First listen to the student. Hear what that student has to say. If it is during class time, ask if you can meet as soon as possible to be able to give the student your full attention.
IN other situations dealing with the public, it is usually best to remain calm and not argue, listen to their issue and confirm that you have heard them and will look into it, if you become agitated and fight back this usually intensifies the situation
This is a difficult situation for me because i am pretty passive. I try to diffuse the situation by telling he student to hold that thought. Continue teaching....then discussing their concerns after class.
By listening and allow students the opportunity to "vent" and verbalize their frustrations, this in a sense tends to calm them down. The most important thing to remember is allowing them the chance to express their concerns.
When an angry student confronts you, they often just need a chance to "vent". Listening to their concerns is important. Something that is equally important is not allowing them to make you their "whipping post". It is important that the student knows you are there to listen to their concerns, but not their to deal with their problems.
Hi Monique,
Yes, write her up. Do not tolerate this disrespect. She has to learn how to control herself. An employer will not tolerate this type of behavior!
Patricia Scales
I'm not sure how to handle a current student I have. She allows her outside life to completely interfer with her schooling at night. If she and her husband were fighting before class she is hostile, claims the material is "wrong" rolls her eyes at everything I say. When things go great, she is ok, but still uses her cell phone to text whoever she feels like.
I've gone so far as to bring back the classroom rules that were handed to everyone the first day and have everyone re-read them and sign them.
Should the next step be a write up?
For me, managing an angry student is sometimes tricky. What I do first is ask my class to take a five minute break. I set the student down and ask what is the problem. If the problem is something that can not be handled in that 5 minutes I ask the student to discuss it after class or I will allow them to leave and discuss it during a longer break.
I totally agree with your comment to Tammi about having this student removed from the institution, Patricia! Gosh, if she can't be respectful toward her instructors and program director, how will she be able to hold it together toward her superiors in the workplace?!
During orientation in our program, the Program Director makes it very clear to the students that faculty is open to their opinions and comments, but that there's a right way and a wrong way to communicate these things. The students are here to learn a profession, and we stress professional behaviors from the get-go, in the classroom, in labs, and in the students' interactions with each other and faculty. Our student handbook also stresses that unprofessional behavior will not be tolerated, and outlines the consequences of unprofessional behavior.
That said, there are angry people in this world, and some of them will end up in our classrooms. Listening to them and allowing them to vent is the first step in defusing their anger. While I haven't encountered angry students yet, I've had my share of dealing with angry people. So often they build their rage up out of all proportion and they prepare themselves for battle when given the opportunity to confront someone with their anger. Their argument fizzles out when the listener just calmly and empathetically listens, without arguing back. I think this has been illustrated in many of the forum posts here.
It does seem like Tammi's student is a bit of a lost cause though. There need to be consequences for students who are just determined to be bitter and angry, and don't even seem to want to move past this, despite instructors' best efforts to engage them in overcoming whatever it is that has them so riled up. Good luck, Tammi!
I totally agree with your analogy. Listening can be very powerful and effective when dealing with an angry person.
Many times I have found the angry student has reading difficulties. Guiding them to student services for tutoring information has been helpful.
Many angry students have pregnant girlfriend issues and/or money issues. One of our peers made a binder with public assistance information for those situations. Offering an avenue to explore to relieve some of their stress has helped many times.
Hi Kelly,
I love how you put this back on the student. Students love knowing that they have been heard. I always paraphrase to make sure I am on the same page with the angry student. Just by listening, the angry student usually calms down.
Patricia Scales
Hi Andrea,
Great approach. You should never put yourself in harms way with a student. Do exactly as you have done if you think the situation may become too dangerous meeting alone.
Patricia Scales
Hi Manuel,
Listening is key! Simply by listening the student will take a calmer approach.
Patricia Scales
Listen to what they're talking about with the intent of understanding what they are saying. Reformulate what they have said and respond back to them with a brief summation to let them know you have heard their argument and understand it.
Ask them for a solution. Many times they are venting from some life situation that is problematic due to the workload they are carrying in and out school, both personally and professionally.
It depends on how angry the student is! If I don't feel safe, I would ask them to take a few moments to walk and calm down, or schedule a meeting with them at a later time to discuss the problem with a third person in attendance, such as the director of education. Normally we can just go ahead and discuss what is happening, and here it is important for me to be an active listener; this way I can help them clarify and verbalize the issue, and we can talk about it. They may not leave happy, but they should at least feel that they were heard, and they should understand why I responded as I did.
In my experience with angry students, I try to listen like the class said. The student will usually complete their complain and I usually tell them "I will will take it into consideration" and normally it will disipate the angry student. This of coursed is a rare ocarion.
i always try to make sure listening to them is a key. then if its something that can be fixed within the class proceed. if not having a discussion with a boss and student to take care of situation will be better
Listening to the student and trying to understand their frustrations from their point of view can help better handle the situation.
