Case
Parents demand student progress when running into them in public

During my first internship I ran into the parents of one of my students while shopping at a grocery store. They were very involved parents so they knew who I was from all of the meetings I had sat in on with them and my CT. I politely said hello as I passed them and kept on shopping. I ran into them 2 aisles over and they asked me how their child was doing in class, and what grade their students had received on 2 tests that week. They also wanted to know how there child was doing socially because there had been some issues with a few other students. I said there child was a delight to work with, but those questions would be better answered by the teacher. They became instantly angry and actually followed me to another isle still asking questions. I explained to them that I was the intern and I wasn't even allowed to discuss anything with them and to talk to the teacher Monday. I quickly walked away to the other side of the store, left my cart, and walked out. I told my CT about it, but she didn't seem concerned. Should I have told my college supervisor about it, and should I have handled it differently?

Posted on: 10/13/19 | Views: 336
Solution #1
You did the right thing in not getting into any details at the store. I believe it is alright to let the parents know that is not the right setting to be demanding that information, and as you also stated you are not the right person to give those answers. It is alright to greet the parents and the student outside of school, but they also need to respect your space outside of the school setting.
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Solution #2
Parents should be made aware, politely, that anything school related should be handled during meetings set up between them and the teacher, not the intern. I think you handled this situation the best you could and you could not control their unfortunate behavior. Sadly the teacher did not take much interest either because that is who should correct the problem and have a discussion about the procedures that need to be followed for the best interest of everyone. Discussing this with your college supervisor would be the best choice so you are not dealing with this alone and if this comes again you will know what you need to do.
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Solution #3
You said the right thing to the parent. I would have certainly contacted my supervisor. I wonder why your CT was not concerned due to that being a very concerning situation.
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Solution #4
You handled it very well. Even though you have contact with the student, you are not the teacher and therefore, should not be responsible for such information. I would ask the CT to reinforce this during conferences.
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Solution #5
I think you did the correct thing, it would be inappropriate for you to share those details outside of the classroom. I would recommend that the parents make a teacher-parent conference, where they can discuss with the parents how their child is doing.
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Solution #6
I think politely greeting them during your personal time was very nice of you. My suggestion is after the first question they asked about their student's grade would have been to call the teacher and set up a conference. Then I would have used the broken record strategy repeating myself with a smile then walked away. Polite and to the point you are not obligated to interact with parents off campus on your personal time.
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Solution #7
You handled this correctly. As the intern and even as the teacher, do not speak about the student outside of the classroom setting. Encourage the parent that if they have questions or would like to talk about their student to set up a meeting with the teacher during school hours. I would have told my college supervisor about the situation, especially since the CT did not seem concerned with situation. The college supervisor could then talk to the CT about how she handled it with you.
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Solution #8
You handled the situation the best way you could at the time. Dealing with parents can be tricky at times. Speaking with the teacher was smart to make them aware but it is sad that you did not receive a helpful response for future reference. Talking to your supervisor is something to absolutely do and let them know about the both situations with the parents and the teacher. Your supervisor is also theirs to guide and help anyway they can.
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Solution #9
I agree that you should not be sharing the student's progress with the parents in that setting. If you feared for your safety because of their anger, it is smart to leave the store. I personally would have finished my shopping because that is a normal, human thing to do and the parents should have backed off. I think it is important to tell your CT for the fact that the parents became angry when you didn't give them any information.
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Solution #10
I don't think this is your fault, and they should not expect you to talk about school outside of the education setting.
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