Why EFL Students Misbehave: They Need Power

A common reason that students misbehave in class is that they need power. Now, this doesn’t mean the ability to command you to do things in class or call down lightning from the sky. Instead, in Choice Theory, the basic need for Power is the need to be able to do things, to master skills and feel successful. It’s also the need to feel like we matter and make a difference, or to be recognized and respected. Children feel that they have power in EFL class when they can keep up in class and communicate with their classmates and teacher in English at some level. When they don’t have power then they’ll turn to all sorts of “misbehavior” to get it. 

Understanding the Basic Need for Power

Ability is Power

With preschoolers, for example, learning to hold a cup and drink from it on their own or color within the lines are both a big deal. The same goes for cutting a straight line with scissors, turning the page of a book, climbing a ladder, or catching a ball.

Power means the ability to achieve things. This includes seemingly simple things for young children.

All of these give small children the sense that they can do “it” and that’s incredibly motivating and empowering. Success rewards a fundamental drive they have in their brains to master using their bodies.

You’ll also find that children have a ton of energy. This really helps to encourage them to keep playing, crafting, and trying all the different skills they have to acquire in life.

This process continues as children grow up and pick up more and more complicated skills like riding a bike, learning to write their name, and more. 

All of this also applies for learning language. Communicating effectively gives power to children and they have a strong and natural drive to learn how. Language skills are key for them to effectively express what they want and need.

And, as they get older, the skills get more complicated but the need for power stays the same. So, learning to read on their own or write a short story are big accomplishments that give older children a great sense of power. 

And, as in their mother tongue, so in English class.

Children build their sense of power by understanding new vocabulary, learning songs, and forming their first sentences. They feel it when they communicate with their teacher in class to ask for a bathroom break or for a specific color crayon. They also feel it as start to use English outside of class, for example by watching YouTube videos in English or chatting with friends in a game.

There are dozens and hundreds of skills to master in EFL that will give children a sense of power.

Recognition is Power

The need for power also includes the needs for recognition, respect, and to matter or make a difference.

Recognition is especially important for young children. They need praise from their parents and teachers to know they did well. They haven’t developed the ability to self-reflect and appraise their own work like (most) adults. So, they will actively demand praise for their activities. If you’ve ever had a class of children all hold up their drawings to you for your appraisal, you’ll know what I’m talking about. 

As children get older making a difference and mattering will become more important.

You’ll see this a lot when children become more aware of their community and the important issues affecting it. I still remember how passionate & energized my 5th grade class was about saving the Brazilian rainforest in the 90s. We raised thousands of dollars to protect the forest and had a giant mural of rainforest animals painted in the cafeteria. 

It’s also important for children to take on more and more responsibilities as they get older. Being responsible for taking care of something at home or in class means that they’re important and matter to their family or class.

Students Misbehave When They Don’t Feel Power

Sadly, not every child will feel a sense of power in class, school, or even their daily lives.

Sometimes they fall behind in class and can’t understand a lesson. Or their teacher designed an activity that was too difficult or didn’t provide enough support. Or they try and try but the teacher never notices all of their efforts and only praises that other kid.

Also, over the long term, children can also come to believe that they’ll never be successful in a particular class (growing up in America, one common version was “Math just isn’t for me.”). 

In other cases, older students can start to believe that they can’t be successful with their teacher.

This might be because their teacher is inexperienced, doesn’t come to class prepared, gives unclear explanations or instructions, or otherwise shows they aren’t up to the task. This is a recipe for students to misbehave. It’s especially problematic when expectations are set high and children are under a lot of pressure. 

When children (or adults) feel a lack of power it is very frustrating, dispiriting, and uncomfortable. It can lead to all sorts of ways for your students to misbehave as they try different strategies to feel powerful. Here are a few.

Refusing to Participate or Give up

Sometimes students without power will refuse to participate in an activity or give up quickly.

This is because they don’t want to make mistakes or feel like a failure. They might also not understand the task and want to avoid any embarrassment.

This can often be a one-off occurrence and not a big deal. You can even let many students just sit out and watch or join later once they’re more confident. However, repeated refusals can signal more serious issues. 

Shouting out answers

Another way students misbehave when they lack power is by shouting out answers, or even calling out “Me! Me! Me!” during a game.

This comes from a child who desperately wants to show they “can do it” and get recognition for their abilities.

This can become very distracting and disruptive to the lesson. It’s hard to run a class when a child whines and complains about not being picked. 

Restless or Getting out of chair

Many times children get restless in class, struggle to focus, and even move around without permission because they feel a lack of power.

Students misbehave like this is because they aren’t getting enough opportunities during the day or your lesson to move and practice using their bodies. All of that pent-up energy and need to move is making them uncomfortable and struggling to stay seated. 

Refusing to work with a classmate

You may also see a child refuse to work in pairs or small groups with a classmate.

Oftentimes students misbehave in this way because they’re afraid of a power imbalance. It’s especially frustrating if the activity is competitive or stressful. If they feel they can’t keep up, or their classmate will hold them back then this can make them feel powerless and want to avoid the situation. 

Arguing, refusing to follow basic rules

Sometimes a child will argue with their teacher or refuse to follow basic rules like using English during activities or keeping a paper secret.

Many times they are afraid of making a mistake. Or they’re afraid they won’t be able to complete the task properly and get shamed in front of their classmates.

Students may also misbehave in this way because they don’t respect their teacher. They might feel the teacher and class are wasting their time because they feel unchallenged and bored.

This can also come from the need for Autonomy as well. Sometimes children feel a need for a sense of control rather than power. 

Using bad words

One of the easiest ways to feel great power is by using bad, “curse” words.

To kids, using bad words in their language or in English automatically makes them feel more mature, intimidating, and tough – and therefore more powerful. They can make an impact on their classmates or teacher easily and get recognition. Attention for something bad is better than none at all.

Bullying

Finally, some children who don’t feel a sense of power or accomplishment in your classroom, in school, or in their lives in general will turn to bullying.

They choose to assert their physical or psychological power over classmates. This can compensate for their distinct lack of power in academics or some other aspect of their lives. They can also try to bring others down to feel better about themselves.

Last, they often try to devalue English class (or some other class) so they can stop feeling so powerless. 

How to Build Power into Your EFL Classrooms

You can help students to not misbehave in class by helping them feel powerful, capable, and important in class. Fortunately, these techniques are also all good basic teaching practice as well. 

Carefully Level Your Lessons

Students can easily feel powerless if your lessons are far too difficult for them. With that in mind, you want to make sure you lessons are at or just slightly above their level.

If you have a mixed level class, it’s really a good idea to aim for the lower and mid-level students. You should then give the weaker and more advanced students extra options for how participate in activities at their ability levels.

In general, you have a lot more options for involving an advanced but bored student than an overwhelmed, frustrated weaker student so try not to leave anyone behind.  

In addition, build up habits that will help your weaker students keep up with you.

That means avoiding lots of teacher talk time, especially if you run the risk of leaving them behind.

You also want to use lots of gestures, hand signals, demonstrations, and other visuals like pictures to help them keep up with what you’re explaining. Always remember “Show, don’t tell.”

So, for example, demonstrate activities with a couple students at the front of the class for everyone to see. Or, talk with your hands during instructions to show look, listen, write, keep it secret, work with a partner, and so on to reinforce whatever you’re saying. 

Use Familiarity

Familiar things like routines make children feel powerful. This is because they know what will happen. With that in mind, use consistent opening routines so your students can anticipate what will happen at the start of class.

For example, I include Classroom Actions Drill Sergeant in all of my preschool opening routines. I always use the same actions in the same order in the first round or two. Kids quickly pick up on the pattern and excitedly call out what I’ll say next. Even the weakest students get in on this after a while. 

The same goes for games, activities, storybooks and songs. Children love knowing how to play a game or how to sing a song. The more familiar they are with it the more powerful they feel. That’s one reason why they’ll happily listen to a story or song for the thousandth time long after you’ve wanted to quit. 

Get Everyone Involved

It’s hard for children to build their English skills if they don’t get to practice it.

So, try to design lessons that involve everyone. Use games and activities that everyone can continually participate in rather than watching one or two children play. You can try listening games like Bingo, Listen and Point or Coloring Dictations or speaking games like Listen Quick or Surveys. 

That said, it’s still important to reinforce expectations that students don’t shout out answers during games or activities that only involve one or two students. Boundaries are important, too.

Collaborative, group production activities like small crafts or posters are also really useful. Just make sure everyone has a clearly defined and useful role. Don’t let children just figure it out. 

Also, make sure to circle around and talk with students in their groups and support any students who might need it. Don’t just run with the fastest, most eager students.

Finally, try not to assign students to the same partners for every activity and every lesson. Students will more likely work with someone they’re not thrilled about if they know it’s only temporary. 

Many teachers use numbered popsicle sticks or other materials to randomly assign partners. In my classes with 45 students squeezed into tight rows this is harder. Students are usually stuck working with their neighbor or the person behind them. However, if I move some students in one row to the other end this has the effect of shuffling all the potential partners and doesn’t take too long. 

Lower the Stakes

Many children’s lack of power is made worse by getting stuck in high-stakes situations like performing in front of their classmates or competitions.

We want to avoid putting them in those situations before they are ready. So, give your students a chance to practice with a partner or small group before they have to speak or perform in front of the whole class. 

Another good option is to build in warm-ups and language reviews before high-stakes activities.

For example, I always review all the colors with my grade one and even grade two classes before we do a coloring dictation. I don’t want a student to accidentally use brown instead of yellow on their paper and then be stuck with the mistake. Just a quick review helps everyone refresh their memories and really reduces mistakes. The same goes for the ABCs and spelling dictations. 

I also really limit using competitive games that pit teams against each other, especially longer games & one with rewards where the tension builds up a lot by the end of the game.

A lot of teachers mistake that tension and excitement for a love of the game and English class. However, when I observe those lessons I often see at least several or more students hiding and trying to avoid participating.

The worst is when a child makes a mistake and costs their team a point – or even the whole game and then gets yelled at by their teammates. That’s not helpful for long-term learning or good behavior.  

Finally, we really want to avoid criticizing children, especially in front of their classmates. Personal attacks like calling them stupid are never helpful and drawing everyone’s attention to the fact that they made a mistake won’t help them improve. It’s best to handle mistakes in private or in general way (“I heard several students say this…who can find the mistake”) to avoid calling out and shaming a child.

If you’re really focused on accuracy then little signals that help children recognize and correct their own mistakes are a nice neutral way to avoid embarrassment.

Utilize Your Students

You can also help children feel more powerful by putting their skills to work. One great option is to get students to check each other’s work in pairs or small groups. 

Another excellent tactic is to put them to work as student helpers. Have them pass out and collect materials or help demonstrate activities. Get a student to check attendance or clean the board. These kinds of tasks make them feel important and powerful. 

Get Kids moving

You want to always include one or more activities with movement so students can use their fingers and limbs. These don’t have to involve racing across the room.

Instead, singing a song with some actions, walking around and mingling, or miming different animals or verbs are all great options to get kids moving. 

Build Intrinsic Motivation

Children feel power by learning to do things, but they also quickly take their new skills for granted. You can help them feel powerful and build their intrinsic motivation by reminding them of how far they’ve come.

Use regular review games and activities to refresh their memories and show them all they’ve learned.

Some teachers also use pre-quizzes to show students how little they knew at the beginning of a unit and then give a similar quiz at the end to show how far they’ve progressed. 

Another good idea is to have students create portfolios and keep old worksheets, pieces of writing, or even drawings in them. Pull them out in review lessons so students can see what they did in the past and compare it with what they can do now. 

Give them Responsibilities

You can also help your students behave well by giving them age-appropriate responsibilities. Put a student in charge of taking attendance for a week, or make some students line leaders. You could put a student in charge of distributing or collecting materials. Even preschool students can help close up boxes or put things back on their shelves. There are lots of small tasks that you can delegate. All of these help children feel like they matter and can contribute to the class.

Get More Information and Intervene

If you have students who misbehave in seriously class, such as by bullying or cursing then you need to take a more direct approach. You should talk with your TA, school staff, or even their parents to find out what’s going on. If able, you or a colleague should also talk with and listen to the child to help them deal with their issues.

The Five Basic Needs and Misbehavior

The need for power is the third of the Five Basic Needs that every student and person needs to be healthy and happy. The others are Survival, Love & Belonging, Freedom, and Fun. Students will misbehave in different ways depending on what basic need is missing, so check out the other posts as well.

What experiences do you have with how the need for powerl affected your students’ learning or behavior? Share in the comments below. Don’t forget to like, share, and follow us on Facebook!