Workshop: Managing challenging situations in the classroom: scenarios, strategies and methods

In today’s increasingly complex world, educators often find themselves navigating sensitive and controversial topics and situations which can lead to conflict or tense atmosphere in the classroom. These situations can be triggered by classroom dynamics or generated by the changing conditions in the external environment.

Whether it’s the reflection of the global or national events, or a sensitive theme in the reading list, a strained atmosphere between the students feeling out of control and reaching a peak point, or you as a tutor feeling uncomfortable for various reasons.

Thus, the intended objectives of this workshop are to

• Identify common difficult and conflict situations in the classroom.
• Examine the difference between a disruptive behaviour/pattern and a normal/healthy disagreement.
• Learn effective strategies for managing and resolving conflict and maintaining a positive learning and teaching environment.
• Practice conflict resolution and mediation techniques through role-play and case studies.

This workshop will have three parts: a methodological component, an interactive session and a reflective discussion. Read more.

This activity may count towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) if relevant to your situation.

About the trainers

Birsen Erdogan is a lecturer of International Relations at Maastricht University. Her main interests are critical theories in International Relations, Critical Security Studies, Turkish and Middle Eastern politics, and discourse analysis.

Andrew Oringer is a lecturer who specialises in interdisciplinary teaching at UCM and FSE. Andrew previously worked in the fields of sustainability and natural resources management for several government and international agencies. At UM, he designed and currently teaches courses in the Interfaculty minor Sustainability and has taught experiential education in several countries in the field of climate change. His particular areas of interest are in alpine ecosystems, forest and rangeland ecology, and the nexus of human-nature interaction: the wildland-urban interface.