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One of my Muslim students is very disruptive in class, almost amounting to heckling, very challenging. He seems to hold strong religious and political views that worry me as well. Is there some special consideration I should take into account in dealing with this?
You should deal with this student in class exactly as you would deal with any other student. You should not be distracted by the content of his speech into handling this in any other way than you would for a non-Muslim student. Whatever disciplinary procedures exist in your College should be applied as in the case of any other student behaving disruptively.
If the religious or political content of his disruptions are not relevant to the class discussion, gently sideline them by taking them offline and deal with this outside the class.
Tips:
- Build your relationship with this student by finding positive ways to interact with him, perhaps in conversations or tutorials outside class or seminar time.
- Brush up on effective communication tactics within the seminars so he doesn't damage the learning environment for others.
- Deepen your understanding of how hot emotions interfere with clear thinking, and how to encourage the latter.