I have recently started teaching a teenage boy theory, the aim to get grade 5 theory so he can take grade 6 clarinet exam. He is a pleasant and attentive pupil, but just recently his theory homework appears to have ben completed by someone else. I proved this in a lesson, when I gave him a question that was very similar to one that he had got full marks for homework - he had not got a clue! I asked him what was going on (tactfully) and it appears his father is determined that he gets a) full marks, and b)very quickly gets the exam over so he can move on!

I had a word, very carefully to the father, explaining that his son would have to do the exam, not him, and he was not helping by completing some of the questions on his sons homework. His reply was that Andrew must get a Distinction and that was the end of the conversation.

HELP - any ideas please, would be very welcome

Thank you

Waste his lesson time, i.e the time for which you are being paid, having him do the written questions, if that is the only way to make sure it is all his own work.

It's obviously not so easy now to go back to the parents, but I think the father needs to understand two things: (at least!)

1) To get even a pass at grade 5, the pupil needs to have a thorough understanding of the theory, not the father...

2) The dad can't take the exam for him (!) so filling in the work for him is beyond useless.


[Unless he's planning to nick his little sticker and go into the exam instead of his son... ]

That sounds to me like a very positive way to use the lesson time. Work through some questions in detail, making sure he understands each stage and teaching him strategies for working through similar ones. For homework set him a list of useful facts to memorise (Italian terms? key signatures? tone/semitone patterns for different kinds of scales? construction of chords? names of the degrees of the scale? - haven't looked at the syllabus recently!), then Dad can make sure he does.

Good luck. I hope the son is more intelligent than the father. As far as taking the G6 clarinet exam is concerned he only needs to pass the theory, whatever Papa would like. I feel sorry for the boy. I'd hate to have to live with someone like that.

I get plenty of Grade 5ers coming to me from other teachers. As well as dipping into MTIP for the written work, every week I ask some quick fire questions about the topics we've covered already. That means then that the information earlier in the book isn't forgotten by the time you get to the end of the book!

If you let the dad and son know that every week there will be questions asked on a subject agreed on the week before (as well as maybe at least 15 Italian/Fr/Ger words weekly) then they'll see that daddykins filling in the answers is really bizarre and of no help whatsoever for this part of the lesson.

Good luck!

Not necessarily in this order:
1) Point out to father that, to take grade 6 or above on an instrument he needs a pass, not a distinction
2) Point out to father and son that if (big if) "Andrew must get a distinction" then Andrew must do the work and that dad doing the work for him is an absolute sure-fire way of making sure he doesn't get a distinction and may even lead to not passing at all.
3) Does the father know there's no course work and that the only thing that counts is the mark on the day?
4) Refuse to accept that "that was the end of the conversation" because it wasn't: If the son fails the father will blame you, not the son and certainly not himself so for your own sake you must persevere. IMO the conversation continues or the relationship ends.
5) If being tactful doesn't work, be direct. Use short words, short sentences, leave no room for doubt.
6) Point out that this is not something you can rush at and "move on". If at least some of it doesn't stick then the higher grades on an instrument will be impossible anyway.
7) Find out why the blind insistence on a distinction.
8) "He must get full marks" You're kidding? I've just taken grade 5 theory. I don't know of any question yet where I have definitely lost a mark. If I don't get a distinction I will be mortified. I could teach to this level quite comfortably, BUT even I don't expect FULL marks. This one isn't just unreasonable, it's ridiculous and bordering on the impossible, far more so if he doesn't do all the homework (and a lot of it) himself.

Lord preserve us from pushy parents! Good luck!

1) Make the homework something that can't be done by daddy - e.g. memorising terms, names of intervals etc. with tests the following weeks to ensure it's being done.
2) Spend lesson time doing the written component as is necessary as proved by daddy.
3) Regular tests on random elements that have been covered already to ensure the one who needs to know, does know.
4) Gently remind them both that the board asks the age of candidates for a reason!
5) Failing that, ask on entry day which name you are required to enter: son or dad?!

Best of luck

This did occur to me too during the morning - perhaps he thinks there's written work that's sent off to be marked, which he could "help" his son with. Otherwise there's no logical reason for doing the work for him...

Thank you all for your prompt replies, it's given me a lot of ideas. I am going to talk to the father asap!

Sounds like this Dad helps a lot with school homework and can't get out of the habit.

Suggest he takes the exam AS WELL AS HIS SON, they could have a healthy competition to see who gets the best mark.

Not sure that this is totally relevant here but with theory I point out to my students that I don't mind wrong answers as long as they try as this tells me where I need to explain things again or in a better way.
I tell them that if they don't understand anything it doesn't mean that they have a problem... it might be my problem in not explaining things clearly enough.
I tell them that if they do get things right then I will take it that they know and understand the work and won't accept in the future that they didn't understand it. Cheating is not helpful as it gives me the wrong messages and prevents me from knowing that they need more help.

Exactly, sbhoa!!

Wonder if I could have got away with doing this for the girls

Is this guy in the real world? How is his son going to cope with future schoolwork that might have to be done in shcool or exams if he's not getting any practice?

This isn't push parent this is mad parent!

I think that at least one of their teachers would have had something to say about it.......

You mean it might have been noticed!!!

ABSOLUTELY!!! I had a teenage boy preparing for Grade 5 practical, but didn't enter him because he wasn't ready. Dad demanded to know why, and said it would be better for him to take it and fail than not to take it at all (?!?!) He then entered the son behind my back. The son did pass in the end - but only because I gave him stacks of extra lessons during his study leave.

Parents have much to answer for!

Acutally, a fellow teacher thought one of his students will definately fail (the type that doesn't practice or put any effort in), but still entered him in for exams - just so that he would fail and learn his lesson. BUT - he ended up with a B got a very lenient examiner that day. Plan backfired hahaha.

If the Dad insists on "helping" then couldn't do something useful like help his son learn the lists of Italian and German terms. My Dad used to help me with latin vocab - we'd go through the lists, have fun trying to memorise them by associating the latin words with similar English ones and then he'd test me - in the car, over the breakfast table, walking to the school bus etc.