Relationship Rescue: Coping with Conflict in the Classroom A Presentation for the Faculty Center for

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Relationship RescueCoping with Conflict in the
ClassroomA Presentation for the Faculty Center
for Teaching and LearningWinter Conference 2003

• Stacey Tantleff Dunn, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor
• Department of Psychology
• University of Central Florida

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Introduction

• Dealing with occasional conflicts with students
  is part of working in an academic environment,
  and can be a potentially aversive experience for
  both parties involved.
• Surprisingly little research has been aimed
  toward gaining a better understanding of
  students complaints or developing means for
  effectively resolving confrontations with them.

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Introduction

• Given the conflicts of interest that sometimes
  occur in academia, applying clinical skills to
  manage conflicts in a more positive manner may be
  beneficial.
• First step was to conduct a study to identify
  common sources of conflict between faculty and
  students, and determine possible response
  strategies that would be advantageous to both
  parties involved.

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Faculty-Student Conflict Study

• N105 (55 females and 50 males)
• Participation was anonymous and minimal
  demographic information was collected.
• A faculty-student conflict questionnaire was
  developed for this project.
• Directions asked respondents to think about a
  memorable conflict they had experienced with a
  professor, answer eight open-ended questions
  regarding the conflict, and rate their
  satisfaction with the professors response, as
  well as with the outcome on a 5-point Likert
  scale.

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Results

• The conflicts, responses, and reactions to them
  were summarized into categories.
• Two undergraduate research assistants were
  trained to code data into categories.
• Inter-rater reliability for their coding of a
  random sample of surveys was nearly 100.

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Results

• Although grade-related problems were commonly
  cited, personal characteristics of professors
  outnumbered grade conflicts almost two to one.
• Over 70 of students reported that they
  communicated with their professor in an attempt
  to resolve the conflict.
• The majority of students (56.2) felt that the
  professors responses to problems were negative.

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Results

• 47.6 of students experienced negative emotional
  reactions to professors actions.
• 54.3 of students were extremely dissatisfied
  with the outcomes.
• Surprisingly, only 10.5 of students reported
  they would have preferred a grade change.
• The outcome most preferred (29.5) was more
  feedback, greater listening, and a higher level
  of professionalism from the professor.

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Interpretation

• Students are making the effort to communicate
  with their professors when they have a conflict,
  yet a large percentage of students experience
  negative outcomes or emotions as a result.
• More effective means of handling conflicts with
  students are needed.
• The interpersonal behavior of the instructors is
  the area in which students would most like to see
  improvement.

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Interpretation

• Based on these findings, it seems that students
  most want to have a greater sense that they are
  heard and understood - two cornerstones of an
  effective client-therapist interaction.
• It is critical to recognize that applying basic
  therapy skills does not mean acting as a
  students therapist or encouraging personal
  disclosures.
• What is being suggested is that utilizing some of
  the fundamental communication skills employed by
  effective therapists may facilitate positive
  resolutions to conflicts with students.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Responsiveness
• Communicate concern and understanding of what the
  student is saying.
• Actively respond in a way that is congruent with
  the message and feelings the student is
  conveying.
• keeps the conversation focused on important
  issues
• provides the student with a sense of validation
• enhances your credibility and increases the
  students attention to your feedback
• Focus on first understanding what the student has
  to say rather than defending your actions,
  opinion, etc.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Nonverbal Responsiveness
• Facial expressions, eye contact, and body posture
  communicate a great deal.
• Your behavior must be congruent with your words.
• Pay attention to students nonverbal behavior
  since it may tell you about whether the student
  is intimidated, nervous, or perhaps
  inappropriately provocative or casual in meeting
  with you.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Empathy
• Communicate that you understand by temporarily
  adopting the students frame of reference.
• Being empathic doesnt mean agreeing with the
  students perspective it means taking the
  opportunity to understand it.
• Making the effort to see the situation as the
  student does will not only make the student feel
  understood, but it will help you feel less angry
  and more positively about many of the issues
  raised by students.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Clarification
• Clearly understand the situation and the
  students perspective before responding to it
• Use questions to obtain greater clarity.
• Encourage elaboration, clear up vague or
  confusing statements, and confirm that you
  accurately understand the student.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Paraphrasing
• Rephrase the students statements in a way that
  communicates that you understand what was said.
  This can help focus the discussion on the most
  relevant issues.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Reflection
• Rephrase the emotion or affect in the students
  statements.
• communicates understanding
• helps to put feelings in proper perspective
• allows you to communicate empathy and acceptance
  of the students feelings

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Challenging
• Identify students mixed messages and explore
  alternative ways of perceiving problems.
• Be aware of your own feelings and motives
  challenges should not be made out of anger, but
  in a supportive manner and should be aimed not at
  the student, but at the difficulty s/he is
  having. If a student is having difficulty owning
  feelings and meeting goals, challenges can be
  helpful for pointing out inconsistencies.
• To be effective, a good relationship must first
  be established.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Reframing
• Provide the student with a new way of looking at
  or interpreting a situation or problem.
  Solutions that were not previously apparent
  become a possibility.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Strength-Based Response
• It may be the case that the student is lacking
  the self-confidence necessary to succeed.
• Simple words of encouragement and recognizing
  that the student is making the effort can make
  all the difference.

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Using Clinical Skills to Manage Conflicts with
Students

• Humor
• A good sense of humor decreases the likelihood of
  reacting with negative moods and promotes better
  health.
• In not taking yourself too seriously you may
  instill a healthy use of humor in others.
• Humor, however, should neither be at students
  expense nor take away from the validity of their
  concerns. Effective humor is most often a
  gentle, self-directed form of jesting.

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Why bother?

• Applying these skills is more likely to decrease
  the overall time spent with students who may
  otherwise become more frustrated and repeatedly
  return to your office.
• Effective resolution between the professor and
  student avoids potential involvement by
  administrators.
• As professors, you can serve as role models.
• By responding to confrontations professionally
  and with a clearly positive intent we foster
  students trust and insight into their roles in
  the difficulties that they encounter in college.

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Why bother...

• Skillful conflict management can contribute to
  many desirable outcomes such as
• greater job satisfaction
• better performance evaluations
• reduced job stress
• maintenance of academic standards
• a positive reputation among students, colleagues,
  and administrators
• Finally, effective conflict resolution may help
  both educators and their students to stay focused
  on their mutual goals of teaching and learning.