Teach english new edition r

What if students are uncooperative?
As we saw on page 15, all teachers are nervous about the possibility that their students will 
start behaving badly. We need to have some idea about what to do when this happens.
Problem behaviour can take many forms: constant chattering in class, not listening 
to the teacher, disengagement from w hat’s going on (a kind of passive resistance), blunt
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refusal to do certain activities or to do what they are told, constant lateness and even 
rudeness. These are the occasions when we, as teachers, need to draw on our reserves of 
professionalism in a clear and cool-headed way.
There are a num ber of ways teachers can react to problem behaviour.
Remember that i t ’s
*ju s t a jo b *
When students behave badly, especially when this involves rudeness or obstinacy, we often 
feel very hurt and tend to see their behaviour as a personal attack. This makes reacting to 
what is happening very difficult. But teaching is a job, not a lifestyle, and in order to act 
professionally, we need to be able to stand back from what is happening so that we can react 
dispassionately, rather than taking instant decisions in the heat of the m om ent. In other 
words, we need to 
keep calm,
and respond as objectively as we can. Instead of interpreting 
the behaviour as an attack on us as people, we need to view it as something ‘the teacher’ has 
to deal with. O f course this is easier said than done, but some kind of emotional detachment 
will always be more successful than reacting emotionally.
Deal with the behaviour, not the student
W hen we lose our objectivity, it is sometimes easy to criticise the students who are exhibiting 
problem behaviour by using sarcasm or insults, or hum iliating them in some other way. 
But this will not help the situation since it will only cause greater resentment. And anyway, 
it is not the student we want to stop, but the problem behaviour itself.
W hen problem behaviour occurs, therefore, we need to 
act immediately
and stop it 
from continuing. As far as possible, we need to deal with the student or students who 
are causing difficulties by talking to them away from the whole class. Such face-to-face 
discussion has a m uch greater chance of success than a public confrontation in front of all 
the other students.
It is also helpful to find out why the student is behaving uncooperatively. For example, 
if students are always arriving late, we need to find out why they arrive late so often, and 
keep a check on how often this occurs. It m aybe necessary to impose some kind of sanction 
on persistent latecomers (such as excluding them from the lesson if they arrive more than, 
say, ten m inutes late), or not allowing them to take part in some class activities or tests. 
However, our objective should always be to try to identify the problem and see if we can 
resolve it w ithout having to take such measures.
Be even-handed
The way we deal with problem behaviour has an effect not just on the student who is 
causing trouble, but also on the whole class. All the students watch how we react to 
uncooperative students and come to their own conclusions about how effective we are. 
If the class sees sarcasm used as a weapon, their respect for the teacher’s professionalism 
may be diminished. If they see one student getting away with behaviour which others are 
punished for, they will resent such favouritism.
For the same reason, students need to be clear about what action we will take if and 
when problem behaviour occurs. They then need to see such action being carried out when 
it happens. They will be confused if we react to the behaviour on some occasions but not 
others.
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Go forward
The best way to deal with problem behaviour is to work out what will happen next. Rather 
than focusing only on what a student has done, we need to see how their behaviour can be 
improved in the future. We can change the activity, for example, or reseat students rather 
than discussing exactly who did what and when. We can ask for future good behaviour so 
that the student knows that what happens in the future is the m ost im portant thing.
Use any means o f communication
We can talk to students individually. We can discuss the problem via email, or send a ‘letter’ 
to the class explaining the problem and asking them to reply if they have anything they 
need or want to say.
Enlist help
Teachers should not have to suffer on their own! They should talk to colleagues and, if 
possible, get a friend to come and observe the class to see if they notice things that the 
teacher him- or herself is not aware of. Finally, of course, they may need to rely on higher 
authority and the school or institute’s behaviour policy.
Prevention or cure?
It is always better to preem pt problem behaviour so that it never takes place than to have 
to try to react to it when it does. One of the ways of doing this is to agree on behaviour 
standards with the class at the beginning of a semester. This m ight involve making a