Constraints
- How to deal with problematic children and make them listen to ?
- How to deal with problematic children and make them listen to ?
Participating in the elementary art classroom, I have observed and encountered unexpected situations. Since I have a little experience with children, the situation was embarrassing enough. After going through several experiences, I realized that teachers have to have an ability to deal with problematic students.
I believe the problematic behavior of the children could be caused by home environment, family background, emotional and physical issues. I am going to exemplify several cases of problematic students I have seen. First of all, the most common case is that there are some students who don’t follow the direction. Sadly enough, few childrens never want to work on the designated works. At first, they usually raised their hands and said that they don’t understand the direction. But, soon, I found that, in the few cases, the problem is not their understanding but they just don’t want to do. Even though the host teacher and I tried to explain meaning of the direction and encourage them, few students kept saying “I don’t know, I don’t want to do that.” They showed me unconditional rejection. As the host teacher did, it could be a better idea to leave the students alone if they never want to do even though I explain, persuade and encourage. Because art has to be fun and exciting for better achievements, it won’t work if I force them to work on. I would also give them different kind of works if the students want to do. And, finally, I would spend enough time having conversation with them after the class in order to figure out what exactly problem is.
One student tends to be too dissatisfied. She didn’t respect her ability and works. When she encountered unexpected situation in terms of the quality of the work like wrongly spreading paint, she became aggressive toward peers and so much hard on herself. She stepped on her work and mocked herself like “It is a real flop!, It’s worst! I never do it.” After I tried to talk to her several times, I felt I fail to make her listen to. Once she believed the work is a mess, she didn’t have any affection toward the work. I heard that she easily tends to be a perfectionist. Perfectionism could make people feel unsatisfied and frustrated even if they did a good job. The host teacher was also worried about her and she decided to make a peer helper for her. She talked to the peer helper who is much maturer that she could help her enjoy art class. The teacher had them sit a separated table and work together. It was so great because she looked much more comfortable and pleasant during the class even if she still didn’t like her work. I think this instruction could work in my future classroom.
Several students looked to have some problem with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. They kept talking while the teacher was explaining and moving their body or making cracking sound. Most of them stopped the behavior which distracts the lesson after getting a warning from the teacher but there are still few students who repeat the problematic behavior. How am I going to deal with this kind of students? I would be strict with the students but I need to be careful not to embarrass or humiliate them.
Experiencing the constraint, I think I need to study how to deal with problematic students and make them listen to me. Unlike I expected, elementary art classroom was not easy in handling the children because the students are too young to logically express or explain their problem or feelings. In order to solve the problems, deep conversation must be required but they didn’t give me enough hints. The ability to understand and analyze their behavior should be needed when teachers are working with younger students. Studying educational psychology could be helpful for my future.
I think all pre-service teachers should read this post in order to appreciate the many complexities associated with teaching! Thank you for your honesty, Jooyoung.
ReplyDeleteYes, I too feel uncomfortable when students seem frustrated with a given task or assignment. You should know, however, that I have discovered a pattern over the last ten years. When I am new to a school, I sometimes experience resistance from a few students. Not many, but enough that it rocks my world initially. With each transition, I have always followed an art teacher who's instruction is much more prescribed compared to mine. Typically, that type of instruction is much easier for students because deep thinking is not required. What we're asking them to do, through open-ended instruction, is much more challenging. I want my artists to take risks and to make peace with uncertainty. It's no wonder that the younger ones can't articulate their frustration - my middle school students had difficulty here, too (in the early stages of our relationship). I didn't see tears, but I would hear things like "just tell me what to do" or "what if I mess up?"
Back to elementary: Each unit seems to be taking up to one month to complete. This can be difficult for students who are very particular (and who would rather start fresh each class) or who may have ADD or ADHD. Many elementary art teachers try to accomplish one assignment each class. How much meaning making could possibly be taking place in those classrooms? In addition, the emphasis on quantity and efficiency makes me awfully sad.
OK, where was I? Regarding your comment about leaving the students alone: While this may seem callous, I believe it's OK for students to feel anxiety - even at this young age. I also believe that failure leads to success. At this point in my career, I feel fairly comfortable "reading" students. I most definitely will intervene when a student is hurting either emotionally or physically, but I may not if I can tell that they are feeling challenged by something new. Ideally, I want these young ones to grow into self-sufficient and confident adolescents who are comfortable taking risks and making mistakes.
Lowenfeld is a great place to start when inquiring about cognitive, emotional, and developmental growth.
PS: I owe Mary props on coming up with the idea of a peer helper. Thanks, Mary.