Parent Teacher Communication Educational Psychology EDU 549 ParentTeacher

Parent Teacher Communication Educational Psychology EDU 549

Parent-Teacher Communication • How can communication improve parentteacher collaboration, for the benefit of the student? • How do educators close the gap between parent-teacher expectations? • How do educators apply communication strategies to improve parent-teacher relationships?

Teachers feel their role is growing with the realization students are lacking fundamental life skills at home and they are expected to fill the gap. The changing expectation between home educational responsibility and in school educational responsibility has created a large problem how to educate the students.

This great divide, as discussed by Belogolovsky, E. , & Somech, A. (2010) and Garrett, L. (2009) is pushing both parties to reexamine how we communicate.

These studies show that parents want greater involvement in their child’s education. Many teachers agree. However, no one has figured out a way to bridge that divide. Wanat, C. (2010). This is why home-school communication is so vital. Communication between parents and teachers is grass roots solution

Parent Involvement • Research has documented the important role that parental involvement plays in children's learning. Yet, it can be challenging for schools to establish appropriate relationships with parents. Wanat, C. (2010).

§ ability of all parents to contribute to schools; parents' involvement in decisions about student learning § curriculum § classroom policies § home-school relationships.

Parents as Learning Partners 29 Los Angeles schools participated in the Parents as Learning Partners (PLP) Project. This initiative focuses on three primary areas in which parents and teachers can work together to support children's academic progress: (1) communication; (2) parenting; and (3) learning at home. Quigley, D. (2000).

Overall, the evaluation results indicated positive changes in teachers and parents of third graders in the PLP schools, with a higher acceptance of their joint responsibility for children in getting a good education. There was less decline in parent involvement and support in PLP schools than in non-PLP schools as the children moved from second to third grade. There was higher reading achievement in PLP schools than in comparison schools. Quigley, D. (2000).

Parent Teacher Communication “Ninety-nine percent of all problems in communications start with misunderstandings which develop as a result of differing viewpoints and conditioning. ” Author unknown

Communication Breakdown § Teachers feel the weight of providing the parents long lists of progress and the necessary benchmarks the students must achieve. Many times this push-pull scenario leads to communication breakdowns. § Teachers have no training in parent communication.

Communication breakdown § Parents typically feel that their voice is not being heard and their opinions are not valued. § Parents are not sure what questions to ask. § Parents have an unrealistic picture of their child.

Parent fears • Parents are just as fearful of parent –teacher conference as the teacher. – Feeling inadequate as a parent – Your child is a disruptive student – Backlash for questioning teacher – Teacher knows your child better than you – http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=tq. Q 5 ML 1 jwo 8&feature=related

Teachers Fears § Angry parents who are critical of skills § Children do not accurately portray the teacher § Abilities § Personality § Teacher have Inferiority complex § Feel lack of support from administration

Solutions • Create a positive and productive environment that is conducive to parent-teacher interaction. • It must be – Open and honest – Two way communication – Student focused – Continuous

The LAFF don’t CRY strategy • LAFF stands for • L “Listen, empathize and communicate respect” • A ”Ask questions and ask permission to take notes” • F “Focus on the issues” • F ”Find a first step”

LAFF don’t CRY • CRY stands for • C “Criticize people who aren’t present” • R “React hastily and promise something you can’t deliver” • Y “Yakety-yak”

LAFF don’t CRY • Clearly, when you look at parent-teacher interaction through this lenses, it is easy to see situations that start as a LAFF and end as a CRY. Parent teacher interaction is complicated and it is hard to be perfect, especially with a particularly impassioned parent.

Final Exercise At this point in the presentation, I will assign each member a role with question prompts on a card and we will act our roles using some of the strategies we have discussed.

• Not what we give, but what we share, for the gift without the giver Is bare. ~James Russell Lowell

Reference List • • Wanat, C. (2010). Challenges Balancing Collaboration and Independence in Home-School Relationships: Analysis of Parents' Perceptions in One District. School Community Journal, 20(1), 159 -186. Retrieved from ERIC database. Dotger, B. , Harris, S. , & Hansel, A. (2008). Emerging Authenticity: The Crafting of Simulated Parent-Teacher Candidate Conferences. Teaching Education, 19(4), 337 -349. Retrieved from ERIC database. Quigley, D. (2000). Parents and Teachers Working Together To Support Third Grade Achievement: Parents as Learning Partners (PLP) Findings. Retrieved from ERIC database. Garrett, L. (2009). Parent-Teacher Communication: What Parents and Teachers Think and What School Leaders Need to Know. Journal of School Public Relations, 30(1), 28 -50. Retrieved from ERIC database. Shartrand, A. , Harvard Family Research Project, C. , & And, O. (1994). Preparing Teachers To Involve Parents: A National Survey of Teacher Education Programs. Retrieved from ERIC database. Belogolovsky, E. , & Somech, A. (2010). Teachers' Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Examining the Boundary between In-Role Behavior and Extra-Role Behavior from the Perspective of Teachers, Principals and Parents. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 26(4), 914 -923. Retrieved from ERIC database. Banach, W. (2007). The ABCs of Teacher-Parent Communication. Rowman & Littlefield Education. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Reference list • • Reed, W. (2009). The Bridge Is Built: The Role of Local Teachers in an Urban Elementary School Community Journal, 19(1), 59 -76. Retrieved from ERIC database. Mc. Naughton, D. , & Vostal, B. (2010). Using Active Listening to Improve Collaboration with Parents: The LAFF Don't CRY Strategy. Intervention in School and Clinic, 45(4), 251 -256. Retrieved from ERIC database. Allen, S. , & And, O. (1997). What Teachers Want from Parents and What Parents Want from Teachers: Similarities and Differences. Retrieved from ERIC database. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Chicago, IL, March 24 -28, 1997). May, D. , Johnson, J. , Chen, Y. , Hutchinson, L. , & Ricketts, M. (2010). Exploring Parental Aggression toward Teachers in a Public School Setting. Current Issues in Education, 13(1), Retrieved from ERIC database. Yermanock Strieb, L. (2010). Inviting Families into the Classroom: Learning from a Life in Teaching. Practitioner Inquiry Series. Teachers College Press. Retrieved from ERIC database. Katz, L. , ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, U. , & And, O. (1996). Preventing and Resolving Parent-Teacher Differences. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from ERIC database http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=tq. Q 5 ML 1 jwo 8&feature=related http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=z. WPw. C-Hboi. U&feature=fvw