By Cara Richardson, Ed.D.
There is plethora of research that supports the notion that parent and family communication is central in establishing valuable partnerships between school and home. Parent and Family Engagement, which encompasses communication, is often overlooked as a school improvement strategy that works. The amount of emphasis placed on research surrounding parent-teacher communication speaks to why Communication is the CEO of building partnerships with parents. Communication should be Crucial, Effective and Ongoing when a child matriculates into the educational system and can prevent common conflicts that generally exist between parents and teachers.
Crucial
Communication is crucial from the onset between parents and teachers. When building partnerships with parents, educators must first realize while both parents and teachers may play slightly different roles, the goal remains the same…to ensure that every single child reaches his or her maximum potential. Education is the vehicle that can take a child to any career or college that he or she desires if educators and parents work together as equal partners. Crucial Communication goes beyond making that first phone call at the beginning of the year, or staying late for open house. It leaves the parent with a feeling that their role as the parent is respected, their voices are welcomed, and most importantly, that their child is safe. It is important that educators make every effort to make parent and family engagement vital to student and ultimately school improvement. Schools should provide learning opportunities for all educators that emphasizes the fundamentals of communication is the cornerstone for building partnerships with parents and families.
Effective
Effective communication is timely. In most schools, teachers must make a positive phone call within the first week or so to the parents of their students. This is a common practice and is an ideal opportunity for educators to make a lasting impression on parents. The phone call should be personable and positive. If a student displays inappropriate behavior within the first week of school, but reasonably expected for that age group, educators should address this with the student. Students are still learning classroom expectations within that first week and teachers are still learning their students. This allows the student a chance to redeem himself/herself and prevents that first phone call from setting a negative tone. Effective communication is also two-way. This is also an ideal time for teachers to ask the parents some questions about their child. Educators often forget or perhaps unaware that parents and families can help guide decision-making about a child’s academic strengths and weaknesses. This is also an opportunity for the parent to feel included and that their voice is heard and respected in the educational process of the his or her student.
Ongoing
Communication between parents and teachers is ongoing. Often times, educators may find that this is easier said than done due to growing time constraints and requirements before school, after school, and during planning times. Many school districts offer system-wide parent conference days, which works for a lot of parents. For some parents, a face-to-face conference is not always possible due to barriers that may stifle ongoing opportunities for communication. Barriers such as a parent’s work schedule, lack of transportation, language, skill deficits, even a parent’s personal fear of entering a school or meeting teachers due to their own negative experiences as a student are just a few barriers that educators will need to hurdle in order to keep the lines of communication open and ongoing. Many educators may find that a simple phone call or an email will suffice for some parents. However, there are other means of ongoing communication including class newsletters, online platforms, and apps that educators can use to keep the lines of communication open.
Communication is key and conceivably the most basic tool that educators have to avoid common misunderstandings between parents and teachers. If we approach this concept as a Crucial, Effective, and Ongoing tool to build school-home partnerships, parents will appreciate the feedback about what is going on in their child’s education, and teachers will appreciate the support and insights that parents can offer about the student population that they serve.
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For more information on Dr. Cara Richardson, please visit https://justask.consulting/ .
