Teacher communication vital

Jun 10, 2002

So much is expected of the teaching profession yet so often the dedicated educators in our schools receive little public praise for their efforts.

By Wagwau JamesaSo much is expected of the teaching profession yet so often the dedicated educators in our schools receive little public praise for their efforts.A modern teacher is often faced with challenges ranging from disrespect from students to parental indifference and condemnation. Experience shows that more often the friction usually experienced between parents and teachers is largely as a result of clogged lines of communication.The following tips can help teachers to clear up their communication lines with parents.l Get to know the parents well. Just like your students are different categories of people, so are their parents. Design a unique approach for every parent. It is not possible to handle all people uniformly since human beings are not homogeneous creatures. To relate with parents better, know them individually and if possible address them by their names.l Speak at the level of the parent. Do not patronise or show academic domination over the parents. Talk to the parents in the language and vocabulary they understand best. Avoid the use of teacher’s jargon.l When talking about the children, accentuate the positives. Talk about the child with interest and with full knowledge about the child’s weaknesses and strengths. Commendation rather than condemnation is the rule of the game. It is interesting to note that parents identify themselves with their children so much that a condemnation of the child’s weakness is a direct attack on the parent. A parent may in truth know the laziness of her child. Yet the mere mention of laziness in relation to her child may be a bitter pill to swallow. Parents want to hear prescription for success and not what the child has “failed to do.”l Allow the parent to talk more while you offer a listening ear. Parents are usually bottled up with emotions of disappointment and anger when things turn out contrary to their expectation at school. Listen with attention and interest as the parent pours out the contents of her heart. Do not criticise or judge the parent’s feelings.l Always find something to thank and compliment the parent for. Human beings like anyone who can identify and blow out the positives in them. If you are positive in attitu-de, there is always som-ething good to be seen in every parent. Even sparing time out of her busy schedule to come to sch-ool is good enough.Ends

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