For effective and productive communication with parents and children, the teacher needs to have at least six types of information. First, it is planning and preparing to achieve goals; this skill is of great importance when interacting with children and families (Gestwicki, 2015). Proper planning and prioritization allow setting actual tasks and completing them properly while increasing children’s academic performance and parents’ trust in the educational program and the teacher. Secondly, time and privacy for discussion are worth mentioning, which play an essential role in building friendly and trusting relationships with children and parents.
Properly built relationships with students and their parents are critical elements of productive learning and pleasant communication. Parents may often have various questions about specific points concerning the curriculum, the progress of their children, or recommendations that a teacher can give (Gestwicki, 2015). An important skill is finding time for private conversations that interest parents or children. Communication skills also include the third type of information – strategies to facilitate two-way communication and the exchange of information, questions, and ideas (Schneider, 2018). One-way communication is not adequate therefore, it cannot be effective. It is crucial to exchange ideas, tips, and recommendations, listen to the interlocutor, and not miss the necessary information.
From the third type of information, the fourth smoothly follows – respect for the experience of each parent and child. Each teacher, parent, and child has their worldview, attitude, and experience, which must be considered in the conversion process for effective communication (Gestwicki, 2015). The fifth type of information is a positive focus on the development and progress of the child, which a teacher should have when communicating with parents (Gestwicki, 2015). Parents need to focus, first of all, on the child’s achievements, which, in turn, will improve the attitude towards the teacher and strengthen confidence in their methodology.
Finally, a teacher’s sixth type of information is perseverance in communicating with students and their parents. Without a constant exchange of knowledge, experience, advice, and comments, the level of relationship between the teacher and the families will remain insufficiently high (Gestwicki, 2015). It will negatively affect the child’s results and the attitude of the parents (Lee, 2019). Thus, the teacher needs to be the initiator of communication with parents and children in order to solve emerging problems in time and build more trusting relationships.
References
Gestwicki, C. (2015). Home, school, and community relations. Cengage Learning.
Lee, I. (2019). Teachers’ frequently asked questions about focused written corrective feedback. TESOL Journal, 10(3), e00427. Web.
Schneider, B. (2018). Parents, their children, and schools: An introduction. In Parents, their children, and schools (pp. 1-12). Routledge.