1st June 2012 13:05
By Blue Tutors
How Do I Deal with Rude Students or Parents?
This week I have been speaking to one of our tutors who has been having problems with one of her students and her mother. The student has opted out of the subject lessons at school because she doesn’t think her teacher is good enough. Instead of insisting she attend the lessons her parents opted to provide a tutor for her. While this is one way of dealing with a child I would suggest that it would have been better for the parents to ensure the girl attended school and had tuition as a support to the school teaching hours.
As a result of her missing lessons at school the girl is hearing rumours from her friends about what is and isn’t required from their teacher, who will be marking the coursework, and this is unnerving her and causing a lot of stress for everyone involved.
A tutor ought to be used for support during coursework if the existing teacher is marking the work, as they often have particular foibles which a tutor cannot glean from a syllabus. A tutor should always check with the student what the teacher has said and comply with this, supporting that rather than questioning it.
This has all resulted in the student and the mother blaming the tutor for not being good enough and several rude telephone calls and emails, which has been very distressing for the tutor involved.
If a student or parent is rude to you, please let us know. We can mediate for you, as sometimes an independent person explaining things sorts out the problem. We will support you as tutors in any way we can and this includes dealing with inappropriate behaviour on behalf of our clients.
Please do get in touch if you are having any issues like this. Don’t worry alone - we are here to help.