Dealing with disruptive classroom behaviour and supporting marginalized students Nona Robinson – Associate Vice President Students nonarobinson@trentu.ca

Agenda Introductions Demonstration of group guidelines Training students on appropriate framing for disagreeing/challenging in class Understanding of issues faced by marginalized students Addressing inter-student conflict Conversations with disruptive students Debrief of situations you have encountered

Developing guidelines In small groups, come up with five things that contribute to a positive classroom discussion, and five things that can derail it (focusing on student behaviour) Doing this activity with students and using it to help them develop student-generated class guidelines Particularly useful for large classes as students can then be empowered to self-monitor Handout: Sample classroom guidelines. What would you add?

Framing disagreements What are ways that people disagree with each other that create defensiveness/aggression? e.g. “That’s stupid. I can’t believe you said that! You’re completely wrong” (accompanied by negative body language attack on the individual, rather than on the argument How can students frame a disagreement which contributes to the discussion? e.g. “You said ______, which I disagree with, because _____” focus on the content/substance

Marginalized students What are some marginalities/prior experiences that students may bring to the classroom that can affect their participation? What are our responsibilities as instructors? What are the responsibilities of other students, and how can we help them to be aware of them? Trigger warnings/safe spaces, versus academic freedom – are they in opposition, or complementary? Disruptive Classroom Behaviour

Training your students In your small group, think of different ways you could train your students to improve their own discussion techniques or awareness of marginalization. Come up with one activity and present it to everyone Disruptive Classroom Behaviour

Introducing controversial topics Establish that a learning goal: different perspectives and experiences Debrief at the end of classes by asking students about what different ideas they have learned about from you or each other Introduce topics when possible using questions, rather than making statements. This lets you be the arbiter in the discussion. “This is a topic that for many people is very personal. Please keep in mind that some people in the class may be affected by it.” “Just a reminder than when discussing this topic, please be sensitive to other people’s feelings about it.”

Inter-student conflict Dealing with monopolizing/derailing – how to refocus, give a student tasks, reminder of participation grade quality Dealing with disruption – taking a break and coming back to it, postponing until next class, asking to speak with students after class Calling out language and supporting affected students Managing our own emotions

Speaking with student after class Raising a concern: When you do ______ , (behaviour) I feel _____ / It does _____ (impact) Can we talk about it? and/or It would be really helpful if _____ . Ask the student how they are feeling about the class discussion – what is something they’d like to change? Are there concerns that they have about the class/material? What are some coping strategies they can develop? Disruptive Classroom Behaviour

Debrief of situations What are some issues you’ve faced? Disruptive Classroom Behaviour