Interview Insights Parent Relations Communications

Parent Relations/Communications
Background Information
Mrs. X has taught for a total of 23 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. During her teaching career, Mrs. X has taught grades 5 and 6. It is important to note that the said grades cater for the education requirements of children around the ages of 10 and 11 years.
Summary of Insights Learned from the Interview
Mrs. X points out that the relevance of keeping parents up-to-date on the goings on in the classroom cannot be overstated. She identified three ways through which she accomplished this objective, i.e. via email, telephone calls, parent-teacher conferences, and weekly progress reports. Of the four, I found weekly progress reports most viable on this front as they provided an inbuilt follow-up mechanism. Mrs. X also restated the need to ensure that parents were involved in the learning process – and thus were not mere spectators. In her opinion, involving parents ensures that parents play an active role on their end, i.e. by ensuring that learners complete their homework. As a matter of fact, it is important to note that various studies conducted in the past have clearly indicated “parental involvement in children’s education matters… in their achievement, motivation, and wellbeing at school” (Menheere and Hooge, 2010, p. 144).
According to Mrs. X, in seeking to update parents about the progress of their children, weekly reports and parent-teacher conferences came in handy. She pointed out that the weekly progress reports she sent out to students contained assessments of not only the academic progress of students, but also their performance on the behavioral as well as social fronts. Parent-teacher conferences, on the other hand, permitted her to have one-on-one engagements with parents so as to brainstorm on both the academic and behavioral interventions that were needed to promote the success and wellbeing of individual learners. In her opinion, therefore, parent conferences were important in seeking to not only assess personal student challenges, but also dig deeper into underlying concerns. For this reason, they came in handy in solving student problems.
According to Loughran (2008), “the importance of good parent-teacher relationships has been well documented” (35). Mrs. X pointed out that she had all along utilized a variety of strategies in seeking to become acquainted with parents and students. Towards this end, she always sought to set a friendly tone from the onset – ensuring that both parents and students understood she was approachable and affable. As she further pointed out, she had over time learned that first impressions always mattered. For this reason, being cold on the first meeting could make parents or students act defensive in future engagements. In seeking to further promote meaningful relations, Mrs. X also made enquiries from parents on their preferred communication modes so as to ensure that all engagements were founded on mutual preferences.
According to Mrs. X, regardless of the strategies adopted or advances attained on the academic front, there are parents who were likely to lodge complains about the various aspects of their children education, i.e. with regard to the learner not having sufficient homework, etc. Mrs. X advised against being hostile to such parents. In her opinion, such a complaint called for a one-on-one engagement between the teacher and the parent so that the teacher would have an opportunity of explaining the overall approach to learning and, thus, why the homework given was in line with the adopted learning policy. She advised against being on the defensive whenever parents lodged complaints.
In the final analysis, according to Mrs. X, the information she included in the Open House presentation included, but was not limited to; the learning goals, class schedule, the assessment and homework grading scale (and associated penalties if any), and any other relevant class or teacher information.





















References
Loughran, S.B. (2008). The Importance of Teacher/Parent Partnerships: Preparing Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 5(8), 35-38.
Menheere, A. & Hooge, E.H. (2010). Parental Involvement in Children’s Education: A Review Study about the Effect of Parental Involvement on Children’s School Education with a Focus on the Position of Illiterate Parents. Journal of European Teacher Education Network, 6, 144- 157.