Student Entitlement, Complaints, and Negative Perceptions

Perceptions are a fixture in the complex web of human interactions. The way individuals view each other is fluid, situationally dependent, consequential to relationship development and maintenance, and often walks a fine line between positive and negative extremities. This chapter examines students' unfavorable perceptions of teachers and course content. Many demographic features and variables can affect the way students perceive teachers, but race and gender are among the most salient and are, therefore, given detailed attention in this chapter. The chapter further pierces into the deviant behaviors of academic entitlement, nagging, nuisances, complaints, and offensive speech that infiltrate the teacher-student relationship. The pedagogical implications of student entitlement, complaints, and negative perceptions are also considered.