Attempts to classify Unruly Members of the Social Group
However carefully the social whole has been organized, there comes a time when an unruly member appears. The teacher’s task is then to defend the group and bring the eccentric member if possible under the influence of the social order.
In a very interesting chapter in his volume on “School Discipline” Professor Bagley has supplied the evidence that no classroom can be regarded as free from the appearance of unruly types of students. Even good teachers of long experience who in general are free from difficulties with the discipline of their classes find it necessary to give special attention to the troublesome types. These types are described by Professor Bagley as including the following: the stubborn pupil who makes difficulty because he is constantly refusing to fit into the social order; the haughty pupil who is not merely conceited but in his ordinary performances disturbs the regular social routine by his overbearing attitude both toward his fellows and his teacher; the self-complacent pupil who cannot be aroused to activity by any of the ordinary inducements that are presented by the school. Other types include the irresponsible pupil, the morose pupil, the hypersensitive pupil, the deceitful pupil, and the vicious pupil.
This collection of unmanageables fortunately does not turn up in any single class at one time, but, as Professor Bagley remarks, it would be unwise for us to leave young teachers with the idea that the appearance of any one of these types is due to the teacher’s inefficiency. Many an efficient young teacher is baffled at the outset by the difficulties of dealing with one or another of these types of students. Professor Bagley made inquiry of some of the best teachers whom he could locate, and found that it is inevitable that pupils of these types are to be found sooner or later in every school. The wise teacher does well to plan in advance for the reception of the particular specimen that is sure to fall to his lot with every ten or twelve pupils.