Strategize This!
Read and discuss the scenarios below. Identify strategies that you believe would work in eliminating or reducing the problem behavior(s) described.
1. Ralph dominates the class discussion of proper accident investigation procedures and answers all the questions the trainer asks before anyone else in the group has a chance to speak. What do you do?
Believe me, when one student dominates the class, most of the other students don't like it. Some will disengage, while others will feel intimidated. Some students may be critical of your inability to maintain control of the process. In the past, when one student dominates the discussion, I usually tell him or her in a light-hearted way (with a smile), that "OK... you've used up your quota, how about someone else." I then ask others what their questions and ideas might be. A few times I have actually had to speak with the student privately during the break about giving others a chance to get involved. Thank the student and if it's done right, you won't harm the student's self-esteem.
2. Gloria is continually interrupting the trainer's lecture on the elements of the hazard communication program to debate technical details of the subject. Her information is quite accurate. It's obvious that she has a thorough knowledge of the subject and extensive experience managing the program. What would you do?
First of all, don't be intimidated by an "expert" student. You're going to have them once in a while. Don't think of the student as a competitor. Rather, turn that potential competitor into an ally by acknowledging his or her expertise on the subject. However, as with the student in Scenario #1 above, the student may have a great need to be recognized and appreciated, so go ahead and give'm what they want. It takes pressure off you as the instructor, and sets a good example for your students. Remember, you are always teaching others something about yourself. You can not NOT teach and you can not NOT learn. We are all teachers and students at the same time.
3. Bob is responding to questions related to safety accountability with very negative opinionated comments. He just can't seem to say anything positive and it's clear others are starting to get impatient with him. What do you do?
It's not a question of if, but when. Someday you're going to get that negative student who doesn't want to be in training, doesn't like you, doesn't like the topic, doesn't like safety, or just otherwise is not happy. When you get students who answer all your questions with a negative tone and response, or worse yet, they interrupt you while teaching, there are some good techniques you can use to turn things around. I've used the "feel, felt, found" method described in the last section a few times and that worked well. The method I like the best is to ask others in the class what they think. Let the other students counter the negativity. Again, as a last resort, if the student just can't "straighten up," you may have to speak to them privately during the break.