Studio Owners & Faculty- Representing a united Front
                     STUDIO OWNERS & 
FACULTY- REPRESENTING A 
UNITED FRONT
It’s important to recognize that the most effective way to 
ensure consistency and clarity in setting expectations, is to 
represent a united front. When children see follow-through 
coming from parents, it lets them know they are like-minded 
with similar philosophies and expectations. Well, the same 
really holds true for you as studio directors when it comes to 
supporting your teachers. We all have had those dicey 
situations either with parents or students where someone is 
disgruntled or disappointed about something; and the first 
inclination is to blame the teacher if they are not getting 
their way.  While it is a delicate balance of ensuring your 
clients are happy, throwing your teachers under the bus is 
not the way to go about it either. What this does is set up a 
precedent for resentment, undermining and feeling as though 
a teacher’s authoritative role is not being supported in the 
choices they are making in their classes. They feel 
discounted. This is not an ideal approach to ensuring a long-
lasting and productive working relationship between you and 
your faculty. Consequently, it will eventually become clear to 
parents and students that there is dissention in the ranks 
and quite possibly going over the teacher’s head will become 
the go-to method of dealing with their issues. This is not a 
good scenario for anyone involved.
So, being the studio owner, how do you 
maintain directorship over your business 
while still supporting your teachers? It’s 
very simple really. Represent the united 
front. Whether it be regarding parent or 
student affairs, their ideas or input, etc. 
This approach will go a long way for 
everyone. First off, if it’s to be assumed you 
painstakingly took the time to surround 
yourself with faculty whose decision and 
teaching ideology your trust and count on, 
then this established protocol shouldn’t be 
an issue. Secondly, every one of us at some 
point is going to come across a situation 
that must be dealt with. Not everyone is 
going to be happy 100% of the time. The 
bottom line is how you choose to deal with 
it to find a resolution.
First off, think about why parents need 
to speak to your teachers directly. Why 
aren’t you making it clear that all 
discussions, concerns, complaints come 
to you. Your teachers shouldn’t be in the 
caught in the cross fire, even it involves 
them. Most times if a parent or student 
comes to you first, you can put the fire 
out even before the teacher has to be 
involved. However, if the situation calls 
for it, then it is your responsibility to 
hear exactly what occurred from the 
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times, they just want to be heard. However, while letting them 
vent is a sure fire way to demonstrate understanding and 
concern for their issue, defending, supporting and validating 
the teacher’s actions is going to send a clear message as well 
as to where you stand. Now, clearly if the teacher is in the 
wrong and done something terrible that can’t be overlooked 
then that’s a different story entirely. However, the situation we 
are discussing here are everyday studio issues that most times 
demonstrate an undermining of authority and just simply not 
liking artistic or teaching decisions being made. 
Contact Info
Phone No: 
+2035457167
Email: 
[email protected]
website: 
www.danceteacherweb.com