Outdated notion: does it really matter what name your students address you by?

Well, with a dearth of research on the subject, it’s hard to know definitively, and depending on who you’re talking to it really does matter, or matters very little.

Dr Nicole Brownlie, a lecturer in education at the University of Southern Queensland, looked at this subject in her recent article for The Conversation, and found that at present, there’s no hard or fast rule on what works best, and that it’s probably best referred to as horses for courses.

As Brownlie says in her article, “what works in one school, or even one classroom, may not work in another”.

It’s hard to argue that there’s been a casualising of titles societally and how we address each other in the last few decades.

Brownlie agrees.

“I can’t talk to any other country because I’ve spent most of my life in Australia, but certainly societal norms are a lot less formal than they used to be,” she tells EducationHQ.

“I remember growing up I always called my mum’s friends, ‘Mr and Mrs, so and so’, but I don’t necessarily think that the lack of formality equals a lack of respect.

“I think it really depends on how you address somebody and the tone in which you speak to them, rather than the actual name.”

Across the school sector approaches vary markedly, but the academic says in her experience there are still many schools that stick rigidly to a tradition of adults having formal titles.

“It’s still a lot more common if you’re looking at your very traditional private schools that are steeped in tradition, old-school values, they are much less likely to allow a teacher to be called in whichever way they choose,” she says.

“I think teachers still, on the whole, feel as though it creates that barrier of authority and respect and ‘we need our classroom boundaries’ and that sort of thing.”

“I don’t think it matters if some teachers in the school are called ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’ and some are called ‘Bob’ and ‘Jane’ – it has far more to do with the relationship between the teacher and the student,” Dr Nicole Brownlie says.

Brownlie says there’s been very little research done here in Australia, but what has been done in the United States, particularly, tends to lean towards names having an impact on how students perceive their teachers and feel about school, particularly those fresh out of ITE.

A study from 2020, around beginning teachers on pracs, found those who used their first name observed greater student engagement than those who did not, while another found that students felt more included and respected when they could use teachers’ first names, with the classrooms feeling less hierarchical and more collaborative.

“In [another] study of US high school students, teenagers described teachers they addressed with formal titles as more distant and harder to connect with. Teachers who invited students to use their first name were seen as more supportive, approachable and trustworthy,” Brownlie notes via The Conversation.

In the US, when students were only allowed to call a teacher by their last name or ‘sir’ or ‘miss’, they felt more distant and more intimidated, and that they couldn’t trust their teacher quite as much, she tells EducationHQ.

“Whereas if they were allowed to call them by a nickname or by their first name, there was certainly a lot more trust, they felt the teacher was more approachable and they felt more confident to give things a go and make mistakes.”

Brownlie suggests here in Australia things are likely a little different.

“I think what we do in Australia is more to do with how the student and teacher relationship feels, and what is most important in developing that teacher-student relationship in terms of trust and inclusivity and breaking down those barriers,” Brownlie asserts.

Those in favour of sticking to traditional school formality would argue that it establishes structure and boundaries and authority, especially for beginner teachers or beginning teachers or those from minority backgrounds.

“If a younger early career teacher wants to stick with ‘Mr’ or ‘Miss’, I think that’s absolutely fine and well within their right to do, but I also think if a teacher, and I know particularly of some big, burly men that are teaching younger children, they find if they’re allowed to be called by their first name or by a nickname, that it really helps,” Brownlie says.

“So I honestly think, structure, boundaries, authority, that sort of thing, is a far bigger conversation than just, ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs’, and I really love that some teachers are able to choose because it gives them back the authority in their own classroom as to how they would like students to address them.

“I feel like teachers don’t have anywhere near enough voice in choice in their own classrooms anymore, so I love that they get to choose.”

Responses on The Conversation’s Facebook page would suggest that a vast majority of teachers are in favour of teacher autonomy and being addressed by their first name.

“Trained, educated teachers thinking that their power in the classroom comes from students using their surname is just bizarre to me,” one teacher posted.

“If you’re a teacher who has developed habits, relationships, routines, strategies that keep a class on track, you could implement those even if your name was ‘Snotface’.”

Another said she preferred that her students called her by her given name and that was as far back as the late ‘70s.

“Some parents weren’t happy. But I liked it better than ‘miss, miss’. Respect is earned and not a given and is not reflected in a form of address.”

A third agreed.

“If it’s just about the name, then it’s about who has more authority, and can be about fear/power.

“Students will listen, learn and be guided by a teacher who shows them respect. And this way, they also learn that respect is to value a person for who they are, not about their power or status. The name you call teachers is inconsequential.”

Other posters bemoaned the outdated generic notion of ‘Miss’ and “old-fashioned” labels that are based on marital status, such as ‘Mrs’.

“Using titles also doesn’t lend itself well for teachers that prefer not to be gender labelled. Why do we insist on gender labelled teachers?” one said.

As expected, most suggested that it’s very much ‘horses for courses’.

“It depends on context - lower socio-economic rural high school, large class sizes, disaster. Smaller 10-12 inner city, might work,” one educator said.

“What I do know is that it is never a good idea to further blur the lines between teacher and student.”

Another said: “If you develop positive, trusting relationships with students so they know your expectations - and you know there’s - it doesn’t matter what they call you.”

A third suggested this debate has been going on for more than 40 years.

“Some teachers would have been happier having students use their first names as they felt the artificial formality was an impediment to learning a multitude of life skills,” they said.

“Others felt that they needed every possible tool to maintain a semblance of discipline to get through a crowded curriculum (which is now even more crowded). The uniform/ dress code followed a similar line.

“Are we trying to create happy little worker drones? Or free-thinking citizens who can see beyond the moment to advanced problem solving in a complex world?”

Brownlie says in future she’s optimistic there might be some Australia-specific research done.

“I hope someone picks it up because I think it is very interesting in light of the social/emotional wellbeing, inclusivity, all of those things that are really hot topics, because they’re so important right now about building trust.

“The research really has been done so far around what teachers call students, which I find is really interesting that the way students are spoken to and the names that students are given is really important, but no one in Australia has done the research the other way around. So I think it would be a really interesting take.”