Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Stephen,
When I take my students off campus for "real life" experiences I review with them the goals of the class and why we are going off campus. I also give them a handout of questions that they are ask and things they are to observe while we are on site. This way they see the importance I put on the visit and they act professionally as a result. If they don't I deal with their behavior immediately so they don't cause any issues with our hosts.
Gary

Stephen Soule

Any advise for when a class is located at a different area then the school and there is no one else around? We will go off campus for "real world" experience and students tend to think since they are not in school they can get away with different things.

Michelle Schmidt

I like that method. Make the students responsible for the education that they want. I like the idea of the survey. I will have to try that nex quarter.

Shane Hsu

HI,

Both instructors and students are human, and they all have some pride and emotion. Respect is the major key to run the classroom. The words we used and the tone we released in the classroom are very essential to a joyful learning environment. As a instructor, I pay attention to what my students say and do. I'll warn them not to cross the border before it happen. Profanity is absolute not allowed in my territory. If something is unexpectedly happening, keep yourself calm first. Then seek your supervisor, department chair, or even security officers to handle the thing will be better than trying to solve it by yourself.

peter dwyer

I would agree with take the pause approach. We are in a difficult situation teaching future culinarians. To become a successful chef, you need proffessionalism, and discipline (self) which is tough to enforce in the classroom setting. I am a younger instructor, and always try to model good proffessionalism. I also understand that it is necessary to wait before speaking, or critiquing. An ill delivered critique can have lasting consequences, as a well delivered critique can motivate.

I guess with anything in life, it is in how you approach it, and if you make a mistake, move on, and learn from it.

It is noticeable though that respect for the uniform is lacking throughout culinary schools.

James Sena

Always have the instructor uise the count to 3 before they respond method. this will give the instructor a moment to think before responding in an unacceptable fashion.

Stephanie Petersen

I have been thinking a lot about this lately and would love to hear some other responses. My greatest conflict in this area is that these students are adults and I expect them to be accountable. If a student is causing problems, I have to be a professional and take care of it, but ultimately, I want them to figure it out on their own, too. I want them to see how their behavior affects others and see that not behaving that way is beneficial to their education and career.

Personally, as a rule, I never reprimand a student in front of the class. If the issue needs to be addressed immediately, we take a little break or start an activity they don't need me for. This usually gives me enough time to compose myself if necessary. Also, it seems the student responds better when they're not on the spot in front of their peers.

One exception I had to this was a class that was much larger than is typical; the students were taking turns behaving unprofessionally and disrupting the process for everyone else. I printed off an evaluation asking questions about where they felt the greatest problems were, how they would like to see things change in the class, what is really working for them, etc. I left the classroom to let them fill it out, and they held their own discussion about what was wrong with the class and how they can work together to fix it. It wasn't perfect afterwards, but it helped a lot, and the students felt empowered to make a positive difference with each other.

These responses aren't "safeguards," but even hearing how other people deal with it would be very insightful for me.