I broke it off with a student today. Not an easy thing to do, no matter how much the lessons aren't going well. The lessons weren't going well, but the disagreement today was over an issue of scheduling and how at our school, teachers are not liable to make up lessons that a student misses. This is a policy the school has to protect teachers from being subject to flaky students that don't show up, or that give us very late notice of cancellation even when you've reserved a time slot for them. Having this policy in place keeps students coming to lessons and treating them with seriousness, which I think is beneficial for everyone in the long run. My justification was completely clear- I will sometimes do makeups, but don't do makeups for same-day cancellations, period. The students all know this, and this particular adult student was rather upset about the policy as it applied to him for the first time in three years today. I probably took it more personally than I needed to, but in the end, I realized that I couldn't help it - because teaching is an incredibly personal relationship. And if that relationship breaks down, then in my opinion, there is really no point in continuing.
It is often best for the student to get a different perspective anyway, and good for me to have an open slot to take a new student. I like to keep my studio small and lean, and it feels like substantial sacrifice to commit to the dozen or so students that I have because some of them mean an hour per week that I'm not home with the family in the evening. So, you gotta do what you gotta do. Even if it's for the best, I never handle these types of conversations that well because I'm invested in each person that I teach. And well, breaking up is hard to do.
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