I've been dealing with an overbearing parent lately. Let's call her Mrs. Johnson, she has a teaching background but doesn't do it anymore.
Mrs. Johnson is the parent of one of my year 4 students. While it's great to have involved parents instead of ones that don't seem to care, Mrs. Johnson's level of involvement is overwhelming. She constantly demands updates on her child's progress, challenges every decision I make in the classroom, and questions my teaching methods.
Recently, she sent me a lengthy email expressing her concerns about the math resources I'm using. Without going into too much detail, she suggested a completely different approach and basically suggested I'm an idiot that don't know what I'm doing.
I've tried my best to address her concerns, explaining the rationale behind my methods and sharing the progress her child has made. However, it seems like Mrs. Johnson isn't satisfied and continues to question every move I make. I don't have time to deal with a parent emailing me 2-3 times a week and it's making me dread parents evening, my last meeting with her was horrible.
As a new teacher, I find myself second-guessing my abilities and constantly worrying about how to navigate this situation. I don't want to go to SLT either as I'm trying to make a good impression.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? How did you handle it?
I have has similar with endless letters and emails for a whole academic year. It got a point where I had no choice to involve SLT so would suggest talking to them. This parent will treat EVERY teacher like this as their child goes up the school, do not take it personal as you are doing more than enough!!
Definitely this, raising your concerns on the parents behaviour is super important. Never let a situation occur where it can potentially turn on you further down the line because you haven't spoken up about it.
Was in a situation like this a couple of years ago with a very strange parent who refused to believe their child wasn't an angel and accused me of making things up about their behaviour. She eventually came to pick him up one day and saw him pinching and kicking other kids in the playground while I was also present, was such a vindicating moment!
There will always be difficult parents, have faith in yourself 😊
Take it up with SLT to raise your concerns even if it isn't addressed it's best to cover yourself. It's getting harder to appease parents and a lot aren't doing the basics of helping to support at home by reading with them, getting involved in homework tasks etc. Remember you have 30 children to accommodate and are doing the best you can!
Thanks everyone, this resolved itself after I sent her a stern email reply! Onto a new year group now where all the parents seem lovely 😋
From my point of view, such problems are reduced when the parents feel that the child is getting academically better, is satisfied with the care and is comfortable with the teacher's way ... In my opinion, don't focus on pleasing the parents as much as on providing innovative teaching techniques that integrate students into the lesson. 🙂 best of luck