an English class might be covering a topical issue in a book. One student might offer a conservative comment that is uncommon within the liberal-leaning class atmosphere. 

Normally, this diversity of thought would be celebrated. Ideological diversity challenges opinions and allows for the overall development of character that comes with an ideologically mixed atmosphere.

However, inherent biases within the students or teachers can manifest themselves in the ignoring and attacking of alternative viewpoints. In these cases, the individual becomes demotivated to share again and is looked down upon by their peers or instructor. A repetition of this behavior from the class or teacher ultimately results in reduced participation and engagement. This is reflected in their grades. 

Biases are an inherent part of an individual’s thinking. Workshops and meetings, like the ones Principal Rawson had started after the Grill protest, might reduce such biases, but such thoughts are impossible for many people to fully remove in the end. Though Harkness grades have a purpose in letting the recipient know how they are performing and how they should improve, there are other ways of getting this done. 

Along with implicit bias training, which should apply to a broader range of political identities as well, faculty should be committed to having one on one conversations with the students and letting them know what they need to do to progress in Harkness.

 These conversations must be honest but constructive to ensure that the student is made aware of their goal and know how to achieve those goals in an open-minded class atmosphere. Thankfully, most teachers have these important discussions, but not all do—some just offer the grades. 

Making sure the entire faculty is invested in this procedure fills the gap Harkness grades would leave behind, rendering the latter pointless and damaging overall. In short, then, Exeter ought to eliminate participation grades to ensure that a student’s grade cannot be substantially altered by subjective biases. 

In its place, let’s raise up those important conversations and raise up alternative, less harmful forms of feedback.