|
Re: What do you do when a student is acting rudely in your class.
Dear Robin and Polite,
It isn't my intention to beat on Polite at all. The three posts that Polite highlights in 94, 95, and 96 do not speak to direct confrontation in my mind. One could certainly confront the student directly outside of the view and hearing of the other students in an immediate fashion (Number 94). I suppose telling the student directly that his conduct would have to change immediately or he would have to leave the class could be considered an ultimatum (Number 95), but in the spirit of the direction given by the Dojo Cho to control the class, it would just be a manner of effective control in my view. I don't quibble with Polite's comment in Number 96 and that doesn't speak to my concern at all.
I think Polite did the best he could do with the conditions he outlined earlier. I am just saying that he changed the context of the situation with his later post and informed us of a very specific rule that he only alluded to earlier. That's why I asked the still unanswered question. I don't have an axe to grind with Polite at all - I'm just glad I'm not in his position.
Given the specific instruction that I was prohibited from directly confronting the student, I would have asked for clarification. If I was then told that any direct confrontation was unacceptable, I would explain that I was unwilling to teach a class where I had complete responsibility without the same level of authority. That is far different than my earlier suggestion and based entirely on those two pesky little words. I obviously misunderstood the situation, and please don't misunderstand me - I'm not beating on Polite at all and wish him a full class of decent students who want to learn from him.
|