Challenging Student, How to Fight With Them?

As teachers, when facing a student a challenge, we may feel confused about how to react. We tend to lose our nerves and manage the situation improperly. This can cause laughter and jokes on the part of other students, as well as the inability to solve the problem.

There are some studies and testimonies in which the student is defined as an opponent. However, that is not true. They think in this way only teachers are invited to behave in a way that may not be the best: punishing students with a challenge with silence, indifference, or taking advantage of their position of power.

Something interesting that we use the study mentioned to address the issue of students are challenging the testimony of different teachers. Thanks to them, we can see the good or bad practices that are used in the classroom and how to transform them to allow control of the situation.

The challenging student and the strength of the group

When we face a student who challenges us, we have to identify very well if it occurs in a specific context. For example, when you are surrounded by your friends. The strength of the group is something that encourages and makes the younger ones perform certain acts that they would not do if they were alone.

A strategy that usually works to address a student challenge is to detect who the group leaders are and "make friends" or establish a trusting relationship with them.

Power struggle

A student can also challenge us to identify our weaknesses. This attitude can be especially intense in the first hours of teaching we have with him. With his disposition, he tries to determine if he can make practical jokes, give us nerves or, on the contrary, put himself in his place as a student and respect us.

At this point, it is extremely important and handle emotions. We must not, under any circumstances, discuss with the student or get up to him. It is important to put ourselves in our place, what we respect for the adult position and not enter the game. That's why, despite being bothered with the way the student is challenging us, we must know when to ignore and how to respond appropriately and intelligently.

Let's see some specific situations:

The challenging student who contradicts the teacher

Consider that he is right, even if he is wrong. Refuses to accept the explanation and resolution of a problem following the instructions of the teacher. In these cases, do not lose your temper. We will continue arguing and showing evidence that the resolution of the exercise we show is correct using many examples.

If the situation becomes untenable, we will make it clear that if he wants to do what he considers to be right, it will be his responsibility. Similarly, we can ask a student to solve that in context. When seeing the comrades they solve it to solve it, the pressure of group will cause that the student to stop doing the opposite erroneously.

The student who does not support the teacher's mistakes

This is another type of challenging student; is not compatible with the teacher makes a mistake, necessary to help you solve an exercise or have to think hard to find an autonomous solution. These students usually jump to another exercise while we try to solve the above. They think: why strive in a problem that will be solved by others?

In these situations, it is important to work with problem solving by the student. As teachers, we act as a support, helping the students to solve the difficulties they encounter. We are not the ones who have the answers, but the ones who find them.

These are some of the scenarios we can find. In this sense, many of the attitudes we have described are simply a reflection of the problems that each student may have in their own home. However, in the face of any challenge that afflicts us, it is important to maintain control of the situation. This, sometimes, involves prioritizing the defense of the rules of communication and learning about our own knowledge. We think that if the communication deteriorates, the path will be much more difficult.