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Managing ‘difficult’ behaviours in law classrooms
Educators are obligated to create an environment that is conducive to healthy and effective learning for students across the board, according to one legal academic.
Jerome Doraisamy
College of Law Queensland lecturer Graeme Haas said that such conducive learning must accommodate for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who account for approximately 1 per cent of the population and about 80 per cent of whom would meet the criteria for anxiety and/or depression.
And while students with ASD would also display strengths through heightened logic, persistence, hard work, being detail-oriented, loyal and truthful, managing such personality traits – which he said some would deem as “difficult” – is an important consideration in one’s approach and strategy for overall classroom engagement.
“By developing an understanding of what causes particular behavioural issues in students with ASD, we will not only better accommodate those students that have been diagnosed, but also those neuro-typical students that show the very same characteristics, albeit on a lesser scale,” he explained.
When looking at law students across the board, Mr Haas said that they all have a lot of pressure on them, which manifests in anxiety regardless of whether one has ASD or any other behavioural traits.
“Occasionally there is a student that wants to dictate how things are done, and they can become quite angry when they don’t have the control that they think they are entitled to,” he recounted.
“I have learned to become more clear about expectations and boundaries, and that has minimised the issues that I encounter.”
Teachers of all stripes can be too quick to blame or become frustrated with students who are difficult, he mused.
“The responsibility is on us to examine what we do and how we do it, with a view to improving the learning experience for the student,” he said.
“If we are honest with ourselves, there is always room for improvement. Students are usually time-poor, so it is important for us to not waste their time unnecessarily.”
He outlined numerous strategies for educators to deal with difficult behaviours: managing one’s own emotions, “getting over yourself”, better understanding a student’s point of view, being clear, direct and specific when engaging, focusing on support and practical management of any issues that manifest, and allowing space to debrief where necessary.
In addition, he noted that there are dangers to not adequately catering for students in these ways.
“Just like clients in practice, high-needs students by their very nature take up a disproportionate amount of time. Having said that, they can also alert us to issues other students may face, but not be comfortable voicing,” he said.
“These students can also have an incredible potential, and we should be looking to help them reach their potential.”
In this sense, there are benefits that arise from properly supporting such students.
“It feels a lot better for us as teachers when we can help a student and understand them, as opposed to going into battle with them,” he argued.
“We can also free up our time to help the students that don’t fall into the high-needs category and, obviously, the learning experience for the entire student body is improved.”
The behaviours shown by students on the spectrum are not unique and show up in the entire student population, he said, and are distinguished by the depth and patterns of those behaviours.
“For example, many students that are not on the spectrum are challenged by the social aspect of group work. As teachers, we can put protocols in place to minimise and manage conflict, and assist the process,” he said.
“The strategies we use to assist those with ASD can be applied right across the board.”
And, ultimately, such catering should be done because it is the job of legal educators.
“If we are not continuously looking to do that and improve on how we do that, we are selling the students short,” he concluded.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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