8 Ways For Improving Parent-Teacher Communication

Many factors play a significant role in your child’s academic performance. Right from family support, to equitable access to education, excellent leadership, responsible educators, and achievable educational goals, play a major role in every student’s academic success. Several studies and researches have shown that parent involvement is one of the most vital factors in helping students engage in their learning, and parent-teacher communication is a key component of promoting and improving parent involvement.

What is Parent-Teacher Communication?

As a part of this communication, both parents and teachers initiate conversations by introducing themselves and slowly establish a relationship based on what they have in common: that is the student. Teachers can also reach out to parents by phone or through email. Regular communication with parents will enable your teachers to share information about a student’s academic progress and achievements.

In case a student is struggling with a particular subject or is showcasing signs of bad behavior, the parents will already have an idea of what is going on. Moreover, this cooperative relationship with teachers will allow the parents to come up and support the student at home.

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Benefits Of Parent-Teacher Communication

Effective and efficient communication between parents, teachers and students will help in establishing a sense of respect for everyone.

a) Benefits for Students

Parents who are actively involved in their child’s education can play a significant role in improving their academic performance at school. As per a report published by the National Center for Education Statistics, when parents take an interest in school activities, students are made to feel responsible and accountable for their tasks. And when parents interact with teachers to understand and discover their children’s needs, children will realize that their family is looking out for them and want them to be happy and successful. Parents can also support their children and help them boost their confidence by motivating them to do well in school.

b) Benefits for Parents

Well not only students, but effective parent-teacher communication can also benefit parents. Most of the time parents are not directly involved in the classroom, but regular conversations with teachers can help them understand which are the subjects that need to be improved and in what areas they are doing exceptionally well. It will also make them feel more valued and more confident.

c) Benefits for Teachers

Teachers can also benefit from parent-teacher communication., as parents can serve as an important asset in the learning process. Teachers who take initiatives in building healthy and positive relationships with parents will gain additional cooperation, as parents will work more with them and reach out to the teachers they trust. Well, if parents can help their children with homework at home, teachers can easily focus in the classroom.

Effective Tips and Strategies for Improving Parent-Teacher Communication

Both parents and teachers play an essential role in effective and efficient school learning. From a simple smile to building a sense of trust, below are some essential strategies that will help in improving the parent-teacher relationship.

1. Always Be Reproachful and Warm

A little reproachful nature can go a long way, especially when it comes to parent-teacher communication. You can initiate a conversation through different mediums such as email, text, or in person, you need to be warm, welcoming, and offer motivation. Whenever you see or meet parents in person, make sure you smile, shake hands, and make eye contact.

2. Appreciate and Acknowledge Involvement

Whether it’s the parents or legal guardians, they are required to participate in school activities or events. Teachers should make sure that they acknowledge the sincere contributions of the parents and should also express their gratitude and appreciation towards them and their valuable contributions.

3. Make Parents Feel Special and Valued

Effective and great parent-teacher communication, especially when the kids are in elementary school, begins with making parents feel valuable and special. The parents, and the guardians, might have something worthy to offer your classroom, whether it’s helping at an event or counseling the students about important matters. As a teacher, you should encourage parents to actively participate and share their thoughts. Similarly, even parents can make the teachers feel special by appreciating their efforts.

4. Develop a Sense of Trust

Trust is an important foundation for any relationship. Hence, even for effective parent-teacher communication, trust is a vital component. Parents need to trust their children’s teachers. When talking to parents, make sure that everything you discuss is confidential. And similarly for the parents, whatever you discuss with your child’s teacher make sure you don’t leak out the information openly.

5. Use Optimistic Tone

Effective and efficient communication between parents and teachers starts with positivity. This can be done in a way where the teacher while contacting parents, can kick start the conversation by saying something positive about them. While parents can compliment the teachers by appreciating their way of teaching and what pain they are taking to educate their kids.

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6. Communicate More Often

Make a regular habit of communicating. Both the teacher and the parents need to communicate regularly so that the “communication gap” does not hamper this relationship.

7. Lay Emphasis On Clarity

Nobody wants their time to be wasted. For every parent-teacher meeting, make sure that you are aware of what you are trying to communicate and convey and why parents need to know that information in advance. Don’t deviate from the main point of discussion and if possible try to lead the conversation in both verbal and written communication.

8. Enforce a Powerful Body Language

No one can deny the importance of nonverbal communication and how it plays a role in improving the behavior of the students. Different forms of body language such as facial expressions, and hand gestures are important for parent-teacher communication. To foster better communication, both the parents and the teacher should avoid negative cues such as folding your arms or avoiding eye contact. When you are communicating in person, remove potential physical barriers to communication, like furniture, and opt for positive cues like better posture, and relaxed facial expressions.

Final Words

Parent-teacher communication is essential and it plays a key role in the development of students. The simple strategies that are listed above can help in drastically improving the efficiency of communication. With the pandemic disrupting the conventional education system, our learning and education have gone online. Schooling is an important part of a child’s life as it helps in defining an individual’s cognitive years and it is equally important that continuous and regular communication between parents and teachers is maintained throughout.

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