Coping with Seven Disruptive Personality Types in the Classroom

How to Respond• Feel free to remain imperfectWhen some students place undue pressure upon you to be perfect in your knowledge andbehavior, do everything you can to realize that this is an irrational and unrealisticexpectation to impose on another person, including you. Feel free to remain imperfect; donot strive to be a flawless automaton because some of your compulsive students expectperfection from you.If necessary, acknowledge your more glaring mistakes with humor, equanimity, and anynecessary apologies. Then remember: just because these compulsive students may beuncomfortable with the imperfections of the world does not mean you have to share theirdiscomfort!• Remind them you are a qualified instructor and expect to betreated with respect and dignityIf some student with a compulsive personality style tends to harass and bully you becauseyou have not met his perfectionistic expectations, let him know that you are a qualifiedinstructor with the requisite skills to be his imperfect teacher and you expect to be treatedwith the respect and dignity to which you are entitled. If that is not good enough for him, hemay need to be disciplined for being disrespectful.Here is an illustrative anecdote: Many years ago, Isaac Bashevis Singer, who later became aNobel laureate for his many wonderful Yiddish tales, gave a lecture. Singer spoke at length,and with erudition, on the subject of the roots of Jewish literature. At the end of this lecture,there was a question and answer session that began with a question from a man who had anitpicking, pompous, and irritating air.He began his remarks by saying that he believed that Mr. Singer had contradicted himself atcertain points in his lecture and then proceeded to long-windedly explain how and why.Singer listened patiently and then calmly explained certain points that indicated he had notcontradicted himself. He then took a look at the audience, with an impish smile on his face,and said with his charming Yiddish accent, “However, if I did happen to contradict myself, Iwouldn’t commit suicide.” A roar of laughter followed.Singer was clearly the wiser and deeper of these two men—one who strove for an unrealistic,perfect consistency in his life, and the other, the true sage, who was content to live with hisown personal imperfections and ambiguities and enrich the world with his enchanting,32