<p>I guess even expensive, touted BS suffer from the variance in teaching. This year, D has had a nightmare of an experience, with an arrogant, wacky teacher. He has a very limited agenda (to teach to a subset of students competing in national exams) and leaves the rest of the class in the dust. My D works hard, has tried going to extra help and even sought tuturing, but has been crushed confidence wise in this subject because it is simply not being taught to meet her needs. When we suggested she be placed in another class earlier on, the teacher was super defensive and said "he'd help her get to a better place." Well, he hasn't and we worry both about her confidence and her subject comprehension. Has anyone had a similar experience? Is it fair to ask the school that she get a certain teacher next year (to ensure she's back on track in this subject)? How have other parents navigated when a school has a notoriously problem teacher?</p>
<p>My D’s experience isn’t quite so dramatic. But she was having issues with the teaching style of a particular teacher. She basically figured out there was a problem 1st term, did everything she could to “make it work” 2nd term (i.e. went to talk to teacher, advisor, went to extra sessions, etc.), and finally asked for a different teacher for the 3rd term, which she ultimately got. The difference has been remarkable. It did shake her confidence. She is much relieved to be doing significantly better and realizing it wasn’t just her. </p>
<p>As parents, we worked with her advisor and house counselor to make sure she was being encouraged to do what she needed to do to make the situation better. (We never directly interacted with her teacher.) Our d is not very comfortable in advocating for herself and needed guidance and some pushing by us to get all her ducks in a row. </p>
<p>I do think you need to advocate for and advise your child. I don’t know that you can demand anything (without the potential of some backlash), but you can certainly make your concerns and preferences known. You want your child to learn the material and feel competent (i.e. to have a positive learning experience). And if that means a different teacher, or switching to a different level, then so be it. </p>
<p>In our case, although it was never mentioned directly, I think this person’s style was known and understood to be less than optimal. You might pose questions like “What can we do now to ensure that D gets back on track?” and “If we had it to do again, is there anything that could have been done differently?”</p>
<p>Watching your kid struggle is difficult. Good luck. Parenting from afar is not for the faint of heart.</p>
<p>I’ve already been through this. You absolutely ask for a different teacher. Don’t think twice about it. Don’t be shy about it. Don’t ask your D to do the asking, you do it. Ask for whatever teacher with which you think your D would do best. Don’t spend time HOPING the situation will improve–spend your time making SURE it improves. No need for any incriminations against present teacher (some probably love him–just not your D–no need to listen as to how great he is), no need for excuses on your part–just go after your ideal situation. Don’t worry about backlash–what backlash? Your D does better and is happier in school? Believe me, I wish I’d learned this lesson sooner than I did–it would have saved a lot of angst.</p>
<p>Yes - I find boarding schools a whole lot more flexible about this type of situation than public school.</p>
<p>I second gouf78’s post. I also wish I learned this lesson early on. Bottom line, you are paying for the service of education for your child.</p>
<p>Went through this several years ago and it was unfortunate. Avoided that teacher like the plague for the remaining 2 years. It’s lousy because one grade does hurt the GPA. The kids talk and doesn’t take long for them to know which teachers to avoid. Hard thing was that he liked the subject and progressed very well (again) after getting pass that one nightmare.</p>