Roy Smith wrote in
:

From a purely instructor-centric point of view, I would
prefer that controllers treat VFR practice approaches
*exactly* like IFR ones. It's a training exercise; the
more things you do differently from real life, the less
effective the training is.

If you want it treated *exactly* like IFR, then file IFR.
Controllers don't know if you're an instructor training a
student, or just playing around, or what if you're VFR. If
you're IFR, then they have to do everything by the IFR book,
regardless of the weather. Do you feel that filing and flying
IFR is really that difficult, or restrictive, when teaching?

--
Regards,

Stan