Alarm Bells Ringing About An Odd Pupil Advice Please. Options

[No. I don't read music.]

Susie you are quite right, of course. No teacher should be in a situation where they feel uncomfortable with the pupil, and it's probably best for both if the lessons discontinue (if this is the case).

Perhaps she can provide a reference for a better place for him?

[Malone]

It is very frustrating if a pupil doesnt tell you certain mental/medical conditions which could affect your teaching. I have one pupil in particular who is a bit odd and brings a sticker album with her every week and buys countless books but doesn't want to learn anything from them. She does have a learning difficulty but doesnt know what it is - 'my mum knows though' is what she said!

I have a mental illness and it doesnt affect my teaching or my own teacher. In fact, my flute teacher doesnt even know, Yes, she and my college tutors find me odd but its controllable and I dont see why they should have to know.
I think he is probably just a frustrated gentleman who has reached a high point in his career, then retired and is now having to start back at the bottom again and is frustrated at not being the best in the room for once. I'd stick it out a few more weeks, make him see that making mistakes is good part of learning and that we all make them.

[nic]

It is very frustrating if a pupil doesnt tell you certain mental/medical conditions which could affect your teaching.

I agree Malone. I have a student who is completly deaf in one ear. He was learning incredibly slowly for the first 3 months, until his mother casually mentioned it one day. I swapped the side of the piano that my chair was on, and he has accelerated beyond belief!

I have another student who has a mental disability that means he finds it difficult to adapt to change. I don't need to know what the disability is specifically, but knowing how it affects him means that I make his lessons as structured as possible each week, and never spring any surprises on him.

It helps both teacher & student to be upfront about these things, although I understand that it is difficult with the amount of prejudice in the world (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[Malone]

I have another pupil who casually mentioned that she was partially sighted after about 4 weeks of teaching. It was very confusing as she brought a tutor book to her lessons which I have now discovered she can hardly see, but she didnt want to worry me?!!

[BusyBee]

I think it might be important to know if the pupil has any conditions which might affect how we deal with a situation. Whenever you sign up for a keep-fit class or your child goes on a school trip there always seems to be loads of forms to fill in asking questions about allergies, health problems etc etc. Thinking about it would a woodwind or brass teacher need to know the pupil gets asthma for example? Or as others have said on here if the pupil is deaf in one ear or blind in one eye?

I think for us as music teachers there might be a problem with data protection which is in fact different to pupil confidentiality. I worked part-time in an office in the mornings a few years ago and the company I worked for wouldn't let me have a computer (I was dealing with elderly people). The reason was that we were not allowed to store information about the residents on a computer without a license from the data protection people (too expensive apparently) or we would be breaking the law regarding data protection. I had to hand-write all the data information and store it on paper forms in files.

I took this new piece of information home with me to my piano teaching practice and made sure I didn't have any names or addresses stored on my computer. Even writing out children's names for a concert programme has to be deleted immediately and not saved to the hard-drive. I now keep all pupil data securely in a file and when a pupil leaves I shred the form. I suppose it would be possible to make a few hand-written notes about any pupil 'problems'.

Sorry this is turning into a long post. Surely, pupil confidentiality is a different matter as this governs more what we say rather than the information we keep. Perhaps Robodoc (our forum GP)! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) could shed some light on 'confidentiality' - we all know doctors are not allowed to give out info about other patients (even in the same family). Is is governed by law? Are there rules we should know about, even as music teachers?

I guess it could range from not telling a pupil what their best friend got for Grade 1 to not letting slip to a parent any information, even unintentionally, that so and so has gone to another school because.........

It is so easy to relax in conversation and forget we are professionals - and sometimes have to be really careful what we say - especially when pupils know each other.

Best wishes

[Roseau]

Thinking about it would a woodwind or brass teacher need to know the pupil gets asthma for example? Or as others have said on here if the pupil is deaf in one ear or blind in one eye?

When my daughter started learning the trombone her teacher asked me if she was asthmatic (she's not). He worded the question very carefully so that I (and she) would understand that it would not in any way hinder her learning of the instrument but that his knowing about it would make it easier for him to teach her. Given the way he asked it I am sure he must ask this of every new student.

As it turns out my daughter is short-sighted but it had not been diagnosed by the eye-tests at school. Once she got glasses her reading of music improved tremendously. Prior to gettting glasses she kept saying she couldn't tell whether a note was in a line or on a space and of course neither her teacher nor I (who both thought she could see correctly) could understand why she couldn't see the difference.

[SueHM]

The Data Protection Act covers all forms of stored information, not just computer records, so strictly speaking teachers should register with the Data Protection Registrar even if they have a single sheet of paper with pupil;s contact details handwritten! It doesn't cost a huge amount. I'm not sure what the penalty would be for NOT registering.

[BusyBee]

The Data Protection Act covers all forms of stored information, not just computer records, so strictly speaking teachers should register with the Data Protection Registrar even if they have a single sheet of paper with pupil;s contact details handwritten! It doesn't cost a huge amount. I'm not sure what the penalty would be for NOT registering.

We're both wrong Sue. I went away having reading your message and googled Data Protection. I found a helpline and I spoke to e VERY nice man (he made my day)! and he said that we are allowed to keep paper records of names and addresses (but keep them secure) and also on a computer as long as on the computer it's only names and addesses and nothing about grade/level attainments without having to register. He assured me of this.

Can I hear sighs of relief all round! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[SueHM]

Phew!

[jod]

Where do I begin?

Firstly protect your safety. Not everyone with a mental illness is a danger, but some clearly are other why would they be sectioned under the mental health act.

This needs to be dealt with with an incredible amount of tact. I have taught people with personality complaints but not full-blown schizophrenia. I have known schizophrenics who have spent time as hospital inpatients, and as someone with Cyclothymia, know a number of people on the Bi-polar spectrum... but that doesn't necessarily mean they're a danger to teach. I have successfully taught people with autism and anxiety disorders.

This individual needs to gain your trust if you are going to deal with them successfully. Be prepared for lessons where you're more counsellor than music teacher. You however cannot feel you're putting yourself in danger.

If you give them a next lesson, make sure there's another adult in the house. This is something I do as a routine for new pupils. (indeed hubby inisits on it).

Now as someone whose experienced mental health issues, it takes a lot to push my buttons to that extent. However what you have said does, so take care.

[jacobvaneyck]

The Data Protection Act covers all forms of stored information, not just computer records, so strictly speaking teachers should register with the Data Protection Registrar even if they have a single sheet of paper with pupil;s contact details handwritten! It doesn't cost a huge amount. I'm not sure what the penalty would be for NOT registering.

We're both wrong Sue. I went away having reading your message and googled Data Protection. I found a helpline and I spoke to e VERY nice man (he made my day)! and he said that we are allowed to keep paper records of names and addresses (but keep them secure) and also on a computer as long as on the computer it's only names and addesses and nothing about grade/level attainments without having to register. He assured me of this.

Can I hear sighs of relief all round! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

How does that apply to putting results of our own pupils on our own webistes, as a few members here do, myself included. It can look good to show you have got so many through certain exams with so and so marks, but is this illegal. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[SueHM]

Presumably the results are anonymised, in which case I think it's probably OK, but you would need to check with the Data Protection people to make sure.

[BusyBee]

This is potentially a bit of a minefield isn't it? I don't have a website (thinking of starting one though) so I didn't really ask about this but I think a comment was made that we need to be careful. I suppose it would be alright to put exam results without the actual names.

Anyway I have cut and pasted the link to the Data Protection FAQ page which has their phone number on it.
They are very helpful and I don't think they will arrest you on the spot (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

http://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/faqs.aspx

[SueHM]

Have you seen this chap again, Adagio? I'd be interested to know the outcome..

[nic]

Have you seen this chap again, Adagio? I'd be interested to know the outcome..

Same!