Comments on: heya there

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 10 May 2005 14:11:36 +0000

As I say, it wasn’t about the informality in itself – I don’t mind that per se (except when I’m having one of my panic attacks about whether I have enough authority in the classroom or do they all just think I’m daft… usually when I asked a question that I thought was perfectly reasonable and they all look like I just flew in from the moon). Brandon picked up the same feeling I was having, that there was something faintly sleazy about it, which I don’t think was intended at all and he’d probably be really embarrassed at the idea.

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 10 May 2005 13:52:33 +0000

I’m too liberal, I suppose. But then, I’m in the education system of a different country; I wouldn’t normally bat an eyelid at “heya” in an email, but context could over-rule that call (if, for example, the student never did any work).

And by the way, if students are directly paying for their education, teachers *are* providing a service. That doesn’t mean that the student (customer – urk!) and the educational institution (vendor) agree on what constitutes the service. Students, after all, are paying to be rid of their ignorance, not reaffirm it.

By: liam hogan

liam hogan — Tue, 03 May 2005 06:09:53 +0000

You should be grumpy.
Students can and do address their teachers as providers of a service, because that’s the way the discourse of education is going. The more education is described as a private benefit, paid for and consumed like any other good or service, the more students are going to treat teaching staff badly.
It’s the ‘I’m paying for my education so you’d better provide me with a worthwhile one’ syndrome.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 03 May 2005 03:49:31 +0000

I should say that I’m not implying that the student was trying a sleazy come-on; just that it’s that association that makes me not like the sound of it.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 03 May 2005 03:46:52 +0000

I don’t like it; but that’s because it sounds to me like the sort of thing someone would say if they were trying a sleazy come-on.

By: Danny

Danny — Mon, 02 May 2005 16:46:00 +0000

I’ve definitely seen (and used) ‘heya’ to start off e-mails. But it’s definitely informal; I’d only use it with a good friend, and I wouldn’t even think to use it with a teacher.

Now you’ve got me thinking about ‘Hey Ya!’ And for that, I thank you. A bit of dancing around will be a nice break from outlining.

By: Claire

Claire — Mon, 02 May 2005 16:13:28 +0000

Were they from a Celtic country or from the North of England? It sounds like a regionalism to me. If it’s not then yes they do sound rude.