I was asked by a student of mine recently…
“How do you deal with difficult students?”
This made me stop for a second, because I honestly don’t believe that I have ever had a difficult student. I have a very varied range of students, which equally varied personalities, some of which provide me with challenges…
… but not difficult.
Part of what I love about training is meeting so many different people. Different personalities and beliefs stretch me as a trainer, and require me to pull together all the skills I have developed over the years… so for me it’s not a negative, but a positive.
To answer her question though – which is ultimately “how do you deal with students who are very different from you, and possibly very different from the rest of the group, to the point where they are causing disruption?”
– Set ground rules from the beginning
Ground rules are a great way in an adult environment to control behaviour in a class. Better still, at the very beginning of the course, ask the group to set their own ground rules. This gives the class ownership of the rules and encourages them to follow them.
– Look for the positives
When I stopped looking at students as “difficult” and started looking at them as a way for me to grow as a trainer, and practice my skills, I found that I got much better results. A positive attitude makes a huge difference.
– Encourage them to participate
Make a point of engaging the student who is challenging you. Ask them questions, ask them to share their experiences, ask for their opinion… the more involved they are, the more likely they are to take the training seriously.
– Recognise them for strengths they do have.
Work with the students strengths. Maybe they have a lot of experience in a specific area, or a certain way of doing things. Look for a positive and enhance it!
– Ask them what they want from the training
Often students who cause issues are the ones who don’t see the relevance to the training and see it as a waste of time. Get the student to write down their learning goals, what they would like to learn from the training. If they can see a purpose to their time in the classroom then they are much more likely to be invested in the outcome.
– Ask how you could improve the training for them
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get” was a favourite saying of my mothers, and it definitely applies in training. You don’t really know how to please your students unless you ask them, and similarly, they can’t expect amazing training unless they ask you for assistance. Ask the students to tell you what they need to help them learn… maybe they like
– And if in doubt… confront them.
Sometimes students are not aware that they are causing a distraction or that others find them offensive. If you’ve worked through the above suggestions and it hasn’t controlled their behaviour, simply approach them in a private environment and talk to them about your issues.
I would love to hear what techniques work for you. Leave me a comment below,
– Sam