Getting the most out of a parent-teacher interaction
“Education is a shared commitment between dedicated teachers, motivated students and enthusiastic parents with high expectations” – Bob Beauprez
I resonate with this thought and believe that unless and until we educators and parents have a strong partnership with each other, we will not be able to achieve our goal. Our goal is the same – ‘We want to support our children to reach their full potential. This requires a shared commitment and a shared sense of purpose. Our children bridge the gap between us and the parents and thus complete this school-home partnership.
A healthy and positive relationship between the school and parents is imperative not only for the child’s holistic development but it is equally essential for school development. The teaching faculty form the face of the school and what better instrument can there be to foster and nurture this relationship between the home and the school.
A Parent-Teacher Meeting is a great opportunity to initiate this relationship and get it going. The communication between the teacher and parent determines the extent and quality of involvement of the parents in the child’s learning. A two-way communication kept going always helps the teacher and the parent in understanding the child and collaborate in all the efforts taken by both sides to bring out the best in him or her. Thus, a good parent-teacher interaction helps the parent understand where their child stands in both academics and behavioral aspects. They get an opportunity to understand the reasons as to why things are not going the way they are supposed to and collaborate with teachers in arriving at possible solutions. This leads to parents and teachers starting to work as a team or a family to help children achieve and succeed in life.
The student is at the core of everything we do as Educators. The child is the bridge between the school and home. Everyday interactions with parents are great opportunities for us to know what the students have been saying about the school at home and we get to understand what the parents think and feel about what we do. Without such a communication channel both parents and the school will stay totally disconnected.
At Ekya, we are very fortunate to have a very supportive parent body that never fails to appreciate our endeavors and at the same time provides constructive feedback if there are any shortcomings. Feedback always provides us scope for self-reflection, retrospection, and strategizing for improvement. Timely intervention is done and action is taken taking into consideration the feedback from the parents and that aspect has helped us ensure that we provide a safe and healthy learning environment for our students. Thus, good feedback is what we look forward to keeping this relationship between us and the home going. It requires listening to others and getting their inputs with an open mind. And this simple technique does help in fostering and nurturing this beautiful relationship between parents and us.
By Ms. Sreepriya Unnikrishnan, Head of School, EJPN
