2nd May 2014 9:00
By Blue Tutors
As any school teacher will tell you, managing the behaviour of students is a big part of their jobs. Ofsted assess teachers on their control of a classroom, and, rightly or wrongly, much emphasis is put on how far teachers manage to maintain discipline in their classroom. When it comes to private tutoring, discipline is not something that tutors tend to think about so much. Most of the time, students are eager to receive one to one help, and having the tutor’s full attention goes a long way towards mitigating any potential bad behaviour. However, being able to deal with challenging behaviour is something that tutors need to have under their belt, or else risk coming up short with a difficult new student.
Challenging behaviour can take many forms, and the response required will vary greatly depending on the circumstances. Sometimes students are reluctant to receive private tuition on top of their school studies, and are difficult to engage. Sometimes this extends to neglecting the work set, which can make proceeding with planned lessons very difficult for the tutor. Sometimes challenging behaviour is more extreme; there are enough tutors who can tell tales of students having tantrums, being angry and unpleasant or lying to them, all of which makes helping students progress difficult. It can also be extremely demoralising for the tutor.
The first thing that the tutor should do under these circumstances is figure out the reason for the student’s bad behaviour. Although bad behaviour varies, the reasons behind it are usually more basic. Boredom, unhappiness, and learning difficulties are all prime candidates which should be considered. It rarely helps to chastise students for bad behaviour without understanding the causes. Often the best thing to do is to have a frank conversation with the student in order to establish if there are any problems. For example, why was the work not completed? Was it too difficult? Not engaging enough? Is the student over extended? Is something going on in their lives which is making it difficult for them to concentrate? Having an honest and considerate discussion with the student can often help. It is also often appropriate to bring parents in on the discussion, and tutors can work together with students and their parents to find a solution. However, in cases where students require help beyond that which tutors can offer, it is not appropriate for a tutor to continue. To do so would be bad for both the tutor and student.