Non Compliance - Part 2

As promised, here's a recollection of what happened this morning.

At 8.55 a.m. I went to see Mr. M who is in-charge of Class X. I was told that he had explained to the students about my work and that they were okay with it. This was important as I needed their full cooperation in class.

We got to the classroom at exactly 9.00 a.m. and I could see that all seven students were already waiting for us. They were all female and in my biased opinion, they were much much  older than me. I'm not being vain here. I could tell they were older cos most of them wore a distinct kind of attire that shouts AUNTY.

After the five-minute scan, I started the session by telling them a little bit about my research and what I needed them to do. I assured them that the tasks they were doing had not effect on their grades and that  their identity would be anonymous. To end my little speech, I thanked them for their participation and gave them my brightest smile ever. Sadly, none of them returned the gesture. But that was fine. I couldn't let it bother me.

The first task involved a questionnaire survey. I distributed the paper and told them to take their sweet time. When they got the handouts, they started flipping the pages and examined each section thoroughly. When they realised that there were over 60 questions involved, things started to get a  little bit ugly. Five of them started making faces and the other two began exchanging paragraphs and paragraphs of dissatisfaction in Chinese. I understand Chinese, but I couldn't really grasp what the two were talking about. From their body language however, I could tell that they were not happy with the task.  Since none of them had the guts to tell me how they felt, I refused to acknowledge their hesitance and pretended everything was cool.

After a minute or so, they decided to get on with the task and started concentrating on the questions. Phew! I let out a silent sigh of relief. Thirty minutes later, they were done. I collected the papers and secured them in my bag. Now, it was time for Task 2. Essay Writing. I took out the handouts and laid them on the table. As I was about to distribute the papers, the students started looking at each other. Confused. I ignored the negative response and proceeded with the distribution. Once everyone had gotten the paper, I explained the task briefly and told them to start. This time, they rebelled. From this point onwards, I shall refer to them as Aunty 1 -  7 okay?

Aunty 1 looked at the handout with disdain and gave me a stare which echoed "Are you kidding me?"

Aunty 2 took the paper and shoved it in her file, as if telling me she'd do it in 2012 if or when she feels like it.

Aunty 3 took out her note book and purposely laid it on the questionnaire. There was a loud thud! She looked at me stonily with her arms defensively folded across her chest, like cari gaduh kind of expression.

Aunty 4 and 5 (the two who spoke in Chinese earlier) started doing what they do best: exchanging paragraphs and paragraphs of complaints in Chinese.

Aunty 6 was the one and only student who wasn't rude to me. She was too worried about not being able to write the essay and she even requested a copy of the questionnaire so she could learn something.


This is the best.
Aunty 7 raised her hand and told be blatantly "I don't want to write." Wow kan? You've got to admire her candidness.

While digesting all this, part of me wanted to shout "Why can't you just do it? JUST DO IT!!!!" and then there was also that fragile part of me that wanted to run in a corner and cry my heart out. I did neither.

I asked them "Is there a problem?" They just sat there, talking with each other in Chinese. They were  obviously giving me the cold shoulder. One of them said something about not liking the topic and another one said wo pu yau se (I don't want to write) to her friends. 

I decided to try a different approach. I tried explaining to the students the reasons behind the writing activity and  how it would affect the study as a whole. I explained everything in detail to make them feel more involved in the study. When I was done, I expected them to soften a little. But NO. These aunties were not only rude, they were heartless too. They just sat there looking unconvinced and uninterested, as if they  were watching paint dry you know. Some of them shook their heads. That was the final blow.

I wasn't going to force them to write if they didn't want to so I told them to return all the handouts. I gathered  my stuff and prepared to leave. I wanted to walk away calmly, without saying a word, but I couldn't control the word vomit that was coming out of my mouth.

"You know, before agreeing to participate in this study, you should really think hard before you say yes. You said yes  to your tutor and that means you were willing to commit. I am here because he told me you all said YES. You have wasted my time!"

I guess that wasn't exactly how I said it but it's somewhere along those lines. I can't remember word by word cos the stuff just came out spontaneously.

The whole incident wasn't really that bad but I hated the feeling it evoked. I was left feeling frustrated, angry and defeated. The last time I was challenged like that was when Mark refused to lompat katak and that wasn't even half as bad as this one. But like Yoda said, we have to be prepared for the unexpected because we have no control over our subjects. He's right. That's what I've learnt today.

It's time to switch to Plan B cos I am through with students from College X.

Non Compliance - Part 1

Mr W finally sent me an email confirming the time and place for my data collection work. That was Tuesday. I was thrilled when I got the news cos I had wanted to work with those students so badly. The time given was Thursday, between 9.00 to 11.00 and the target participants were seven advanced-level students who taught IELTS in their home country. 

Now before I get into that, let me tell you about my experience of dealing with non-compliance and defiance in the classroom. This may sound off-topic but I need to give you some background information on this issue so you could understand the crap I had to go through this morning.

Several years ago, I taught English in a suburban secondary school in Papar. My students were 13 year-old kiddos who had just graduated from Primary School. Despite being in Form One, most of them still behaved like 6 year-olds. The boys especially. Anyway, one fateful day, while I was teaching in class, one student decided to cause trouble by displaying some unacceptable classroom behaviour. I have forgotten what he did but it totally disrupted the lesson and started a commotion in class. The boy's name was Mark. As a form of punishment, I told him to stand up. To my surprise, Mark refused to stand up. He just sat there, acting cool as if I didn't exist. When this happened, the rest of the class went really silent and turned their attention towards me. I could feel my face turning hot as I saw red. Bright RED.

Challenged and angry, I ordered Mark to get out of the classroom and go to the basketball court. Since I wasn't one of those scary teachers who bring a cane everywhere, Mark didn't think I was serious. He wouldn't budge and just sat there looking smug. That did it! I went to his table, looked at him in the eye and shouted the words at the top of my lungs: OUT, RIGHT NOW! That took a lot of energy from me but I managed to get him out. I know what you're thinking. I should have kept my cool, but I was 22 -  young and inexperienced.  

So. Mark got to the basketball court and stood there. The smug expression was still plastered on his face. To my students' delight, I brought them all out to watch the show: The English teacher vs. Mark. I told Mark what he did was unacceptable and that all he needed to do was say sorry. Mark kept quiet. Three minutes passed by and still no apology. Fine. He left me no choice. My dignity as a teacher was at stake so I had to do something. To punish him, I asked him to do the leap frog action by squatting down on all fours and jump around the basketball court. "Lompat katak 5 pusingan! Sekarang!" I spoke in Malay, stressing the word sekarang. Mark started to squat down but that was as far as he went. It was obvious that he wouldn't degrade himself in front of his peers. The whole class looked at me with the expression: What now?

I didn't want to shout like a teacher gone psycho so I left the kids in search of Cikgu Edward. He's the Discipline teacher and the most fearful person in school. I told Edward what happened and requested for his assistance. He was more than willing to help. When Edward got to the basketball court, the look on Mark's face was priceless. Edward roared "Lompat katak sekarang juga! Ikut arahan Cikgu Alice!!" and Mark went leaping like a frog in a race. After 3 rounds, tears started spilling down his cheeks and I began to feel sorry for him. I told him  to stop and got the other kids to get back to their classroom. By now, Mark was sobbing uncontrollably. What followed next was a tearful apology from Mark and me giving him a stern warning to not repeat the same offence. That was the first time I had to deal with a defiant student in class.

This post is not about ways of dealing with classroom misbehaviours or the most effective approach in minimising them. I thought about this incident because a similar thing happened to me this morning. You see, after years of teaching in the Uni, I'm so used to having students comply to my instructions and requests. From time to time, there may be grunts and sighs and hate-you faces but in the end, my students normally do what they are told. To be honest with you, I never had a lot of trouble with this. So when something like today happened, naturally, I'd feel upset. It was so unpleasant because I was suddenly reminded of my current status as a student and that I have no authority in class. 

Remember Mark? Well, during my data collection session today, I had the greatest misfortune to work with seven non-complying students who were exactly like Mark. Except, they were all teachers and they all looked older than me. What really happned? I'll tell you all about it in Part 2.