My background in customer service and years as a college football coach has given me the opportunity to difuse many angry people. The first thing I learned is that they are mad for a reason. It could be a legitimate reason or not, but in their mind it is real. Listening is the biggest part of understanding. You have to understand the situation and why they feel that way before you can do anything. 9 times out of 10 the angry person will feel better if you truly understand what made them angry and acknowledge it. Acknowledging does not mean agreeing. After acknowledging, thats when you can begin to work on the issue.
With the student body we deal with, this is a common problem. I first listen to them and try to remove them from the class room so we can discuss their situation in a private area. If they seem they could be violent I asked them to leave the room and we go to the director of the school. Alot of times they just are having a bad day and by listening and letting them vent they are ok.
Lisa,
I agree with you completely about life issues influencing class. Some students are just angry at life in general. It is not necessarily anything I did or said. I try to take the time to listen to them.
Sara Donevant
If I have an angry student I make sure to let them know that we together will take care of the problem. Depending on when the approach me it might be coming up with a solution right then and there, or it may be setting up a time to talk about the problem and then come up with a solution. I agree that the more you are willing to listen and work with the student to come to terms the more likely they are to work with you also.
Hi Rebecca,
They will become calm! Listening to an angry student is like magic...you are in awe how it works.
Patricia
Hi Sherri,
After the first attempt being unsuccessful at that point I would have gotten administration involved.
Patricia
I am interested to read everyone's responses to this question. I currently have a very angry student in my class and have had to resort to meeting with a third party. This has diffused the situation for the time being. All of my attempts to speak to him one on one failed.
simply listen and I am almost positive the student will calm down just from your concern.
I had a student who had anger management problems.
I explained to him that if and when he had a problem to come to me and we would work on what was bothering him. Sometimes it would work and other times I had to ask him to leave the class and go see the student services administrator. After recording several outburst in class and being asked to leave the class, he was suspended and not allowed to return to campass for one year.
The other students informed me that this was the first time anyone had done anything to stop his interupting and outburst and felt that it should have happen long before that, as it was interupting their education and were simply tired of having to put up with him.
Quite often they are "over achievers" and cannot imagine getting anything but 100% on an assignment. Quietly explain why they didn't reach that goal but stick to your guns.
As the instructor, try to relate, listen, and encourage the student, but don't preach to the student.
Listen and talk to the student. Ask them one on one what seems to be the problem. Letting the student know that you are concerned and willing to listen to them. Alot of times it is an external issue such as; family, finances and stress. The student might just need to vent their frustrations instead of keeping things bottled up in side of them.
Hello Patricia,
I think that the most important thing to do is to get the student out of the class and away from the other students by simply saying, "Can we talk about this outside or in my office?" The next step is to listen to their complaint. Once the have expressed their complaint, ask them what their solution to the problem is. I have often noticed that students simply want to complain. However, they do not have a solution to their claim. By asking them to provide a solution, angry students often re-evaluate their complaint and realize that it is not valid at all.
Joe
I attempt to remain silent and allow them vent until all the "steam" is gone. Then I attempt to understand what is REALLY happening. I try to ask open-ended questions to gather as much information as possible. Then I work to resolve any and all issues REAL or IMAGINED. In essence, I try to treat others the way I would want to be treated if the roles were reversed. If this happens while class is in session, I request that the student meet with me after class for resolution and dismiss that student from class if necessary.
Given my age and clinical experience working with a violent population much of my career. dealing with angry students is not a difficult issue for me. I would much rather deal with direct, overt anger than a student who is a classic passive-aggressive in dealing with thier anger toward, me, a peer or the school. For me, that is a challenge.
My first response is to stop what I am doing, maintain eye contact and listen, using paraphrasing and percepton checking techniques to get the student to clarify their anger. My fistr goal is to attempt to get the student to start talking about the issue instead of feeling the issue. This is obviously best accomplished when I can manage to get the student out of the room and away from any audience.
Unfortunately I've had to learn through experience that when dealing with an angry student it is very important to try to "isolate" the student during an outburst so you and the student can deal with it in private. Asking the student to step into the hallway to discuss the problem is a great suggestion that will be my first step in dealing with an angry student in the future
Hi Joseph,
This should not be tolerated. Higher administration needs to deal with this student very firmly and a matter of factly.
Patricia
Hi Ramona,
Same approach I take. Listen fully, paraphrase to ensure understanding, and then try to resolve. I have found by following these steps you get more favorable results.
Patricia
My background in management and customer service assists me when confronted by an angry student. For me it works best to just listen to person who is angry. Let them finish their "story" of what happened. Don't interupt. When they are finished with their story, I always try to summarize their concerns and ask them if I have my understanding of their concern is correct.
Once we have a mutual understanding of the concern we can start solving the problem.
