Conflicts in Tutoring

Tutoring – is to work with people. Not always do your students and their parents have the same scale of values as yours, they may have a different life experience, maybe other family traditions. Therefore, there is no insurance against the conflicts, even for  the most experienced tutors. But in most cases, conflicts can be avoided.

The main advice for tutors: always listen carefully to parents and future students in the 1st phone call, or when you meet personally for the first time. If the objectives are hard to accomplish – try to explain why. A good grade at school, unfortunately, depends not only on your experience and professionalism, but also on other factors.

For example, during the interview you were informed that your potential disciple is very talented but lazy. This is an occasion to reflect . Will you be able to turn one pathological lazybones into a workaholic in a couple of months? After all, by hiring you, parents hope that you will be able to do in a few months what they could not in 10-15 years. Of course, the tutor should try to reach out to every student. Though sometimes it may not work. Actually, there are pathologically lazy kids, and believe me, it is better to refuse one time the work with such a student than to hear later that you took the money  but you were not able to teach them anything.

It is important to determine the cause of the backlog. Often, the student or a parent names the cause which is of secondary importance: student was sick for too many days,  “just” missed 4 lessons, the school teacher explained in a “incomprehensible” way. During the tutoring it turns out that there are other reasons. For example, laziness (most common) or computer addiction. It is very sad, but access to the Internet for an immature child’s mind is indeed a serious problem.

An incorrect evaluation of student’s background knowledge can lead to a conflict situation with parents. Quite often it happens that the student presents really high grades in some subject, earned not because of his knowledge. Like, for example, if a student is good at sports – teachers will support and cheer him with high grades.  It is recommended to conduct a testing during the first interview in the presence of parents. So both sides will have a clear understanding of the knowledge level of the student.

Another tip: always keep records during the interview – capture correct and incorrect answers. This will help in the future to track student’s progress.

And finally – keep the distance. Stay in the official status of a tutor and do not become just another family friend in the 1st month. It will save your nerves and reduce the percentage of conflicts.