Very mean teacher

I thought it would be good to ask for the opinion of people here about this issue, because most of the people I can ask over here would probably give me the same advice and I'd like to see what persons with different points of view have to share on the subject. (Since my native language ain't English, I'm sorry if I make any mistakes)

I'm studying 3° semester of Architecture as of now, and the semester will end in about 5 or 6 weeks. I've always been a good student and recently received a prize for ranking as 7th in the top 10 students of all the Faculty of Architecture. However, as much as I spend time studying, researching and designing I seem to be fated to fail the course of Design III.

This may sound like a childish excuse, but the teacher does in fact hate me and I realized way too late when I couldn't change my section of the course anymore. The reason, as I later found out, it's because of my uncle: My uncle is the mayor of the city and he does an outstanding job at it, yet he seems to have declined the work of my teacher many times in favor of that of other architects. Least than a month ago, my uncle accepted at last two projects of my teacher, but then at the last moment declined some statues my teacher had designed for the outside part of one of those buildings, which greatly fueled my teacher's anger.

Now, since a loudmouth classmate told the guy I was the mayor's nephew the guy has been been bent on making my life a living hell. I spent every single day working late at night, and almost always spend the weekend working like a slave at the design table, and I feel and have been told that my projects are amongst the better of my class, yet the guy always looks at my work in a denigrative manner and treats me with greatly visible disgust, sometimes he even tears apart my plans and once he tossed a model I had made.

He always says something along the lines of "This doesn't work at all" or "What are you doing here? You should study psychology or something, only a crazy person could make this" or "Start from zero again, take this off my sight", then I change what he wanted and at the very last presentation of the project he says "Why did you do this? It was perfect at the beginning". I'm not kidding, he's very very rude towards my person, and I can't complain with any other teacher because that would equal not having any hope of finishing my studies.

That bastard has me frustrated beyond words, as of lately every time I attend his class I end up being depressed for two days... which is when I have to see him again.

I cannot ask my uncle to do something against the ill mannered bitch because first of all it would be somewhat immoral and unethical of my person, not to mention a clear abuse of power, second, despite my uncle even being my godfather, I don't talk to him, or even see other members of my family that frequently (At most one or twice in a year I do see him), so he would ignore me. Jeez, the guy doesn't even call me in my birthday.

My family also exerts great pressure on my person, my father having 3 university titles and my mom also having an impressive academic background, thus, they wouldn't understand it if I failed the course, they think I'm some genius that can stay in the top 10 and pass all courses of the semester with high grades easily ._. I have even been told that if I happened to fail a subject I'd have to work (I dunno in which free time) to pay for my studies, because they wouldn't continue paying for them. I tried to explain my situation to them and they just said "You can still pass it, right? Then do it"

At this rate I'll probably fail Design III due to that hating, resented bastard, so I'm really at a lost of what to do. I'm starting to believe that Architecture wasn't really my calling and started to consider dropping out. I do work hard, and I really study to the point of sleeping just 3 hours everyday, yet this guy seems to ask me for things which need a deep knowledge of technical matters I won't even see until 6° or 7° semester.

I wish I knew what to do in this situation, but everything is so complicated that I don't see any way around it besides dropping out, which would be at any rate something I don't want. Thus, I wanted to hear other persons' opinion on the subject, most of my friends are too lightheaded to probably process all that and say something besides "That guy's a bitch" xD

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Is there perhaps a students' union at your school you could bring this too?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Students' Union? No, unfortunately such a thing doesn't exist there.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Uh, can't you go to someone above your Teacher?

Go to the head of the department, file an official complaint, do something! Hell, even use your uncle's influence as a last resort. If he's playing dirty, just throw it back in his face.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Quite honestly, it's stupid that your teacher is holding a grudge he has against your uncle against you. What exactly did you do to deserve any of the remarks he's been giving you? I mean you did nothing to provoke him from doing this anyway. I'm not even be in college yet (so who I'm mentioning might not even be right to begin with...), but have you spoken to your advisers about this situation? I would think that the quality of your work in comparison to others should be able to prevail over the unreasonable comments that you've been getting.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Still, who does this teacher answer to? Does he have a supervisor in the Architecture department?

In America, every student has a right to file a grievance against a teacher if the student feels the teacher was unfair in any way. Usually, the teacher is brought before a set of his peers and the student is interviewed by the same panel.

If you had written testimonials from classmates who've observed the teacher's actions, and who know how late you've worked, perhaps those papers could sway a panel in your favor. If you ask for something humble, like the opportunity to take the class with a different teacher and not have this semester's grade count against you, people might believe your claims. If you ask for an automatic "A", then they might think you're just lazy.

Anyhow, there must be someone who ranks higher than this teacher, someone you can go to and explain the situation.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Crash and Jazz are right, unless he's the head of the Architechure Department, someone else is above him in that area. If he is the head of the department, someone else has to be the Dean of that area (I'm not sure what Architechure would be under... but for instance, English is under the Dean of Arts and Humanities). See if you can talk to a Dean of some sort. And if not, confiding in any other professor should spark something... do you have an advisor? Someone who helps you choose your classes? Go see them.

Also, you say that he's torn apart your projects, then said that they were fine from the beginning. Have other students noticed this? Have other students experienced this? Talk to you classmates. I find it hard to believe that a college professor would do something so stupid as to hold a grudge because of a relative (not saying its impossible, but 3 years of college have only given me the most open-minded people for professors ever), so see if other students have noticed the same thing. That will strengthen your case when you bring it to someone.

FELIPE NO

There are indeed several persons with a higher rank in the architecture department than him, but I have already spoken to them and they all tell me to speak with the head of the faculty. The time that I did so she told me she'd talk with him, but then I told her to not do so out of fear (You see, several persons have filed complaints against the teacher though his teaching career at the university, and most of the time if the guy found out who did it he'd even go as far as changing the grades of those persons so they wouldn't pass his subject. Several persons from higher semesters have told me of such happenings that went ignored by the head of architecture, so it must be true, and making things harder for myself doesn't sound so appealing @_@;; ). At least it seems the bastard will be fired after this semester, since he's not only mean, but he misses classes frequently or leaves way too early having the nerve to use excuses such as "I have a tennis match to attend to".

Tearing apart projects, though rare, isn't something unseen, but it only happens when the projects are absolutely terrible. That "I break/draw on/cut/toss it and make you change it to tell you it was great in the beginning" routine is something that a few indecisive teachers do sometimes, but it's most often seen in first semester only in the very first projects, when teachers get frustrated with their new students.

That panel thing is out of the question: Not only I wouldn't be able to get any testimonials due to what I explained above, but teachers over there are "always right". The other teachers would defend him no matter what, it's the same anywhere, like a mafia. Besides, probably who would be summoned would be the two coordinators of the first semesters (Which happen to be good friends with my teacher) and another random teacher.

Of course, I would never ask for an automatic A, but changing sections is kinda futile when about 5 weeks are left. Maybe if I were studying engineering or administration that would be ok, but since evaluation in art-oriented careers is highly subjective, chances are I wouldn't have time to adjust to the new teacher way to evaluate AND finish the last project. Besides, that's against the rules of the university, such changes can only be done in the first week of each semester.

Jazz suggestion seems nice: using my uncle influence as a last resort, thing is he couldn't do much: The construction of the buildings my teacher designed are already scheduled to begin in the next months, starting with the demolition of a few things that occupy the terrains; and my uncle would also have to convince the other interested parties of the project to call it off. He has a great sense of duty and wouldn't do something that would affect the city negatively like calling off the projects, even if family was involved in that somehow. Maybe he could annoy the bitch and make him do drastic changes very frequently to his work over and over again, but in the end my teacher would end up building something and earning big money, so I doubt he minds. Well, that would be nice for a revenge scenario in case I failed, but that's not what I hope for xD

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I say if all else fails and he fails you because he hates your uncle. Contact a lawyer and see if you can sue him. You're paying to go there for crying out loud(or in this case your family is), you don't have to put up with shit like that.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I thought you said you were going to fail the class anyway. What can he do if you do file a complaint with the department head? Fail you more? Come on. It sounds like you've got nothing to lose, and this is the only proper way to handle it. Worst case you fail one class and take it again, that's not so bad.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'd got into a similar case like you, in high school. The solution, I think, is quitr simple but a bit daring. If the teacher is doing just like what you said earlier, that means he must have wanted to see you in a desperate condition so badly. And if that is the case, you must NOT show him even once that you are in a bad position, or he'll continue on intimidating you harder and harder. Rise your head, put on a smile, and work harder. Do hypocrite things to him, such as saying hello and smiling to him. Make better results, the best you can do. Do it so that you can 'fight' him and show him that you are not the type of person that he could press and crush as he please.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I've had the experience of having this so called "bad teacher" who you could not do anything about in the past at least once, and I have a few honest suggestions on how you could handle the matter more easily.

1) Explain the entire situation to your parents. I personally think that you haven't done enough to truly get your parents on your side. When I had to face a similar situation, my parents initially thought that I could easily handle it myself. If your father or mother attempts to pull a degree-string on you, saying that you should be in the top of your class, then you'll have to diplomatically receive their attention. Point out that unfortunately, there are some experiences in the world that cannot be handled without support from peers. Say that this is a final straw: the professor is doing unethical things in order to try to pull down people's rank. Make sure you tell them that people who complain to the department head often have their grades lowered in other categories arbitrarily.

The reason for having your parents on your side is simple. It is much easy to handle difficult situations through suggestion from your parents, and it certainly helps calm you down when you have to directly deal with your adviser. It is worthy to note that you must tell your parents that they HAVE to support you at this moment, because simply saying "you can do it" is not entirely constructive.

2) Determine the risk you're willing to take. You must make the decision for yourself: is the teacher truly inciting aggression and doing unethical activities in order to increase or decrease grades? Are you guaranteed to fail the course? These questions come into play when you attempt to find the solution. Don't be afraid of the punishment and procedures that go into investigating these grade-decreasing accounts.

3) Craft a solution determined from your thoughts above. If indeed it is your last straw, you must absolutely talk to your faculty head. Unfortunately, starting a movement or using the student's union is not going to suddenly change the way the faculty works on grades. Departments usually follow student suggestions but only gradually AFTER the semester has passed. You must absolutely do the following:

Before you go to the department head, you must have paper evidence of the grade you got in each subject. This may come from directly confronting the teacher and asking him to print out a FULL grade report or a list of grades on a single piece of paper, or from keeping all of the assignments and grades you have had from the past. You must go to the head of the department, citing that other students who have in the past complained to that head, have had their grade decreased, and that you wish for other faculty or the department head to grade future projects instead. You must tell the faculty head that you have saved a list of grades, and wish to receive a full summary after the grading period has finished.

These are the types of rules that department heads should ethically follow if a complaint arises with a student, and you should be able to at least strike a bargain or deal with the head (or you're really in the wrong school and need to either switch majors or schools immediately)

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

If nothing else you should ask for another faculty member to evaluate your projects either prior to turning them in or at the same time. Don't ask one you're buddies with, just ask some random professor that you only had for one class and kinda remembers you for doing good work. Then, if you do need to bring the thing up to the department head, you'll have the support of a professor within the department that can support your claim of unfair treatment in the class.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Hmmm, I like Ozma's suggestion. If I'm prolly going to fail at last I won't show him how much he affects me. I've already treated him hypocritically in the past and he always makes this "Wtf?!" face xD It's funny.

RacinReaver: I will take your advice in mind, having my project evaluated by another teacher before showing it to "His Insolence" (Thats one nickname we use to refer to him between students) could be a way to at keep progressing and receive constructive criticism of my work... I already have some teachers in mind, so I'll just ask em' if they can do it in their time between classes or something.

Arch-Slayer: Though I could probably do that, and surely they'd help if things came down to going to the department head, most people that suffered said abuse would probably not move an inch to help me, because they'd probably fear some kind of revenge not from the troublesome teacher himself anymore (Since he's probably getting kicked out after this semester), but from his close friends in the teachers' group.
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Anyway, thanks for helping out, I'll try to put all your advice to use and see what happens. I'll keep you updated :P

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I had a mean teacher in jr.high, I had issues with math and he knew it, so he picked on me for it.

we would call out our answers going down the rows of desks, and he would ask "who got more than 5 wrong?" if you rose your hand, you had to go to his desk and he would look over your work.

he really hurt me when he looked over my work, he said to me "the best people in this class can't do these problems and here you are trying to do it"

I nearly ran out the room, but I told my mother about it and she said she talked to the principle about it. It slightly got better over time, but on my high-school grad I fliped him the bird and ran off.

Going to the person in charge of the building might work, but going to the head of the district might be better, they may not know your teacher personally so they can't be baised.

FELIPE NO