Addressing Incivility in the Classroom

A number of actions and behaviors can disrupt a class ranging from lateness, texting, surfing the Web for content unrelated to class, to engaging in a number of other nonacademic activities. These behaviors negatively impact the professor, the students, the classroom climate, and therefore, learning. It is important to address these incidents accordingly.

Guy Boysen studied students’ ratings of teacher responses to another disruption  – student incivility. He administered surveys about instances of incivility varying in disorderliness and harmfulness, and students rated effectiveness of teacher response. He found that students recognized incivility when it disrupted the class, and wanted the teacher to exert control, end such behavior, and maintain class order. Based on Boysen’s research, the following interventions were found to be the most effective for addressing incidents in the classroom:

• Both direct confrontation and private confrontation were rated as the most effective for all types of incivility;
• Ignoring the incident was perceived as an ineffective way to address the incivility;
• Direct confrontation, discussion, and providing counterexamples were perceived as more effective for disorderly incidents (incidents perceived by all individuals in the classroom such as verbal insults or phone ringing) than nondisorderly incidents (incidents only immediately perceived by the professor such as obscene gestures toward a student presenter or listening to headphones);
• Disorderliness increases desire for an immediate response rather than a delayed or passive response.

Address the disorderly incidents in your class immediately in a direct and decisive manner by telling the student that the behavior wasn’t appropriate, by leading a class discussion about the behavior, or by giving counterexamples to show the flaws in the students’ thinking that led to the behavior. If a direct confrontation is not advisable, consider addressing it in private. Regardless of the method, always avoid disrespecting or humiliating any students.

Boysen, G.A. (2012). Teacher responses to classroom incivility: Student perceptions of effectiveness. Teaching of Psychology, (39)4,  276-279. doi: 10.1177/0098628312456626