PARENT- TEACHER RELATIONSHIP

PARENTS-TEACHERS RELATIONSHIP

Is it necessary?  If yes, WHY? Because “Strong partnerships support children’s learning and ability to develop lifelong skills.

Both parents and teachers play a vital role in educating a child. Parents are a child’s first teacher. They teach essential life and academic skills while providing love and support that help students healthily develop. When teachers partner their ability to inspire thought and creativity with the foundational support parents provide, students are better prepared to have a positive school experience.

Positive connections between parents and teachers have been shown to improve children’s academic achievement, social competencies, and emotional well-being. When parents and teachers work together, children do better in school and at home. Research shows that when a partnership approach between parents and teachers is evident, children’s work habits, attitudes about school, and grades improve. They demonstrate better social skills, fewer behavioral problems, and a greater ability to adapt to situations and get along. When working together as partners, it has been found that parents and teachers communicate more effectively, develop stronger relationships with one another and develop skills to support children’s behaviors and learning.

 we can form a constructive parents teachers partnership. Here are three keys:

 Communication:

Parents and teachers have a common goal: To facilitate the best educational experience possible for students. When parents and teachers communicate with one another, they are able to work together towards this common goal. Technologies like texting and e-mails have made communication between home and school more efficient and improved in both quantity and quality.

Like any relationship in life, communication is very important. Good communication should have between you and your child’s teacher. The whole academic year you should maintain good communication with your kid’s teacher. Let the teacher know that you are very active in your kid’s education. There are different ways to do it. For example, attend each and every parent’s meeting, discuss the learning progress with your kid’s teacher, send a voice message for the teacher, proper use of school diary will help to convey the important information, use email facilities for important information if any important mattes visit school and discuss with teachers. what is happening at school, and to let your teacher know important things about your child such as performance in learning, involvement in activities, behavior with a peer group, regarding food, etc.

• Consistency:

•  The second component of an effective partnership is consistency. This involves opportunities and experiences you provide at home to support your child’s learning. Ask about and suggest ways you can work with your child at home to encourage their learning for a successful school year. Creating routines for homework, such as establishing a time and quiet place, is important. Providing learning materials, reading with your child, and encouraging healthy habits for eating and physical activity all contribute to their success in school. Talk about methods for ensuring that you and the teacher are “on the same page” when it comes to plans and expectations. This kind of partnership sends a consistent message to your child and lets him know that you and his teacher together support his learning.

• Collaboration:

      . The third component of partnering is collaboration. The collaboration will be easier if communication is frequent, and you consistently create opportunities for your child’s learning. A collaborative, cooperative partnership focuses on specific, positive strategies to help your child achieve to the best of his or her potential. Planning and problem-solving are forms of collaboration and will be especially important when your child needs extra support to reach a goal. Communicate about how you can be a partner to help your child achieve them.

No matter how experienced you are, all school leaders receive complaints from time to time. These can range from informal, verbal comments up to formal, written complaints; from minor to major concerns. They may come from students, staff, parents, or even members of the public. They could be about students, teaching or non-teaching staff, you, the board, your school policies, or school events. Some you might be ready for, others will come out of the blue and surprise you.

Complaints may escalate rapidly unless they are well managed. It is better to have processes in place and rarely need them than to have nothing in place and end up with an issue that has the potential to flare up. An escalated complaint is like a hurricane; the more emotional the heat, the more ferocious it becomes.” If the relationship and communication channels are developed well, it will be much easier to address challenges if they appear. Collaborative planning with your child’s teacher involves acknowledging the need to work together to address a concern, staying focused on finding a solution, making plans that involve support and responsibility at both home and school, following through on plans, and checking back to make sure progress is being made.

It’s easier to have conversations about tough topics when relationships are strong. Teachers can communicate a student challenge without fear, and parents will have more trust in the teacher’s perspective because of their positive connection. Students are less worried about facing challenges because they have faith that they can overcome obstacles with their teachers and parents by their side. So teachers can solve problems efficiently.

What Parents Can Do to Build Relationships with Teachers:

Read and respond to school correspondence, Attend school meetings when possible, Parents should have empathy to teachers, provide student academic history. If your child has any difficulties especially health-related things, do not try to hide.  If it is possible to visit the class teacher once a week it will be helpful to discuss the classroom performance of your child. As a team, parents, and teachers can work to create the best possible environments to grow physical, emotional, and intellectual well-being for students.

How Can Teachers Build Relationships with Parents:

Actually, parents are the stakeholders of the school. So try to respect the parents, when you meet them give wish and smile. Try to listen to them, behave well. Use their name often while conversing. Ensure you provide an option for parents to opt-in (or out) of certain communication channels or updates that are relevant, or irrelevant, to their child. That’s how you should communicate with parents when sharing information about their child. Keep it crisp and clear. Do not tell the child’s negative things in front of other parents. It is very important. If you have any negative remarks, inform them separately.

Vasantha. K.P