What would you think if a student emailed you about this...

[HippyKayYay]

I'm a (very) mature student on a STEM MSc. One of the lecturers keeps on referring to us (as in the students on a particular MSc programme) as 'the Tik-Tok generation'. This is in reference to a particular assignment, that assumes we know how to make videos because we're of said generation.

It pisses me off. Firstly I'm not of that generation (in fact, I'm older than the lecturer). But also because it's just generally ageist and not ok to assume a group of people are of any identity (i.e. not ok to refer to us as if we were all men, all white, all whatever). I also have a sub-irk that this generalisation is allowing them to assume that we have particular skills (making audiovisual media) that is not related to the degree programme, not an entry requirement, and isn't something they're 'teaching' us. Yet they are assessing us on it. But that really is a sub-irk because I do know how to make a basic video.

Anyway - how would you feel if you were said lecturer and you got an email from me asking you not to refer to us as the 'Tik Tok generation', nor to make any generalised assumptions about the group based on characteristic that are protected by the equality act? I don't want to be that student... And in all other ways this lecturer is a nice person!

I'm not the only 'mature' student, btw, although I am definitely the oldest (by probably at least a decade, if not more) on my course... But I'm probably not the only one who doesn't feel like they're of the 'tik tok generation'

Speak to them. Dont email but I would honestly secretly eye roll at you You seem to have a chip on your shoulder. I'm betting I'm older than you are. I know how to make videos. I use tiktok etc. You are making yourself seen far older than you are.

If you don't have skills to pass the assignment then that's what you should be discussing

I have studied enough history to know that "don't make a fuss" was said to all sorts of people in the past.

There is nothing wrong with polite feedback on a service for which you are paying.

What was that 80s expression? ASSUME makes an ass out of you and me.

I think @Looksgood ’s post from (I think) 11.07 this morning was very good: you are part of the Tik Tok generation of students, OP. The platform contains a huge amount of material for and by university students.

Perhaps you aren’t wrong in theory; perhaps the comment was an intended joke that fell flat, but I, too, would encourage you to think of the bigger picture. What might you want down the road from this lecturer, who is only human, and from this School or Dept? PP have given you some idea of the stresses entailed by attempting to give a lecture without offending anyone who has registered fragility, and warned that sometimes complaints must be passed upwards.

In your shoes I would really try to put this behind me. But true ageism is of course dead wrong. Maybe make a note of this, and if a more serious pattern develops, ask your Student Rep(s) to pursue it.

The agist assumptions are a red herring - the issue is the format of the assignment has not been well scaffolding. I know lecturers are encouraged to set multi-media formats for assessments (I am one!) but really it doesn’t take a lot of forethought to either signpost some basic resources for the format you are requiring or give students a choice of format for these situations.

So yes, raising this with your lecturer is totally valid IMO

I'm a secondary school teacher.

We get this kind of feedback quite often.

I personally would want to know if my language was making people feel excluded.

For example, students have fed back that staff sometimes struggle with correct pronunciation of some African names, and that some students (who are hard up) found some examples being used in class were not very relatable (there are also well heeled populations nearby and therefore students).

I don't think any of us were personally offended! How would we know this stuff though if they hadn't said?

Don’t email. Talk to your lecturer in person! If they use this phrase, put your hand up and make a joke about “Some of us were born before the internet was invented “ or something like that.

If I received an email telling me what I could and couldn’t say, I’d be pissed off. But if a student made a joke to make a point, in person, I’d laugh and apologise and make a joke back about you looking younger than that etc etc etc.

Do it with humour and grace. Academics have more than enough to deal with with entitled or recalcitrant students than to be lectured about how they should refer to their students.

This! What is your actual problem?

I can't believe people are comparing a throwaway remark about TT to actual racism.