Managing participants by Ai Chin Tan

Instruction

itsaichin1 — 2021-06-02 03:35:19 UTC

Share an instance of how you manage 'difficult' participant(s) or prevent the situation from worsening.

A) In what way was the participant(s) 'difficult'?
B) What did you do to manage him/her/them?
C) Feel free to ask questions here.
D) Let's keep the identities of the client and students anonymous!

itsaichin1 — 2021-06-02 05:36:05 UTC

We were having a kayaking journey.

This was my colleague's participant. Because she was having her menstruation period, she felt very icky and she was later horrified that her light-coloured clothes was soiled with blood. She threw a tantrum in the middle of the journey and insisted that we send her back.

I was nearest to her and had to manage her outburst (where's my colleague?! hahaha). I manage to convinced her to continue to paddle. When we got back to the base, she threw the paddle at me and screamed about wanting to go home.

I initially wanted her to clear her kayak and paddle. I was also getting worked up by her verbal abuse. But after looking at her state, I tried to calm down and slowly instructed her to go and shower and change.

Amazingly, after doing so, she calmed down and apologised for her rude behaviour. It felt like the Hulk turn back into Bruce Banner!

Addressing her basic needs was the key to managing her. On the hindsight, my colleague and I could check-in with them before the kayak journey. If I knew she was having her period, I may advise her to wear black clothing to mask any soiling and other ways to manage.

Mismatch of Expectation

2021-06-29 13:13:01 UTC

Many a times, participants are not in the prog because they want to be in it. Rather, they were volunteered to be in the prog and as such, taking out their frustration with me as the facilitator.

Build rapport, showing that I understand and letting them know that they are in the prog because someone find that they have the qualities to be in the prog and are giving them a chance to develop, grow and gain some new insights. And letting know also, that since they are in the prog, set learning goals to support them in making the best of their time rather than wasting it by being resentful about the whole prog.

Usually work, there are times that no matter what is done or said, couldn't shift the perspective of the participant, for these times, I got the teachers involve.

Not interested in outdoors

2021-07-08 05:29:29 UTC

Participant X attended an outdoor programme as part of School Activities. The entire class were co-operative but Participant X is not interested to participate. Participant X will give excuses to have an option not to sit out and will influence Participant Y. Both Participant X & Y will leave to go toilet and did not return until Instructor have to check them in the toilet to bring them back to the group. Happened a few times during the programme.

Talk to both participants separately, Seek to understand challenges, provide options of various roles that each participant can contribute to the group and check-in with them continuously.

Normal versus "Negative" behaviours

2021-07-21 06:03:39 UTC

I don't think homesickness and lack of motivation for the programme are examples of negative behaviours. These are all natural behaviours that we should expect from some of our participants. They are indeed behaviours of note and which should be addressed by the educator but branding them "negative" is a value judgement placed on a natural emotion arising from their lack of autonomy in whether to attend the programme. This would lead us into conveniently branding these participants as "negative" participants, which we should not do as educators.

Attention

2021-09-13 03:23:28 UTC

A lot of times when students show their negative vibes, it's to capture attention of the instructor. Perhaps we can start off by linking them back to the ground rules. Then ask them if this behaviour will actually help in the situation and how they actually benefit from it. chances are, 'nothing' is their answer, as we encourage them to use their loud voice in the positive manner, influence their class to the right direction.

Low self esteem / confidence

2021-09-29 01:40:29 UTC

Student A was very destructive and not cooperative. We found out that it was due to her low self esteem and low confidence in doing the outdoor activities. We pulled her one side to speak to her and reminded her of the ground rules etc. Then we let her practice and let her choose her own challenges for each activity. Lastly frequent reminder to the group that they should be supportive and not laugh at their peers helped!

Student with ADHD

2021-11-17 03:07:08 UTC

One of the students had Adhd, this means that the student has a short attention span, and it made it more difficult for us as we had to teach the group who were age 7-8 the technical skills, as well as gave them the confidence to do it, while ensuring the activity wasn't too hard. On top of that we had to look out for their safety all while ensuring that this student is able to grasp the key information and that he is learning and not affecting the learning of the other students.

What we did to manage the participant is we would have 1 of the instructors personally have a face to face teaching while the remaining 2 instructors would teach the group. At the same time we will have a professsional who understands the ADHD symptoms and what the students is trying to expres,s to make the student learning more succesfully. Whenever the students start to lost focus, and just start moving around, instead of scolding him, the instructor just waited til the student was finished, and after several times eventually the student was able to stay focus for a prolonged period of time. We would also give the group water & food, and allowed them to take break, if it rains we will stop all activity and ensure the student mental and physical well being is take care of by guiding them to the nearest shelter.

CCA camp

2021-11-17 03:19:07 UTC

As one of the participants is ' more advanced ' than the other groups member, he/she tend to be annoyed or feel that his/her groupmate is incompetent and dragging him/her back.

To address the situation, i approach him/her and talk privately to him/her and told him that with his/her ' advanced skillset ' he/she can help the groups or even lead them along

Distracted participant

200233461 — 2021-11-21 15:58:13 UTC

The participant is always unfocused and talking about unrelated things. When we need her to do the activity or repeat the instructions, she was unable to do so since she was not listening. This slowed down the whole group. I talked to her personally about how she's being engaging with the other participants but it might cause them to get distracted and not know important information. We discussed about the team rules in the beginning and how she can improve her behaviour.

3 times a charm

2021-11-22 04:09:51 UTC

The participant I had was a repeat student in the cohort and it was his third time attending his cohort camp. He was notorious for being a bad influence and his form teacher asked us to ignore his behaviour. He did not want to cooperate even when we were setting ground rules and team expectations. This made his group of friends also did not want to participate. Seeing how much influence he had on his class and friends, I decided to pass the team over to my partner and brought him away to talk to him.

I addressed his behaviour and ask him what the consequences of it were. He understood that he was unruly and uncooperative, but he did not know that he would be short handing his classmates who were attending for the first time. So, we did a personal rule and goal setting and I encouraged him to be positive to influence his friends experience. We joined the class and carried on with our camp. Since he had a change of behaviour our class had a very wonderful and meaningful time. He turned out to be the best camper nominated by instructors of other class and some teachers. =)

Hyper Active student

2022-08-30 14:42:08 UTC

I am working in a special need school as a relief teacher. One day in a MID class we had a group discussion on a topic and all the students were asked to participate in the discussion. One studious - hyper active student was talking and distracting the class . As the discussion went on there were much noise and laughter. Then i stopped the discussion and made the student to only talk by raising the hand and stand up and face the class and talk. Then the class became silent because they don't want to stand and address the class they felt shy. This made the group discussion good and all had chance to speak. The distracting student also became quite.

CCA activity

crystalhoonkw — 2022-11-15 03:04:21 UTC

We had a cca activity where the cadets were playing sports, however there were a few who were not playing and rather just walking behind the others, dragging their team down and affecting everyone as their team felt frustrated that they were not cooperating. As such I pulled the students aside to ask them why they were behaving that way and encourage them to participate actively or sit out if they wanted a break

Mischief

21003795_2 — 2022-11-15 06:10:12 UTC

I was doing a programme where the participants got a little carried away with themselves. They are the type to think that they know everything, that they can do things on their own even without the trainer's instructions or help. They ended up questioning every single thing I did even though I was pretty clear with my instructions and briefings for them. I had a talk with their teacher, and she agreed with what I had to say. I was thankful for her too because she was observant, and she told me to leave the scolding part to her.

Playful participants

matthewykj — 2023-05-23 03:15:51 UTC

Whilst organizing a program for primary school students, during the introduction and overview of what will be done today, there were 2 students who were really playful and was always shouting loudly. I told them to quiet down but it did not really work. However once we got to the safety rules, I knew that I had to make sure the participants listen closely to mitigate the risk of anyone getting injured. However, they were still being mischievous and I decided to talk to both of them by pulling them to the side. I tried to tell them that they should follow the rules that are set in order to ensure the safety of all of their lives, if they do not listen well to any of the instructions they might get into accidents or be uncertain in certain situations. I also told them that it is okay to have fun, but it is important to ensure the safety of them.

After football camp

220434351 — 2023-05-23 03:27:16 UTC

I was conducting a football camp and after the camp, student A approached student B about how he lacks the ability to play football. Since they were on the same team, student A felt like student B was pulling their team down during the drills and matches. Student B did not receive the mockery positively and started to push and assault student A. They were then pulled away from each other and I talked to person B personally, away from the others about what had just happened. I then comforted him in asking him to ignore what student A says and prove to student A that student B can play football.

CCA CAMP

2023-05-23 05:07:17 UTC

So this particular participant participates in this camp for 3 days and 2 nights. However, this kid seems to be very hyper in the sense that it would disrupt the class and their friends, but when it comes to playing games and activities as a group, this participant does not like to participate actively among the friends, which is difficult because it is a team bonding session that requires everyone to communicate and share ideas with one another.

What I did to manage this participant was that I pulled the kid to one side to clarify some doubts and ask he/she questions about why he or she does not like to mix with their friends. This is to allow the participant to feel intact with me and the other participants. After that, I bring them together once again, but this time in a smaller group, so that everyone has a chance to talk to one another easily and participate actively.

Lower Secondary Camp

2023-05-23 06:25:40 UTC

Taking a sports DSA class, there we rowdy students that were bullying their peers which caused one of them to leave class to take a breather.

I stopped all activity and had a talk with them where I made them reflect on their actions.

I gave them another chance again which, as they are in secondary 1, it lasted for a while, I took a step back to observe and stop their activity just as their form teacher enter where I informed and pass it on to her.

SELFISH PARTICIPANT

2023-05-23 08:25:00 UTC

while facilitating a group assignment with young kids, one boy was not willing the share the class colour pencils with his team and hogged it all to himself. his teammates asked him to share multiple time but he just ignored them.

I was brought in after his teammates complained to me and when i went to ask him to share, he started to cry as he thought i was scolding him. i brought him aside, cleaned him up and talked to him gently. i reassured him that i was not scolding him and placed him in the shoes of his teammates. If he didn't have the colour he wants, he would want his friend to lend him as well.

the boy understood and went back to his table, sharing the colour pencils with them

2024-04-30 02:19:47 UTC

i had a particularly mischievous participant that kept on disturbing his classmates by annoying them and all to the point that they were unable to hear instructions being given out by my facilitators. we tried our best to work with him but we soon realised that we weresimply competing with his voice. one of my facilitators pulled him out to the side and explained to him that it can turn into a safety issue not only for his classmates,but also for him if he chooses to distract people from the safety briefing. It worked,he apologised and stayed participative while not disruptive throughout the rest of the program

OBS 21 day

2024-04-30 02:26:49 UTC

We had one participant, who kept complaint about he wanted taking break during trekking expedition and the amount of time we stopped, just because he's tired, as he only think about himself, rather than the feeling of the groups.

After an short disagreement in the groups, I try to minimize the damage in the group, by having an deep talk with him, and told him that everyone is tired, but for the sake of our group morale, we don't voice it out again.

Overall, he did tried to change, as we all complete the obs smoothly.

Needing Attention

2024-04-30 02:35:11 UTC

When certain students start to act up in a way they tend to display some negative vibes, it is usually to capture the attention of others. However, to prevent this maybe we couls start off by setting some basic ground rules and values for the team. If this behaviour continues, it is better to address the issue to them personally and reason with them rather then shout and embarrass them

OBS 5 day (fahim)

2024-04-30 03:10:17 UTC

during the 5 day OBS, we had to go for our kayaking. It was around Pualau Ubin and of course most of us were very tired and wanted to give up. Me and my group tried to motivate those who were on the verge of giving up and we helped to push their boat so it encourages them and help them

cca

2024-04-30 03:24:08 UTC

During CCA sessions, guys always like to play around and delay the matches from happening. In cca, we play matches a lot to train and games tend to be delayed due to these inconsiderate behaviors. As such. I decided to talk to them, as they were really affecting the rest and told them that their loudness and ruggedness were causing a lot of delay and after that, they started being quieter and started listening to the captains more.

Annoying Brat

2024-04-30 03:27:28 UTC

When I was facilitating for a group of students during a 3 days 2 night camp, a participant was being disruptive and annoying the other students during a group discussion activity. He kept interrupting others, dominating the conversation, and displaying signs of impatience and frustration when others tried to speak. To manage the situation, I first privately approached the participant during a break and calmly addressed his behavior. I acknowledged his enthusiasm for the discussion but explained that it was important for everyone to have a chance to contribute. During the group discussion, I actively moderated the conversation, ensuring that everyone had equal opportunities to speak. Whenever the participant started to dominate the discussion again, I gently intervened, thanking them for their input and then redirecting the conversation to someone else in the group. Additionally, I also ask the group to raise their hands if anyone wanted to ask questions. This allowed participants to indicate when they wanted to speak, reducing interruptions and ensuring a more balanced conversation.

Band leader

2024-04-30 03:48:59 UTC

As a band leader i felt that i was not getting the respect i needed. This is because people know me as a joker . So to transition to being a serious and commanding figure they felt like they could not accept it . It got to the point where i was very stress with the role . However , on one occasion , when an ex member came back , he went to spot all of the leaders flaws and punished us . That was my breaking point where i stop caring about others opinion . As i spot others not behaving and playing around i just went and scold them . However , i do have those in the same batch who treats my responsibility lightly and just want to sabotage everything . I may not be competent but i feel like a lot of my batch mate were very selfish . Like they hate the system but they did not consider our feelings and just make our job harder . To be honest , the band culture was very strict and that the rules were to military like as a lot of us enjoyed playing music but not the power distance implemented.

CCA Sessions

2024-04-30 04:02:51 UTC

During one of the many CCA Sessions during Secondary school, I was tasked with teaching some of the new CCA members with how to handle certain types of equipment. As i took the group to the side and began explaining how to use the equipment, i'd get disturbed by some of the students who were very energetic and were blurting out their thoughts about the equipment. I tried to get them back on track by asking them to stop but it didn't really help much. They continued to disrupt the lesson i was trying to share with the other students, and i was very annoyed and angry by the end of the entire cca session.

2024-04-30 04:15:00 UTC

During the OBS camp, a participant in my group wasnt being helpful towards the team with cleaning/setting and folding tents. While everyone was talking bad about him, i approached him nicely and said that he should try his best to help the team so that we can finish our tasks on time and tell us if he have any problems.

CCA(fan)

2024-04-30 05:22:54 UTC

There was a time during my CCA days where i had planned the training and had to manage the schedule as well as conduct a specific lesson. There were trouble makers that came late to training and on top of that they were distracting the rest of the class. How i managed them was I picked a neutral tone by asking them to demonstrate with me. Initially they were reluctant but they gave in. Using their skills as a demonstration and an example for the other cadets to learn from humbled them and became a good learning lesson for them and myself

OBS 5 days (Irfan)

2024-04-30 12:00:11 UTC

Throughout the 5-day OBS program, we were required to participate in kayaking activities. We were exhausted and on the verge of quitting as we approached Pulau Ubin. My group and I attempted to uplift individuals who were close to quitting, and we assisted in propelling their boat to boost their spirits and offer assistance. Different groups also inspire me when I feel discouraged and exhausted.