Classroom Management - Articles - Andrew Schwartz

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Classroom Management
by Andrew E. Schwartz

Disruptive behavior, whether withdrawal, diversion, or attack, directly assaults the presentor’s
desire for admiration, control, and effectiveness. Disruption triggers fears based on these desires.

Presentors and trainees alike are familiar with disruptive learners, those students who cause
problems in a class. Most of us sat next to the boy in fifth grade who was always interrupting the class or contesting every point the teacher made. And most of us sat near the woman in college who thought she was smarter than the professor and tried to prove it every class.

Presentors generally don’t have problems with disruptive learners because trainees are usually cooperative and courteous. Although they may be a bit reserved at first, they want to gain something from their classroom experience, and for the most part they eagerly learn what they can in your class. Trainees can, however, turn quickly against the presentor if they feel they’re not being treated as adults and as competent individuals. The root of the disruptive behavior, in these cases, is often the tone of the training program or the demeanor of the instructor.

It's also possible that an individual student or group of students will demonstrate some form of disruptive behavior in the classroom which is not directly stimulated by either the presentor or the program. For those students, the classroom and presentor may represent a safe place and target to discharge repressed anger and frustrations that stem from another source.

Whether they’re caused by instructors or individuals, the disruptive behaviors displayed in the classroom fall into three rough categories: withdrawal, diversion, or attack.

Withdrawal is the refusal to respond to efforts by the presentor to obtain active participation. Withdrawal takes two forms, apathetic and hostile. Apathetic withdrawal is demonstrated by daydreaming, token participation in group activities and discussions, and lack of response to questions. Hostile withdrawal takes the form of blatantly ignoring the presentor, refusing to respond to questions, and refusing to participate in a group’s activities and discussions.

Diversion occurs when trainees initiate side discussions with other trainees, work on other material, clean fingernails, look out the windows, dominate the discussion on some point minimally related to the original topic, or redirect the topic of discussion altogether. The list of diversionary topics is endless.

The main difference between these types of diversionary discussions and relevant questions is the overt intent of the individual to interrupt and interfere with the instruction. While serious students may at times ask silly or irrelevant questions, it should be obvious from the trainees’ tone of voice and previous performance in class whether or not they’re trying to disrupt the instructor’s presentation.

Attack is a direct challenge to the authority of the presentor. The attacking individual is a blatant direct source of criticism of the presentor, the subject matter, or the program. The trainee may question the competency of the presentor directly, openly criticize training strategies, of the agency itself, refuse to cooperate, or argue about the information presented.

This kind of disruptive behavior affects the instructor because it often leads to confrontations, anger, and hostility on both sides. It’s times like these that demand some skills in diplomacy and conflict resolution from the presentor. The impact of disruptive behavior on presentors is affected by the presentor’s personality, training approach and style, and the training environment itself. The presentors’ responses to attacks depend on whether they’re liked by the group, in control, and effective in presenting the subject matter.

Disruptive behavior, whether demonstrated by withdrawal, diversion, or attack, directly assaults the presentor’s desire for administration, control, and effectiveness. Disruption triggers fears based on these desires. When a student withdraws, the presentor thinks “I’m not effective.” When a student attempts to divert the class, the presentor thinks “I’m not in control.” And when a student or students attack, the instructor thinks “They don’t like me.”

Effectiveness suffers when a presentor is afraid of disruption. Apprehensive presentors are nervous and self-conscious. They lose some of their self-confidence, concentration, and communication skills.

However, there are ways to make disruptive behavior much less likely to occur and more controllable when it does occur.

Treat the participants as adults, not children. Trainees are, by and large, peers of the presentor. Treat them with the respect they deserve and acknowledge the value of their contributions. Adults have background and experience, and they get defensive when that’s ignored or slighted. Avoid such remarks as “How are we doing today, class?” Don’t be condescending; an arrogant tone can be picked up right away, and nothing is grating to students as being talked down to.

Use eye contact with everyone in the room. Don’t use a systematic pattern. Look at everyone and hold your eye contact for longer than the usual three to five seconds. Talk with, not to, participants. Tilt your head toward people, walk around, listen to what they have to say. A good training session should teach the presentor almost as much as the students.

Set up the room with a seating arrangement that personalizes the instruction. I suggest a horseshoe arrangement and name tags for every presentation. Most sessions have between 30 and 50 people in them. Rows of desks and chairs simply don’t allow for intimacy between the presentor and the trainees. The horseshoe arrangement allows for group dynamics, since everyone is essentially close to everyone else and there’s no front or back of the room. Eye contact is an effective tool because it establishes intimacy. Let your room arrangement do the same.

Be positive and non-defensive in your demeanor. Don’t try to play the role of expert or “know-it-all." Allow trainees room to contribute. Be open to what they have to say. You may learn something, and your openness will make them feel much more comfortable and relaxed in class. The last thing you need is sharpshooters waiting to make the expert look bad. And be enthusiastic and positive in tone. The point of the training session is to lead the trainees into new Knowledge they didn’t have before. An enthusiastic leader makes for enthusiastic followers.

Encourage discussion from a wide variety of viewpoints. Don’t coerce your trainees to say what you want, and don’t attempt to manipulate acceptance of your particular point of view on subjective matters. Coercion and manipulation don’t work in the adult classroom.

Move closer to the disruptive people. Make your eye contact and hold it. The closer you get to disruptive trainees, the more they must pay attention to you and what you’re saying.

Talk to disruptive people privately. During breaks in the session, pull the disruptive trainees aside and try to uncover the problem. A two-minute discussion can save you hours of headaches.

Solicit information in class about the problem. Share your feelings of discomfort with the current situation. Try to identify how others feel about it. Try to be positive, supportive, open, and non-defensive.

Acknowledge reasonable and valid concerns, complaints and suggestions. Appreciate the input that the class gives you as presentor. Try to use some of their suggestions, which will make them feel that they’ve contributed to the progress of the training session.

Ignore the disruptive behavior if it’s not distracting to the other trainees. Lack of reinforcement may cause the behavior to disappear. Making it an issue may draw additional attention to it and cause the behavior to be rewarded rather than discouraged.

Directly confront the disruptive person. Make your standards of behavior in the classroom known. This is the last alternative, but if the behavior persists, excuse the disruptive trainees from the class and make some form of official record of the incident.

The underlying factor in these approaches is the nature of the interpersonal relationship between the presentor and the trainees. The quality of these interpersonal relationships will largely determine whether disruptive behavior will occur in the classroom. The relationships will either be undercut or will support most management efforts to control disruptive behavior. You should be very conscious of your attitude and demeanor so that positive interpersonal relationships develop.

Although a conscientious effort to produce positive interpersonal relationships will make it less likely that problems in the class will occur, it cannot ensure that no disruptive behavior will erupt. If such problems arise in your class, it may behoove you to decide on your options for response before trouble pops up.

Generally, the more pressure we exert on disruptive trainees the more they resist and the more energy the presentor must expend to keep the relationships healthy. There are roughly five options for presentors when dealing with disruptive trainees, and the five options are based on the amount of energy the presentor has to expend to keep things humming.

Avoidance means ignoring the behavior and proceeding with the class.
Acceptance means finding out the reason for the disruption and adjusting the program accordingly.
Adaptation means diverting trainee resistance to support of the training; adapting the class to the viewpoint of the trainees without changing the content.
Standing fast means continuing with the planned program despite the trainees’ discontent or unrest.
Pushing back means directly confronting and addressing disruptive behavior.

It’s important to remember that none of these options will work all the time or in every situation. It is up to the presentor to identify the nature of the disruption, attempt to determine its cause, and appropriately deal with the problem. It’s critical that the presentor evaluate the situation carefully, choose an appropriate response, and avoid over-reaction by first using the options that require less presentor energy and fewer authoritarian measures before resorting to those which demand a higher profile and carry more risk for the presentor.

As presentors, we must accept the inevitability of occasional disruptions in our classes. When such disruptions occur, the presentor must maintain self control and composure. Knowing the options for managing these difficult situations should help the presentor maintain control and should lead to an effective resolution of disruptive behavior which will be positive for both the presentor and the trainee.

Andrew E. Schwartz, CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates of Boston, MA a comprehensive management training and professional development organization offering over 40 skills specific programs and practical solutions to today's business challenges.

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