Closed to Customers
Over the course of a day, I could easily have 150-180 students within seven class periods. With that many students, you are bound to get parent challenges or complaints. What makes things manageable is if you have a supportive admin who listens to BOTH sides and one who backs you up when you need support. But what about those of us who have worked in an environment where the administration always backs parents — no matter what? Administrators and parents often have the mindset that the “customer is always right.” Our students are not manufactured goods or commodities! Even looking up this issue on the internet, there are actually people who write about how having this “Consumer Service” mindset in schools is a positive — I understand where they are coming from, but I don’t necessarily agree. In some situations, you may have to have a customer service mindset, but when it comes to complaints on how one runs his/her classroom, or complaints about a failing grade, maybe we need to take a step back and look at all aspects of the situation. Before we go running into the situation with a customer service attitude, we need to ask ourselves, who is benefiting— the student or the parent. Are we teaching the student life skills or are we just trying to avoid confrontation and noise of complaints? You may not agree with me, but I feel having a customer service attitude creates an atmosphere of chaos, inconsistency, and unhappy teachers. If you disagree, that is okay!
Reasons why I believe this is not good for a school environment:
1️⃣ While our students are products of their environment, they are not commodities; they are people (humans). Parents are not consumers of their children. Children are not products. They may be products of their environment, but in this instance, we are talking about living beings—not commodities purchased. As parents, teachers, and administrators, we should be raising our children/students into adults, not children. We should want them to be successful, productive members of society. We need to avoid comparing them and their education to a car bought from a dealership with defects or a bad haircut received from the salon or a faulty product purchased off the shelf—in these cases, you didn’t get what you paid for, yes, the customer could be right. It is measurable! But our kids are not commodities; therefore, the customer service mindset isn’t a productive and effective way to handle situations that arise in our school system. If we let parents run the school and make the rules, there will be chaos and confusion, as there are too many varied viewpoints on how to classroom management and what to teach, etc. I remember a few parents walking in on Meet the Teacher night and making the comment that “geography is a waste of time and shouldn’t be taught in schools — they can just look at a map!” (As a lover of all things geography, I am zipping my lips!)
2️⃣ It makes employees unhappy. It is important for teachers to be happy in their occupations and in the classroom. If teachers are happy, feel successful, and are supported and respected, it will transfer into their preparation and classroom climate. On the other hand, if a teacher is tired, is experiencing performance anxiety and burnout, and doesn’t feel successful or supported—this may lead to a decline in emotional and physical energy and as a result he/she will find it hard to effectively, positively, and adequately do their job/calling.
3️⃣ It gives abrasive customers (parents) an unfair advantage. Have you ever heard “you teach people how to treat you”? When administration allows parents to treat teachers with disregard for their profession in teaching and managing the classroom and gives into the “customer is always right,” it is no surprise that teachers have trouble managing their classroom as their rules should apply to all students, even the students whose parents challenge the teacher’s decisions. It allows parents to feel they can approach teachers in an abrasive, demanding, and confrontational manner. There needs to be a consistency of rules in the classroom. If one student breaks a classroom guideline and others see that the student can do so, they start questioning why the rules don’t apply to all but a few. An example would be if a teacher posted the grades online for parents to view (and they don’t) and they have a failing grade and then complain about they were not notified (specifically regarding middle and high school). The administration comes to you and forces you to allow the student to make up all the work and retake the tests at the last minute so the student can pass even though the student hasn’t done his/her work during the entire six weeks. I am not speaking of those instances where the parent doesn’t agree with the controversial curriculum being taught in the class. I do think on the basis of rearing their child, parents should have the right to request their child have an alternative assignment or for them to be excused for certain topics to which they do not wish their child to be exposed, but these are isolated incidences. With regard to geography, middle school, and high school, this can happen quite often when teaching religion, sex education, or other topics. There may be topics that are sensitive to their heritage or religious or non-religious beliefs. Ultimately, I feel the parent should have the say in what their child is exposed to, even if it is in our curriculum and even if we don’t agree.
4️⃣ It results in worse customer service. This goes back to the book I always refer to, ” If You Don’t Feed the Teachers, They Will Eat The Children” Putting teachers first will make a happier work environment, energize teachers and motivate them. This will transfer into their classroom on onto their students. With a “customer service mindset” where the parent is always right, the teachers don’t feel valued for their expertise and arent’ given autonomy. Not this is not to say that the admin should always take the teacher’s side either depending on the situation. If a teacher is putting students in harm’s way educationally, emotionally, or otherwise, that is a completely different topic. We are discussing hard-working teachers, who went into the field to care for and educate students. In my case, the principal had the mindset of “customer service”. You set your classroom rules, yet when a parent complained to the principal, he always took their side. Let me tell you one story that sticks out. We had a parent that was head of the PTA and a known bully— yes, I said it, a bully. She had scheduled a conference with me during my planning time. Knowing her reputation, I felt it best to have an assistant principal sit in on the meeting. When she arrived, I welcomed her and invited her to sit down. She didn’t; instead, she walked my classroom examining all the students’ work on the walls, every single inch. As she was doing so, I again told her we had limited time as it was my planning period and invited her to sit and discuss her concerns. She turned to me and said, “I am not going to meet with you with him in here.” I gently explained that I often had principals sit in on parent-teacher conferences. When she realized that I was not going to ask him to leave, she walked out the door angrily.” By bringing the assistant principal into the meeting, I had called her bluff; she was there to do what she did to every other teacher with which she privately met. If she could get you by yourself and into a corner…” It didn’t go well. I was frazzled. And guess what? The principal (not the assistant principal) backed the parent. It is these regular experiences that can question why you went into education at all. This experience was in my earlier years of teaching, and I thought all schools must be like this. Now, I know differently. If you are in a situation like this, consider applying to another school or district where you know the admin is supportive. Do your homework first before you apply and ask around before you take steps toward moving. I can tell you not all principals have a “customer service” attitude. Knowing this now in my later years, I wish I would have explored other opportunities and saved myself years of working under the individual—it burned me out.
5️⃣ Some “customers” are just plain wrong and are bad for business. We know that customers are not always right. Having a bad day, you may have complained a few times as a consumer and later realized maybe you were not right and shouldn’t have. I know I have! If we give in to the customer service mentality within the school system, then we are in for a struggle. It gives the parents an unfair advantage over the teachers’ management in their classroom. Teachers become unhappy and in the long run, it results in worse “customer service.”
As teachers, we are often overworked and pulled in too many directions. We often put others before ourselves and it is hard to learn to take care of ourselves. Addressing mental health is part of self-care for our minds, bodies, and souls. Remember, if your cup is empty, you can’t fill someone else’s cup. Here are 27 FREE COUNSELING OPTIONS FOR
TEACHERS https://www.weareteachers.com/free-counseling-for-teachers/
FOLLOW US:
Facebook ° Pinterest ° Instagram ° Teachers Pay Teachers ° AmpedUp
#geographyandmathmadeeasy#teachertherapy#therapy#geography#middleschool#highschool
See less
Geography & Math Made Easy 