A World of Monica Yohana

Perhaps even more so than with students, the watchword for communicating with parents is listen. Th e parent’s involvement with a teacher is oft en due to a particular event or problem. In all cases there is an intermediary between the parent and teacher who has interests of her own (i.e., the student). Th e result is that parents typically come to a meeting with the teacher armed with a child’s perspective of the situation. That’s not always bad, but it’s rarely the complete story. For a teacher, eff ective communication begins with listening to the parent’s perspective.
Teachers should develop several techniques to facilitate good communication with parents (Million, 2003). For instance, in an initial meeting with a parent, listening to the parent’s perspective of the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and needs forms the foundation for future eff ective communication with that parent.
In problem situations, parents may ask questions such as: Are you being fair to my child? Is my child really the instigator of the problem? What have you done to provoke my child? What steps have you taken to discipline my child? It is the teacher’s responsibility to avoid being defensive and instead listen, keep a professional perspective, and work to resolve the situation with the best interests of the student in mind. Stevens and Tollafield (2003) stress the importance of preplanning with a clear focus, documenting information, following up conferences, and considering parents as partners. Aft er reading “Parents Behaving Badly” (Gibbs, 2005), you might want to consult How to Handle Diffi cult Parents: A Teacher’s Survival Guide (Tingley, 2006) for numerous practical suggestions for dealing with many sensitive but common issues.
Teachers have students for whom English is a second language. Th e fastestgrowing demographic in the United States is Hispanic (Rubinstein-Avila, 2004; Slavin & Cheung, 2004). In 2005, 20% of children aged 8 or younger were Hispanic, primarily of Mexican origin (Hernandez, 2006). Many of them are Englishlanguage learners. They need to have notes translated into a number of languages and have an interpreter present when conducting parent conferences. Likewise, teachers may need to supplement any school paraprofessional resources by utilizing bilingual speakers or readers, or both, in their classrooms. And of course, as an emerging professional, you certainly will want to become conversant in another language as well.
A teacher’s interaction with parents does not always involve discipline problems. Sending notes home or placing calls to parents to indicate progress and positive behaviors would be an excellent practice to develop. Home visits, general letters at the beginning of the year and periodically as appropriate, regular informational newsletters, and parent meetings such as open houses are other avenues for parentteacher communication. The teacher’s responsibility is to clearly explain the child’s progress through school. However, parents are not likely to be fluent in educational terminology, and they similarly may not understand district policies and expectations.
The test scores and work samples that a teacher brings to the conference may be just so many pieces of paper to the parent. So, what does a z-score or percentile rank mean? What do the student’s work samples indicate? How can the teacher demonstrate in tangible terms that these samples indicate progress or lack thereof? The keys in both the problem situation and the collaborative one are listening to what the
parents have to say, communicating in their language, and monitoring (much as is done in class) to establish whether all parties understand each other. Th is last item cannot be overemphasized.
When a parent conference draws to an end, the parent is not likely to ask the teacher to summarize
and review what has been discussed. From the parents’ perspective, this would be like saying that they were unable to understand the child’s teacher. Just as classroom assessment is part of the teaching profession, assessing whether parent and teacher understand each other is the teacher’s responsibility.
Clear and open communication is important
because, as research has clearly established, parent involvement is linked to student achievement. For example, Lazar and Slostad (1999) have found that parent involvement programs provide many benefi ts, such as improved student motivation, increased long-term achievement, decreased dropout rates, and more parent support of the school. What do teachers want parents to do? Initiate contacts with and be involved in the school, monitor homework, teach study skills, set expectations for student behavior, support the teacher and the school, emphasize reading, respond to school communications, and be sure their children get a healthy diet and enough sleep (Boers, 2002). It is helpful to keep in mind a broader perspective of the value of parents. Not only can teachers assist parents with parenting skills, but they can foster two-way communication, encourage parents to become involved in (not “do”) children’s homework, encourage volunteerism and participation in school activities, and help them to become aware of community resources and opportunities (Epstein & Jansorn, 2004).