Towards Better Parent-Teacher Communication

Why is healthy parent teacher communication important? Well, parents and teachers have a common goal – the child’s success. It is surprising how this simple fact is often overlooked in parent communication with teachers.

Since the child’s education and overall development is the paramount objective, nothing makes more sense than a healthy partnership wherein both parents and teachers overcome their inhibitions and misgivings, and agree to work towards the same goal.

Too many parents and teachers today engage in a pointless blame game when the child has difficulties , rather than cooperating on remedial measures. The first push for more effective parent teacher communication must often come from the parents. The best way to initiate this is to turn up for as many school-related events as possible.

This gives parents an opportunity to meet and interact with the child’s teachers outside the classrooms, to understand the curriculum and to plan their academic support agenda back at home. It also gives teachers a chance to apprise the parents of any issues that their child may be facing at school, and to provide suggestions on addressing these.

Of course, such interactions should not be limited to scheduled events alone. The fact that some parents tend to rely too much on school buses costs them many opportunities to connect with their child’s teachers. It pays to pick the child up from school occasionally, utilizing these times to catch up with the teachers. Such meetings should be kept casual, and discussion of deeper issues avoided. The idea here is to build a relationship, leading to a partnership model.

Improved parent teacher communication requires accessibility. Parents should ensure that they have exchanged telephone numbers and email IDs with all concerned teachers at school. In fact, online interactions work a lot better than the telephone these days, since they allow teachers to keep track of queries and to respond as soon as their schedule permits. Where an interactive parent-teacher website is available, this should be exploited.

Becoming more active in the school’s PTA program is an invaluable tool. Parents who have felt ‘left out’ of the child’s schooling process will especially benefit from greater PTA involvement, since this will lead to better child management and parenting skills as far as school-related issues are concerned. The school’s Parent Teacher Association should not be seen as a necessary burden, but a heaven-sent opportunity for bulwarking parent teacher relationships.