Dealing with Student Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom – A Case Example of the Coordination between Faculty and Assistant Dean for Academics

Introduction Anyone who has taught in a college classroom or for that matter any classroom has, on occasion, been confronted with an unruly student. The kinds of behavior that a disruptive student might exhibit include sleeping in class, arriving late, engaging in conversation either with other class members or on their cell phones, arguing with the instructor text messaging, playing video games or even in rare cases becoming hostile (Hubell and Hubell, 2010, p. 1). Facing disruptive behavior seems to be an inevitable part the working environment of many educators (Anderson, 1999, Nordstrom, Bartless and Busy, 2009, Siedman, 2005) The issues leading to the disruption are often easily resolved by pointing out to the student how their behavior disrupts the teaching/learning process. Sometimes, several reminders from the instructor are needed before the student responds appropriately. In rare cases, students may persist with their disruptive behavior and administrative measures subjecting the student to some form of disciplinary action may be needed. The key is for the educator to take some action to stop the disruptive behavior, reactivate the student's participation in the learning process, and prevent other class members from being affected (Nordstrom, Bartels and Bucy 2009). In addition, if the offending student will be a member of future classes taught by the instructor, it is important to attempt to preserve a good relationship between the two. Administrative measures may include temporarily or permanently removing the student from the class, dismissing the student from the department, placing them on probation or removing them from the institution altogether. Any one of these actions may harm the student's academic progress and, in the long run, may put their completion of a degree in jeopardy (Johnson, 2012). Instead of taking these measures, faculty can attempt alternative corrections that may yield a win/win outcome (Feltner and Goodsell, 1972). This can be achieved by stopping the disruptive behavior while not impeding student's academic progress. To accomplish this, cooperation/collaboration between the faculty member and the academic dean regarding the student's behavior may be necessary (Kuo, 2009). This paper illustrates the experience of a faculty and an assistant dean for academics in dealing with disruptive behavior in the classroom. The case on which this paper is based occurred when a female student demonstrated her unhappiness with an assignment by slamming her computer keyboard and desk repeatedly, calling attention to herself and distracting the other students. The professor talked to the student several times but, rather than calming down, the student continued her actions and became increasingly hostile. Because the professor felt punitive disciplinary actions would likely result in the student's dismissal, he approached the assistant dean to develop an alternative solution. Due to their collaboration, the issue was ultimately resolved, the student took additional courses with the same professor and ended up graduating "on time". The remainder of this paper is divided into the following sections: First, it defines disruptive behavior and examines its underlying causes and forms and presents faculty and student perspectives of the behavior. Second, it examines faculty's role in maintaining civility in the classroom. Third, it explains the role of academic dean in dealing with student issues and describes the position of the assistant dean for academics at the institution where this case study was based. Fourth, it explains details of the case study of this paper and finally, it offers a summary and suggestion for future research About Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom Holton (1999) noted "Conflict has always been a part of the classroom ... in early American classrooms, student uprisings were not uncommon" (p. 59). Although conflict may be common in the classroom, when it elevates to the level of disruption for others in the classroom, actions must be taken to seek resolution. …