As part of an effort to determine the extent to which we were meeting the training needs of ITAs on our campus here at the University of Connecticut, we met with two groups of undergraduates at our university. We asked them if had experienced any challenges in their classes taught by ITAs. They responded with many examples, which could be divided into three main areas:

• linguistic challenges, that is, the ITAs were difficult or impossible to understand because of their accents;
• academic challenges, that is, the ITAs were unclear in their instructions and explanations; and
• behavioral or procedural challenges, that is, the ITAs didn’t know how to control the class, allowed disruptive behavior, lacked self-confidence, and seemed afraid of the undergraduates.

We expected most undergrads to identify linguistic issues as the main area of challenges in their classes with ITAs. But much to our surprise, we found that the undergrads we spoke to identified the third area―behavioral or procedural challenges―as the most problematic area for the ITAs. About 75 percent of the complaints were about behavioral or procedural issues, while only about 5 percent were about language.

This was how we discovered the need to address classroom management in our ITA program. Our only opportunity to reach all the incoming ITAs is through the New ITA Orientation offered at the beginning of each academic year, so this is when we present our workshop on classroom management, which we have entitled “Critical Incidents in the Classroom.” We define critical incidents as behavior and/or interaction that negatively influences the ability of students to learn from the teacher. In addition to new ITAs, the orientation includes the participation of experienced ITAs (or “ITA Mentors”) and undergraduates.

In presenting the workshop we also made another significant discovery―that ITAs perceive language, not classroom management, to be the main area of complaint by undergrads. So the workshop serves not only to train ITAs in the management of critical incidents in the classroom but also to raise their awareness of how critical incidents are perceived by the undergrads.

In one activity, we first divide the participants according to the three types of students in the workshop: undergrads, ITA mentors, and new ITAs (who are divided into smaller groups of about seven students). We have them rate a list of 16 behaviors according to their acceptability in the classroom. The behaviors include eating, texting, drinking, and disagreeing with another student. Everyone first rates the behaviors in consultation only with those in their own group. Then one ITA mentor and one undergrad join each small group of ITAs and they compare and discuss their ratings. The discussions inevitably reveal stark differences in attitude, culture, experience, and perception among members of the groups. This activity helps the new ITAs gain some perspective on how various classroom behaviors might be perceived differently by students and instructors with different levels of experience in American higher education. It is also intended to prepare them for the informal atmosphere of American classrooms and to help them understand that some behaviors that are considered unacceptable in their countries are normal in North America, whereas others are not. This activity also prepares them for the next one by activating some of the vocabulary they will need.

In the next activity, they watch videos of critical incidents in the classroom and, in the same small groups as for the previous activity, they observe and then discuss

• how they think the incidents were dealt with by the professor,
• the professor’s teaching behaviors,
• how the incidents could have been avoided,
• effective ways of responding to the incidents, and
• how they would respond to similar situations.

This is an opportunity for the undergrads and ITA mentors to contribute more valuable advice not only on how to deal with specific types of critical incidents, but also on how to avoid them. All the videos are authentic in the sense that they depict actual critical incidents that occurred in real classrooms throughout North America. But they are reenactments of the incidents, so I refer to them as “drama but not fiction.”

One video we show is “Unintended Disruptions” from a DVD produced by American University entitled “Civitas: Civility in the American Classroom”. This video features a combination of disruptive undergraduate behaviors and a disaffecting instructional style.

Another video we show is “Sorry, But I Don’t Always Understand You,” from the University of Minnesota, Center for Teaching and Learning. Although the critical incident is not based on student behavior, we include it because there are many nonlinguistic reasons why students might approach an ITA with this complaint. This video features a brief reenactment followed by two ITA trainers giving expert advice on how ITAs should react when told that they are not understood. We feel that this video is significant because, like Unintended Disruptions, it allows us to focus on instructor behaviors that can prevent critical incidents by encouraging students to stay engaged. In our observations over the years, we have found that many ITAs fail to build human connections with their students: they don’t greet their students, smile, or make eye contact with them; they don’t learn students’ names; they don’t engage in small talk or acknowledge campus life (e.g., university sports). In short, they don’t build rapport with their students. This can affect comprehensibility because it causes the undergraduates to feel alienated from their ITAs, so they respond to this type of ITA classroom behavior by failing to try to understand the ITAs. The result is that the undergrads say they don’t understand the ITAs. In addition, we also find many ITAs don’t speak loudly enough. Undergrads might say they don’t understand when what they mean is that they can’t hear. So the low volume compounds with negative feelings and disengagement on both sides to create a classroom environment that spawns critical incidents.

The next part of the workshop provides ITAs with specific resources and recommendations on how to manage critical incidents. I believe that the most valuable advice we can give ITAs is to prevent critical incidents by making their expectations clear from the first moments of the semester. Clear expectations, though extremely important, are a challenge for many, if not most, ITAs to communicate. One reason for this is that because expectations are culturally determined, most people are not aware of them (until they are in a situation that conflicts with their expectations). Another reason why clear expectations are difficult for ITAs to express is because so many are from “high context” cultures, which emphasize saving face, preserving human dignity, and communicating in an indirect, nonconfrontational way (Hall, 1976). It is also helpful to bear in mind that ITAs are unlikely to be aware of the maturity level of most North American undergrads. ITAs usually don’t expect that there will be a need to tell North American students how to behave in a college classroom.

So ITAs are likely to experience serious difficulty in expressing their classroom expectations directly, and in understanding the necessity of doing so. But it needs to be done. The best solution I have identified is for ITAs to put these expectations in writing in the syllabus. In this way, ITAs can be explicit and still save face. They can be clear and direct without having to say anything. The Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of California Santa Cruz has an excellent collection of sample civility statements which can be adapted for practically any course.

Finally, in our workshop we provide the ITAs with the following list of online resources so that they can refer to these throughout their teaching careers at our university.

Responding to Disruptive or Threatening Student Behavior: A Guide for Faculty
Manual produced by Virginia Tech

“Classroom Management”
Lisa Rodriguez, PhD

“Managing Incivility in the College Classroom”
Joanne Holladay
The University of Texas at Austin, Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment

“Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom”
Lee Warren
Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University

“Incivility in the College Classroom: Bibliography of Print Resources”

“It’s a Zoo in Here!” [video]
University of Minnesota, Center for Teaching and Learning

REFERENCE

Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. New York: Doubleday.