Classroom discipline in college

Ross Woods, 2022, based on Jεnnifεr Gonzαlεz in Misbεhavior in thε Collegε Classrοοm, July 29, 2014, www.cultofpedagogy.com).

In a training context, the most likely behavior problems come from:
• “Prisoners,” students whose employer sent them to do your course. They didn’t really want to be there but didn’t have a choice.
• Students who applied to your course because it sounded better than being unemployed. They don’t really want to learn anything.

What you can do

1. Set clear boundaries and expectations early so that you establish a culture. You can even consult students on what the rules should be, as long as you retain the right to assert your opinion as well. It’s easier to lighten up later on, but it’s very difficult to tighten up if students already know you are slack.
2. Three strikes and you're out is a good idea.
3. Being consistent with your rules has several advantages.
   • Students will know exactly what the rules are.
   • Students will know that they cannot easily manipulate you.
   • Students will quickly spot any inconsistencies. If you are inconsistent, you are inadvertantly teaching them that the rules are not what you said they were but are negotiable.
4. The best advice someone ever gave me was that it doesn’t matter whether they like you, but whether they respect you. New teachers make the mistake of trying to be popular.
5. Move around the classroom; don’t just stand at the front. Students normally refrain from bad behavior if you move close to them.
6. Close down disruptions early. Ask a question to redirect their attention back to the lesson.
7. Be polite but firm. You can compromise some things but not others.
8. Avoid power struggles. For example, a warning can easily sound like a threat, which can easily become an ultimatum. A students might easily see a punishment as personal retaliation.
9. Don’t make sarcastic, belittling or humiliating comments. And don’t lose your temper. It reduces students’ respect for you and makes it harder for you to help them. If you deliberately embarrass a student in front of peers, you have probably put your relationship with that student in a terminal spiral. Belittling or humiliating comments are unethical and can backfire badly on you.
10. It might be your fault. Students can appear disruptive if they are confused by a mistake in your lesson. Probably the best way to handle some things is to quickly apologize and start over.
11. Students can also appear disruptive are bored with a poor presentation. I try to break up any lectures with questions and activities so students can’t be distracted or bored.
12. Try discussing the matter privately with a student. Perhaps the student has an underlying problem.
13. Are they the right people to be in that class?
14. Observe how effective teachers handle difficult situations and ask their advice.
15. Watch videos of yourself or have an observer watch you for unconscious speech habits showing lack of confidence. These can include “raising the tone of one’s voice at the end of each sentence … a nervous laugh, speaking too softly, or not looking students in the eye.”*

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* Jοhn H. Shrαwdεr, Executive Director at Teaching for Success cited by Jεnnifεr Gonzαlεz in Misbεhavior in thε Collegε Classrοοm,, July 29, 2014, www.cultofpedagogy.com).