Webinar

Dealing With Challenging Learners

Beginning

Three names:• Rob Lewis• Phill Dexter• Marie Deleney (presenter)

Rob Lewis

• Manager of Teaching English Website

Marie Deleney

• Director of The Learning Harbour, Cork, Ireland

• a teacher, trainer and Educational Psychotherapist

First Section

What is a challenging learner? How would you describe

him/her? Think of someone who finds you

difficult or challenging? How would he/she describe you? Are there any connections?

• Learners (Ls): scared, uncooperative, passive, better than others, shy, difficult to control ,arrogant

• Teachers (Ts): arrogant, too critical, stubborn, too ambitious, lack of practice

• Same words come up• Often the L is a little bit like the

T

• He never listens.• He is always disrupting my

lesson.• She doesn’t care about learning

English.• Are these descriptions or the

interpretations of the behavior?

• Tip 1: Describe the behavior which you do not want and be specific about what is required

• Need to train ourselves to describe the behavior, since it might be worth looking at

• Need to tell them what we want them to think about

• Think about the last day you were teaching.

• Think about the feelings you went through during the day. Were the feelings useful and productive for teaching and learning?

• If not, what did you do about it?– Look at the positive sides– Have a break, etc.

• Participants: lack of engagement, tired, excitement, pessimistic, disappointed

• Teacher’s feelings are important• A lot of emotions: from positive

to negative ones

• Tip 2: Manage your own state

• Be your best friend/coach• At the end of the day write 6 highlights• Write down all the things that are stressing

you• Divide them into 2 lists- those you have no

control over and those you can control• Set some positive triggers to change your

mood• Practice positive self-talk• Talk to trusted colleagues, agree how to

off-load. Avoid toxic dumping• Manage your physical and emotional

health

Second Section

• Learner’s behavior tells us what is actually happening

• How is L’s behavior making us feel?– psychiatric problems– naughty boy

• Both of these involve pushing the L away

• Tip 3: Understand projection and displacement

Displacement• Unconscious Defence Mechanism• A sign that some children cannot

manage their overwhelming feelings and have not had experience of an adult who can do that

• This can give us an indication of how a child is feeling

• Can help us feel better about ourselves and our actions

• Tip 4: Remember ‘It’s not meant for me’

• It is meant for someone else but the L cannot give it to someone else (e.g. domestic violence)

• The L trusts you are an adult who can manage that and like him/her afterwards

• It is hard not to take things personally

The Learning Triangle

Teacher

Pupil Task

Resistant-Ambivalent Attachment Pattern

• Continually want to get the T’s attention

• This L is always saying: me, me, me• Badly behaved

Some tips:

Avoid ‘colluding’ with need for constant T involvement and thus ‘over-helping’

Trust your brain ‘I’ll come later to check on you’

Avoidant Ambivalent Attachment Pattern

• There are those Ls who do not want to ask for help

• When they are stuck they need to ask• The reason they do not ask for the T’s

help is the expectation of rejection• These Ls could be saying ‘I don’t

care’

• With these Ls the relationship should not be developed too soon

• It should be developed through the task:– Internal control even praise– Groupwork– Metaphor work with

stories/pictures/drawings

• Tip 5: Teach your Ls about the Truine Brain- the reptilian, mammalian and neo-cortex thinking brain

Third Section

Teaching Strategies: Emotional health is important as

physical Understand your emotional state and

have strategies for getting into a positive state for both the T and the Ls

Classroom Strategies

• Tell them what they need to do• Talking and walking-opposite of quiet (T)• Think about the sequences• Posture• Be consistant in your usage of space• Give positive reinforcement for good

behavior:• Acknowledge the positive intention

behind a behavior

• Use the language of ‘need’ rather than ‘obligation’

• Focus and comment on Ls who are doing what is required

• Use ‘thanks’ at the end of an instruction

• Build in perceived choices• Distract, deflect at the point of

conflict

Classroom Management

For more information on this topic

• Marie Deleney learningharbour@gmail.com• www.wortpublishing.com• www.caspari.org.uk• Teaching Unteachable, October 2008,

Worth Publishing• What can I do with the kid Who…2010.

Worth Publishing.

References:

• Delaney, M. (2012). Dealing with Challenging Learners [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/webinars