Answering complaints for language teachers

Think back to your school days. Or when you yourself attended your latest language course. Where you always satisfied with the teacher and the course? However, how often did you voice your criticism? If you were like most students, you probably avoided any harsh criticism and getting confrontational with your teacher. Out of politeness, being part of a non-confrontational culture, fear of negatively affecting your grades, or just out of a philosophical attitude that “this course too shall pass”.

Many of us feel somewhat uneasy about getting feedback from students. On the one hand, we have those “raving” students of us who just love our way of teaching. But, we are quite aware that not everybody is quite satisfied. Of course, when asked afterward, everybody liked the course. If our school forces participants to fill out a feedback questionnaire at the end of each level, most students tend to embellish their answers, also out of the fear of harming their teacher.

The sincere conversations about our teaching take place outside our sphere of influence: in the family, with friends or at work.

Why should we care about those complaints and try to control the conversation about our courses, even if we are not present?

Today’s language students have more options to choose from than ever: competitors in your hometown or online, language learning apps, e-books and video courses, chatting with foreigners. Our culture is becoming less patient and more focused on quick results. Consequently, the willingness increases to hop from one language course to another, as soon as something “unpleasant” happens. Much of this need not be true complaints. There need not be much wrong with your teaching. Students may just feel resistance, being outside their comfort zone (or “safe space”) or obstacles. This is normal for any long-term endeavor, like sports or learning a musical instrument. However, what if the students lack this kind of personal experience, and the significant people around, too, with whom he or she interacts? What advice do you think they will give to your student as soon as it becomes “difficult”?

By not systematically addressing potential complaints, we may be losing a lot of money:

·         by students dropping out earlier than planned;

·         by not getting referrals from our students;

·         by potential customers being actually discouraged to come to us;

·         by not being able to raise our fee due to a lack of perceived value of our teaching.

In my training for language schools on complaint management, we go into much more detail. Here is just the gist of it:

1.       Develop an avatar of the ideal student you want to serve. You will never be able to satisfy every customer. Without having a clear focus who your target audience is, you may adapt to complaints of customers that are not your ideal students, while at the same time even worsen the experience for your core target group.

2.       Listing actual and potential complaints. Create a standard document on your computer where you note down complaints. As soon as you hear it, document it. Imagine yourself present whenever your students are being asked about their progress in language X? What will they say: about the materials, your teaching methods and you as a person? Group the complaints on your list according to common features. What complaints pertain to your target students? What complaints are typical for your “nightmare” students?

3.       Prepare immediate responses. Create a column right to the list of complaints. How do you plan to react? What have you said in similar situations? Write it down and see whether you could react otherwise? What is your goal in reacting this way? Could you reach this goal by other means, quicker and without disrupting classes? Ask colleagues what works for them. Read books and articles on how to deal with complaints: on sales or negotiation.

4.       Improvements in your system. How many complaints can be prevented if you systematically change your teaching system? Many complaints appear due to unclear or unrealistic expectations. You could ask students to complete a form on the things they plan to learn to during the course, right at or before the first lesson. You could send all students a standardized welcome message, already “steal the thunder” of typical complaints by anticipating the typical struggles they may have, and how to react to them. Or you could form pairs of students as accountability partners, who assist each other between lessons.

5.       Regular audits. Set intervals after which you go through your personal complaint management system. For example every 3 months. Update the list of complaints. See whether you have found better ways to react. Improve your other quality management system documents pertaining to complaints, like your welcome message or feedback forms. Show your system to colleagues, even from other professions, and ask them for advice.

For more information on the topic, or if you would like me to give a live training on complaint management for language teachers at your school, please contact me at gerhard.j.ohrband@gmail.com.

I wish you much success in your teaching!

Gerhard