Teacher continually getting DD’s name wrong

[Magicshoppingtrolley]

DD mentioned when she started school last year that her English teacher was consistently getting her name wrong. I laughed it off saying she had lots of names to remember and I’m sure she would get there.

A year later and it’s continually happening. She teaches her 3 times a week so it’s not as though she rarely sees her, I’ve told DD to politely state what her name is each time she calls her by the wrong name. DD did so this week and was given a behaviour warning for being rude.

DD’s name is a standard name but not common so equivalent of the teacher calling her Jasmine when her name is Jennifer.

AIBU to say something to school or the teacher when we next have a parents evening?

If the teacher is aware they have a problem with getting this particular students name wrong they should make an effort to remind themselves. If your politely worded email about it doesn't work, I'd suggest DD does something similar. Eg teacher is called Miss Smith, so DD calls her Miss Sims until she can gers DD s name right

Oh my god this is pathetic. What terrible advice.

What is her common English name, and what is this teacher mis-pronouncing it as?

This is important.

She isn’t mis-pronouncing it. She is calling her a completely different name. Along the lines of Jennifer instead of Jasmine. Or Grace instead of Gillian.

It’s ok for the teacher to get the name wrong but not ok to give out behaviour points when it’s corrected

My daughter is always getting called the wrong name by a handful of school staff ( think along the lines of Lola or Layla).
She just politely corrects them.
I also correct them if they are speaking to me about her but I also appreciate that they have hundreds of names to remember.
I wouldn't be happy if she got told off for correcting them though!

I don't really mind things like that, happens to me and one of my kids, it's just a name

This!

Me too

If you're not white or British I'd also consider this racism

Those are both beautiful names but I definitely seem to have them filed in my head as being the same. It would take a lot to remember if a child was one or the other. (Perhaps I teach your dd!)

But it's not HER name, so why should she put up with continually being called by a different name?

I am repeatedly called by a different name, I either correct them or ignore them if they do not learn from my correction. It's utterly disrespectful to repeatedly get someone's name wrong. And I don't accept the excuse that teachers have hundreds of names to learn. I used to be a teacher and it's really not difficult.

I'm a teacher and I'm terrible with names. I know the ones I see regularly, but I do still get them mixed up sometimes - particularly after a holiday. Though the kids I teach tend to think it's funny. They know that I know their personalities, strengths, weaknesses so the fact I occasionally forget a name isn't a big deal to them.

I'm happy to be corrected (politely) when I get it wrong though. Querying the behaviour point is definitely the right approach.

And I don't accept the excuse that teachers have hundreds of names to learn. I used to be a teacher and it's really not difficult.

Oh ffs. If you were a teacher, surely you'd know that some people find some things much more difficult than others?? There are some things I don't find difficult (eg I got a PhD without much difficulty, and I find writing easy) but directions, names, and anything DIY I'm terrible at. Just because YOU don't find learning names difficult doesn't mean there aren't people that do. I can't believe I just had to explain that to a teacher 🤦‍♀️

I mix up my own children's names, and I only have two of them.

As a teacher I may get pronunciation for a name wrong once and immediately make a note of it, if I forget and it happens a second time I make another note and try my hardest to be prepared for next lesson. When you have 15 classes in secondary it really is difficult to instantly recall when taking the register but does become the norm.to call students correctly after a few times I find. It's nothing personal, jist so many names and I personally get used to them.quickly but not everyone does. X

To add, if a student does call out a mispronounced name I will say sorry and thank you. Problem is some will see this and deliberately start saying their names are mispronounced so a quiet word is the best. X

Exactly 👍

It's nonsense to suggest that the normal conditions of a classroom mean a teacher can call a child whatever name the teacher thinks will do. If that's the case, why not make the students just sit at numbered desks and address them all by their numbers?

Taking the trouble to use a student's actual name, preferred version, or pronunciation is basic to the establishment of a teacher-student relationship. Issuing a behaviour warning to the student who has tried to improve that relationship is out of order.

Whether the teacher thought it was a simple slip and didn't realise she'd been doing it for months or whether she has a pole up her arse about her mistakes being pointed out, it is not professional of her to make the mistake or issue the behaviour warning.

How you feel about getting someone's name wrong is the part that actually doesn't matter.

It matters a lot to the students whose names you get wrong.

THIS

That's exactly what I'm seeing in this. Does this teacher repeatedly call other students by the wrong name, or just OP's daughter?

The reality is that as a teacher you have a responsibility to assess students. Not having a sweet clue who anyone is, not caring at all about students to the point of not learning names, not being able to assess anyone beyond copying names off a paper onto a register makes you a shitty teacher. There are many tricks and tools you can use to help you know who is in your room and to learn or call them by name. While no one can make you care about the students enough to see them as individuals with names, there are some responsibilities that come with the profession and if you teach younger kids, yes you should make an effort to learn their names. Teaching isn’t just about standing at the front giving information and then marking grades on a register.

Just like your headmaster should learn your name and know who you are.

I suspeçt it is HOW she corrected her.Tou only have your dc's narrative!

This has been going on a year, it's hardly surprising if DD's patience is wearing thin - especially if this teacher has no problem remembering everyone else's name, but just "can't remember" her standard British name. She also sounds like she's trigger-happy reporting kids, going by OP's later posts. Sounds like a typical example of the Bullying Teacher to me.

This is a good heads up for parents.

Given how many teachers in here have said they never bother to learn names - any comments or reports on your child's attendance or participation or behaviour or academic progress or peer interactions or warnings should be questioned as it is a definite possibility that they have no idea who your child is. You can't do any of those things accurately if you have no idea who is who in your class.

Teaching is more than standing in front of a room covering content and transferring marks from papers to a register. I would have been embarrassed to tell a parent that after a year with your child, I have never learned their name, no idea who they are, and so can't tell you anything about them.

I'm a teacher with a terrible memory for names. It's embarrassing for me.

She shouldn't get a behavioural point for correcting that on the face of it. But ....

Your daughter may not just have corrected her she may have been extremely rude in the manner in which she did that I can't imagine any other reason for issuing a behaviour point otherwise