Keeping Mental Health in Mind
Contributed By: Marc Pollack
If you have been teaching for any amount of time, you have undoubtedly found yourself in a classroom with a difficult student. Perhaps the student is disruptive or disrespectful and we must make choices in that moment on how to deal with that situation in both the most productive and positive way possible.
One thing to always keep in mind is that misbehavior can almost always be interpreted as a “cry for help.” Perhaps a student is stressed or frustrated, feels powerless, or has not had good behavior modeled for them in the past. One way to deal with these situations is to address them preemptively. Setting the tone on the first day of class, stating what type of behavior you expect and the environment you wish to create, and learning the students’ names can go a long way. You should state your expectations both verbally and in the syllabus.
However, in spite of your best efforts you will undoubtedly run into issues in class. In this case do not attack the student or become defensive. You are the example of good behavior and you want to maintain the respect of other students in your classroom. Listen to the student, both what they say and do not say, consider their complaint and validate their concerns without defending their actions. Allow for different forms of response, sharing, and evaluation in your class with options to perhaps opt out of activities that might be overly uncomfortable for some students. Know what your boundaries are and the sorts of behaviors you will never allow.
This ties into student mental health and wellness. Understanding that students are a high-risk group with regards to mental health crises, and that suicide is unfortunately prevalent, is important context for everything we do. Even compared with graduate students, undergrads are more often overwhelmed, depressed, and self-harming. Staying aware of their academic, physical, behavioral and emotional distress is essential, and how we respond to these distressed students will have to be specific to their circumstances; this is not a one size fits all situation.
Meanwhile, in the classroom, we can use Universal Design for Learning as a means to prevent, identify, and address the issues that result from different learning styles, stages and progressions. Motivating recalcitrant students may not be simple, but by breaking the cycle of failure, giving students more control over their learning, creating connections between lessons and students’ lives, and managing both to be a helpful facilitator and not overwhelming in our involvement with struggling students, we can begin to address this problem.
Mary Bart 2012, “Dealing with Difficult Students”; Faculty Focus
https://ii.library.jhu.edu/2017/02/16/dealing-with-difficult-students/
4Faculty.org No longer supported, but great resource
http://www.4faculty.org/includes/108r2.jsp
https://aggiecompass.ucdavis.edu/mental-wellness#immediate-resources
https://leadership.ucdavis.edu/strategic-plan/task-forces/mental-health
https://www.ucop.edu/student-mental-health-resources/_files/pdf/PSMH-guide.pdf
If you have been teaching for any amount of time, you have undoubtedly found yourself in a classroom with a difficult student. Perhaps the student is disruptive or disrespectful and we must make choices in that moment on how to deal with that situation in both the most productive and positive way possible.
One thing to always keep in mind is that misbehavior can almost always be interpreted as a “cry for help.” Perhaps a student is stressed or frustrated, feels powerless, or has not had good behavior modeled for them in the past. One way to deal with these situations is to address them preemptively. Setting the tone on the first day of class, stating what type of behavior you expect and the environment you wish to create, and learning the students’ names can go a long way. You should state your expectations both verbally and in the syllabus.
However, in spite of your best efforts you will undoubtedly run into issues in class. In this case do not attack the student or become defensive. You are the example of good behavior and you want to maintain the respect of other students in your classroom. Listen to the student, both what they say and do not say, consider their complaint and validate their concerns without defending their actions. Allow for different forms of response, sharing, and evaluation in your class with options to perhaps opt out of activities that might be overly uncomfortable for some students. Know what your boundaries are and the sorts of behaviors you will never allow.
This ties into student mental health and wellness. Understanding that students are a high-risk group with regards to mental health crises, and that suicide is unfortunately prevalent, is important context for everything we do. Even compared with graduate students, undergrads are more often overwhelmed, depressed, and self-harming. Staying aware of their academic, physical, behavioral and emotional distress is essential, and how we respond to these distressed students will have to be specific to their circumstances; this is not a one size fits all situation.
Meanwhile, in the classroom, we can use Universal Design for Learning as a means to prevent, identify, and address the issues that result from different learning styles, stages and progressions. Motivating recalcitrant students may not be simple, but by breaking the cycle of failure, giving students more control over their learning, creating connections between lessons and students’ lives, and managing both to be a helpful facilitator and not overwhelming in our involvement with struggling students, we can begin to address this problem.
Mary Bart 2012, “Dealing with Difficult Students”; Faculty Focus
https://ii.library.jhu.edu/2017/02/16/dealing-with-difficult-students/
4Faculty.org No longer supported, but great resource
http://www.4faculty.org/includes/108r2.jsp
https://aggiecompass.ucdavis.edu/mental-wellness#immediate-resources
https://leadership.ucdavis.edu/strategic-plan/task-forces/mental-health
https://www.ucop.edu/student-mental-health-resources/_files/pdf/PSMH-guide.pdf
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