Norms

One norm that I think is universally followed, at least within my peers, is the norm of raising one's hand before speaking in class. After close to 20 years of formal education, I find that this norm is strongly ingrained in myself and those around me. The regulative effect of this norm is so strong that it is at the point of being automatic. When I want to speak in class, I raise my hand without thinking about it. Furthermore, when others speak without raising their hands, I am incredibly irked by it, if not personally offended. Although it would be in my own personal interest and to my own advantage in terms of voicing my opinion to simply just speak up whenever I feel like, the thought of doing so within a classroom setting makes me uneasy. I am currently enrolled in a class that is conducted in a group conversational style. Although this set up is quite effective, I sometimes find myself uncomfortable with the potential chaos that I see arising when there is no governing professor to decide who speaks next and when. Maybe this is a psychological trait of mine that is unique to just me, but I think not since I know other students who get as equally annoyed as I when other students are allowed to monopolize the conversation do to the lack of the "hand raising" norm.

My identity of myself as an educated member of the classroom / academic sphere is partially hinged on the fact that I can conduct myself with the proper classroom decorum, which has come to encompass the norm of raising my hand. In other settings, I never feel the need, and would find it incredibly formal and somewhat silly, if others raised their hands before speaking. Could you imagine general grocery store conversations if everyone had to raise their hands before speaking?