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November 13, 2009
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Classroom Conundrum

Illustration of a Man on FireI was recently giving a lecture to a group of graduate students when three of them near the front of the classroom appeared to be engaged in a personal discussion. As I went over some key points, they passed an i-Phone back and forth, and at one point one of the students jumped up and ran from the auditorium. Their behavior was disruptive to me and appeared to bother some of the other students, but I was uncertain what to do and didn’t want to make the situation worse. Do you have advice?

You were wise not to react in the moment until you have worked out an approach. While it is never easy to respond to disruptive behaviors in the classroom, you can effectively handle them using one or more of the steps below. These steps demonstrate what we call emotional intelligence—understanding your reactions and acting upon them in a thoughtful way at an appropriate time—and social intelligence—empathizing with others and using relational skills to build and manage relationships.

  • Prevention. The best way to prevent problems is to educate students about expectations for behavior at the beginning of a course. Use the Guidelines for Conduct in Teacher/Learner Relationships to remind them of their obligation to treat all fellow learners and teachers with respect and fairness.

  • Assessment. Consider your own emotional responses. Perhaps you are feeling angry, confused or anxious. If you feel levelheaded enough by the end of the class, consider asking the two remaining students to stay behind to see if everything is OK with the one who left and to clarify the situation. Recognize the possibility that the student may have just received some important news about a position or award. Also, consider that you may have lost the students’ attention.

  • Intervention. It is most effective to address a situation immediately and nonconfrontationally. In this case, you might tell all class members that if they have important personal business, they are welcome to excuse themselves and quietly leave the classroom. In speaking to the class, recognize that emotions are contagious and work to build rapport, using a positive tone that anticipates a good outcome and avoids humiliating anyone.

    In following up with the two students after class, seek to understand the situation. If the students were playing games, explore why. If they were dissatisfied with your teaching approach and were acting out, you can discuss more appropriate ways of responding and seek their feedback and suggestions. An open, respectful discussion of the behavior and mutual expectations will be useful and probably sufficient.

  • Follow-up. If the situation is not resolved to your satisfaction or there are repeated patterns of disruptive behavior, you can discuss the matter with the course director or program director.

To learn more about dealing with challenging classroom situations, consider taking the Teaching Skills course offered each year through the Faculty Development Program at Johns Hopkins Bayview;  the online course on feedback skills;  or  the short course on “How to Influence Others and Negotiate Win/Win Situations” on Nov. 16 for school of medicine faculty only. 

Response submitted by Assistant Dean for Faculty Development Lisa Heiser.

 
            
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