Dealing with Difficult Students

When teachers have to confront a difficult student, they often have more of a problem with their own feelings than with the student whose behaviour is disruptive. This is because the teachers have a sense of failure, of having their expertise rejected. It is important to begin, therefore, with some clarification of what types of behaviour are likely to be disruptive; next to understand what might cause such behaviour, then to generate solutions to the problem. Implicit in all that I have said in this paragraph is the fact that we need to separate the behaviour from the person. Equally, we have to be able to stand back from our own feelings of inadequacy and accept that dealing with such problems is a normal part of the teacher's role.

What behaviour is unacceptable in the classroom?

Group work requires co-operation. Teachers therefore expect certain rules to be obeyed, even if the rules are unwritten or unspoken. Such rules include:

punctuality
regular attendance
performing the set tasks
paying attention
having the required materials or equipment
dressing appropriately
being polite
being respectful of others

Students who break any of these rules are likely to be perceived as disruptive and pose a problem to the teacher whose role it is to orchestrate the group so that it functions for the benefit of all. The first step in dealing with difficult behaviour is to rank each of the items above, so that you decide which you find most unacceptable down to which ones are just mildly disruptive. Now look at the list you have ranked and categorise each type of behaviour:

what makes you angry
what seems senseless
what embarrasses you
what amuses you
what can you deal with easily
what can you understand?

Understanding the reasons for disruptive behaviour

Now select the type of behaviour that make you angry and think about the last time you had to deal with it. Take the time to analyse what really happened:

what led up to the incident
how did the other students react
how did you intervene
what were the activities in the classroom at the time
what was the outcome?

Try to find out more about the incident:

have your colleagues had similar difficulties,
how did they deal with it
should you be looking for information in the personal life of the student?

When you feel that you have a grasp of the situation be prepared to explore it further with the student:
ask the student to explain his or her point of view
check if the student understands why you are concerned
try to share your understanding of the problem
generate possible solutions with the student.

Finally, restate the problem and consider all the possible solutions. Agree a path ahead and build in points along the way in which you will review progress with the student.

In the wider context of student co-operation it is also useful to consider what you do to foster successful learning in the group. Think about the factors that make learning successful:

having fun
being involved
discovering
achieving goals
understanding the purpose of tasks.

Think about the factors that militate against successful learning:

fear of failure
boredom
unrealistic goals
not understanding the purpose of tasks
feeling tired.

Now turn the spotlight on what you do in the classroom so that you can begin to increase the activities that foster successful learning and reduce the negative factors.

It is useful also to think about the benefits of learning in groups:

increased range of ideas and perspectives
opportunity to explore similarities and differences
increased student interaction.

However, there are also risks to learning in groups:

varying levels of knowledge and abilities
some members of the group have different aims from others
the teacher cannot give detailed attention to each student all the time.

In order to minimise the risks of problem behaviour it is useful to explore with the students their own expectations of what working in a group involves. They might even wish to draw up their own list of rules for co-operation.

Problem ownership

Because teachers are seen as the authority figures in the group, some students might try to dump problems on their teachers that are not within their sphere of control. If, for example, a student who is consistently late for class turns out on investigation to have serious problems at home, then the teacher has to learn to draw a line under the responsibility he or she has in the situation. Teachers cannot be expected to act as social workers. They might be able to point a student in the right direction to find help, but they should resist being drawn into situations that are beyond their expertise.