Listening is very important both in the classroom and out in the field. It gives the student a feeling that he/she is respected and understood. It also shows him/her the possibility of having an angry patient in the field and how best to handle the situation.
What to do when confronted with an angry student? Easy, listen remain calm and stay in control of the conversation. Recently I had an angry student and would not back down, I remained calm and stuck to my guns, the student vented and stormed away. I never heard back regarding the subject, maybe the student just needed to vent?
Anger leads to hate.
Try to understand what is problem and resolve it as best as possible.
I agree with this training module. Listen to their concerns, then ask the student to write their concern on paper. Writing the concerns helps the student process more clearly what they are thinking. If this is a complaint related to the educational experience, ask they write it, state that you would like a written record of their concern.
I perfer to listen with empathy. I let them vent... give them examples of how I've delt with the situation they're in and try to help them move forward.
I agree with your statement Joseph. Although I haven't encountered an angry student as of yet, but I have encountered a few angry patients in my practice. What I have found is listening is the key, and in listening--fully, you may find yourself at the root of the problem, and it may not be you at all, but rather some other situation that transpired prior to your encounter with the individual.
LT
When I am confronted with an angry student, I let them talk. They feel better just knowing that someone is really listening to what they have to say. After the student has "vented" we can come up with a reasonable solution, one with calm and rationale, rather than a solution with anger.
I feel it's always best to listen as the leader. They have lowered themselves to that level, and it's rewarding if you can gain them back, and make a good correction in their proffesionalizm.
I worked for a health insurance company in customer service for a few years. Listening is very important along with not passing the student along to someone else. Passing them along to someone else only escalates the problem. However, no one should endure abusive language or behavior. It also takes some courage to assume the responsibility, especially if you are not the source of the student's anger. One-on-ones are the best and matching your response to their emotional responses is key.
Hi Brian,
What great insight! you are definitely on point. You certainly know how to deal with angry students.
Patricia Scales
I had a student who was angry during a phone call. The student just started talking and I let the student talk to release all the anger. I very calmly said lets talk about this professionally and work together to find a solution. It was extremely difficult to handle via phone but was on clinical site. Then I asked the student to come see me. The student finally realized she took the wrong approach and should have waited until she calmed down before discussing with me. I tried to relate it back to if she was on the and unhappy with a specific item, how would she handle...the same way she initally did with me. The student finally realized she was incorrect on how she handled the entire situation.
In dealing with angry students, two things that were discussed in the class can be combined and thereby obtain improved results. As the course noted, listening is the most important skill in this case. Aside from allowing the student to vent, listening gives the instructor much-needed time to formulate a response. As the old saying goes, we were given two ears and one mouth because we should listen twice as much as we speak. The other helpful technique is to begin from the stance that the student may have a legitimate reason for being angry. In other words, start from the position that the student is correct, and then work back from there. By doing this, the instructor will establish greater rapport with the student. In addition, in those cases where the student is indeed correct about the issue, the instructor will not have responded in kind and will be able to more easily address the issue.
First I try to determine what type of anger is being expressed. Is it rational or irrational? If irrational I immediately try to get them out of the room to discuss it in private or seek assistance. If rational I let them vent, listen intently and take notes. I check to see if others feel the same so the student doesn't feel left out in the open. Then if I can address the concerns right away I will or I will ask for permission to address the concerns at a later date once I've had a chance to think about it.
Listen calmly, ask them to state facts verbal or written to minimize emtional compontent.
In 11 years I have only had to remove a student once from my class. It was very hard on both of us but a meeting and communication helped resolve the issue and we were able to get past it and continue the rest of the mod successfully.
Hi Kevin,
Listening is key with angry students. Writing the concern down really calms the student.
Patricia Scales
I listen to what they are saying and ask questions to find out where the anger is comming from. If I find they don't have reason to be upset, I ask them to write down the complaint. As was noted in this training it tends to defuse the situtation.
After listening to the student's complaint, you should determine whether the situation is your fault or an unreasonable attempt to blame the instructor/school for the student's failure. If it is the former, you should admit your mistake and tell the student what you can do to remedy the problem. For example, I once made a mistake when creating a test: I wrote a question that had no right answer. When the error was pointed out, I thanked the student for letting me know and struck the problem from each students' test. The anger went away immediately.
If, however, the student is just trying to bully you, you should respond by telling the student that his/her behavior is inappropriate and then talk to the head of your department or whomever is your immediate superior about the situation. Tell the administration what happened, show documentation (e.g., the test the student failed), and tell them your plan of action for resolving this situation (e.g., I'm going to tell this student to come talk to me during my office hours so that he and I can review the material he missed).
You should do that because students who are trying to use bullying and threats to get their way in class, while thankfully very rare, will often resort to the school's administration in an attempt to punish a teach who didn't give in to their demands. If you've already spoken to the administration about the student and shown them what actually happened and that you've taken constructive steps to resolve the problem, it reduces the chance of the school perceiving your attempts to preserve your authority and the integrity of your course as retaliation against the student or inadequate teaching.
Listening is the first and foremost thing to do. Show some empathy and show them you can understand the way they are feeling and always stay calm, cool, and collected.
most frustrated people just need some one to listen to them. These people get there because no one pays attention to them
