Student Cliques
Frequently I teach classes near the end of our program. Thus, by this point the students are quite familiar with each other and student cliques have formed. Occasionally I have a class where the cliques are obvious from Day One and there is some real hostility between class members-based on events that happened long before they came to my class.
I clearly address the expectations for class involvement and classroom respect; however I find these classes have significantly weaker participation and discussion. Thoughts? Techniques that others have tried?
Hi Summer,
I have never had any problems with cliques, however, they are in my classes. I am thinking you may want to try assigned seats or just simply have a private individual conversation with each student.
Patricia
Hi Summer,
I am also at the end of our program and find that my classes have also formed cliques and alliances. My classroom is a student restaurant, and open to the public, so teamwork on the part of the entire class is critical to our success.
In day one, I ask them to break themselves into groups of 3 or 4, depending on the size of the class. I give them a small ice breaker project to complete while I note who they self-selected to work with, and then separate their work groups from that point on--ensuring that the cliques are broken up. I also emphasize teamwork as a graded portion of the course and provide a detailed rubric, and provide a private evaluation form for each student to complete, rating themselves as well as their team members.
Knowing that their grade will depend on both my evaluation and that of their peers helps nip 95% of potential problems. For those that display unacceptable behavior, one stern discussion is usually sufficient in curbing future problems.
Hi Carolyn,
I like the tactic you use to break up the cliques. What a smart move on your part. I can tell you are very firm with your students. There are many supervisors that are firm, therefore students need the variety.
Patricia
I would assign seats so that you are breaking up the cliques. Also, when there are group projects you can assign the partners so that they are required to work with others.
Summer,
I also see this problem in class unfortunately. Some of this may sound a little elementary, but it does work. If I see this problem, I will create a seating chart. This seperates the groups. I also have the students draw names from a bowl if we have any group assignments because then it will be random. I explain that it is important to become familiar with working with a variety of individuals because this is what they will experience in patient care.
By the end of the quarter, everyone actually gets along better.
Bonnie
Hi Bonnie,
Even at the collegian level, elementary methods work. I do the same things.
Patricia
Hi Marla,
You are on point. You and I think so much alike. I would do the same things.
Patricia
I work in a visual arts/design college. Class work is often evaluated in a group critique format. In these critiques, you will often see the clique behaviors play out, and no seating chart will circumvent them.
Some students will refuse to participate in critiques of other students' work, because of bad blood, or perception that the student has not contributed enough to the class to earn their respect of criticism.
Calling on the uncooperative student, forcing their participation, sometimes is the only way.
Other times I have made ordered each student to write short critiques of every student's work. I then collect the write-ups, make copies of them, and evaluate them both for completion and quality, and include this as part of the grading criteria for the class.
Hi Scott,
I've used the tactic of write-ups to critique group members' work. It works well, and it forces more participation that is cooperative.
Patricia
Hi Summer,
Last quarter I encountered my first problems with student cliques. My students had taken classes as a cohort so they had been together for 18 months. At the beginning of the quarter, individuals would say to me "I won't work with _______."
I did randomly assign group work so they had to learn to work with everybody. After all, we all have people we have to work with who may not be our close friends.
Because I was randomly assigning groups, students didn't seem to feel I was forcing them to work with certain other students. For example, one day I would assign groups by the number of siblings each student had. Only children would be in one group, students with one sibling in another, and so on. Other assignment techniques I used were grouping them by eye color, by favorite candy bars, by kind of cars they drive, and, on average,what time they went to sleep. This worked pretty well on a day-to-day basis.
The clique behavior that most surprised me was when they turned on me. There was one group that dominated the class; it was like a wolf pack, and one student was the alpha wolf. In class she would say things like, "We've (meaning her clique) have been discussing this assignment, and we don't think we should have to do it." She and her clique were extremely vocal and openly defied me during class by playing on their computers or refusing to do in-class activities. They were disrespectful and so immature. I don't think I handled this as well as I could have. I was happy when the quarter ended.
Hi Barbara,
Never allow a student to disrespect you. You end the disrespect quickly and swiftly. You must let your students know that you are in control, and it does not matter what they think. You should have made a sacrificial lamb out of the alpha wolf, and you would have gotten everyone's attention. It upsets me whenever students disrespect their instructors. I DO NOT tolerate disrespect.
I love the clever ways you came up with to break up the cliques.
Patricia
I agree and have done the same thing also. I also make sure when we have group activities, that no one in any clique is in the same group.
I have done this by having them count off starting with the numbers one thru six. Each person with the number one is in group one and the number two is in group two and so forth and so on.
This usually makes for more interaction with other class members outside the clique and exposes them to the dynamics of working as a team.
This reminds me of a situation in which I gave my new students their first pop quiz. When I returned from grading the quiz. I was verbally attacked by the self appointed spokesperson ( alpha wolf)who stated she felt the pop quiz was a means to set them up for failure.It was apparent they had been discussing it and felt they didn't do well, so wanted to blame me.
But there were about three cliques involved in this attack.
This really blindsided me because they were so passionate and angry.
I explained to them how their behaviour was unprofessional and would not be tolerated. Further outburst like that would be subject to dismissal immediately from class until further notice.
We had a serious problem of one group against another group in a class. I discussed the importance and acceptance of everyone and that only one person declares judgement and that's not me or them. Went on the all created equal theory and discussed this with class. When you point one finger, three point back. After discussion I invited students to come talk indivdually.
Hi Christine,
You handled the situation beautiflly. Students must realize in the professional world you may not like everyone you work with, but it is important to have a good working relationship.
Patricia
Hi Novella,
They are lucky you gave them a break. I would have dismissed them that moment. They owe you a thank you.
Patricia
Hi Novella,
I've used this tactic as well. It is nice to have students interact with other classmates.
Patricia
The classes I teach usually only consist of 10-15 students at time, and the students are usually female. I feel females are normally the ones who tend to form cliques. I try to split students into smaller groups that do not include their usual friends. I feel like they are more apt to interact with one another the more they are encouraged to perform certain tasks together.
I love the idea of using a rubric for teamwork. Did you develop it yourself?
