"I think we need to stop assuming we know what parents want
in our classrooms and rather ask them."
in our classrooms and rather ask them."
Don't Leave Out the Parents
by Mrs. Ripp
Parents - every teacher has an opinion on what their role in the classroom is.
Some people welcome them with open arms, others prefer to keep them in the copy room. Whatever your take is, parents and dealing with them are an inevitable part of our job.
And yet nothing is really mentioned in teacher's education about the role of parents and
just how valuable they can be to our classroom. No one sits you down and explains that
when parents contact you it is probably because they have the best interest of their child
in mind.
I think we should embrace parents and their role in our teaching realm.
I think we need to stop assuming we know what parents want in our classrooms and
rather ask them. I think we should start assuming that parents are truly on our side and not someone who is out to get us.
This does not mean that I suggest they plan our lessons, but most parents know their child much better than we do, so we not ask their advice? Now is the time to reach out and
create a lasting relationship built on trust and truly include parents in our classroom.
I think we are taught in college that we need to be the ones with the answer so if
student X is acting out then we have to present a plan of act to X's parents. Why
not dialogue instead? Why not include them in the thought process rather than present
them with a final product? Mind you, I know that there are parents that are non-existent
or truly do dislike a certain teacher, but even so, we must try. After all, aren't we yelling
loudly how our voice is being left out in the education debate? Don't exclude parents
from your classroom.
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Teacher Mrs. Ripp aka @pernilleripp can be found at Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension.
From her bio: "I became a teacher because I wanted to make sure all kids I taught had someone that believed in them. That belief only grows stronger every year."
From her bio: "I became a teacher because I wanted to make sure all kids I taught had someone that believed in them. That belief only grows stronger every year."
H/t to Chris Wejr tweet. Cross-posted from Mrs. Ripp's blog.
Related The Daily Riff:
The Parent Trapped by Cathy Buyrn
Meta-analysis suggests (John Hattie, Visible Learning) that we need the parent encouraging the children and being ambitious for the children. Before we can achieve that it would be beneficial to teach the parents the 'language of school' so there might be clearer communication. consultations. I still agree that dialogue with parents would be better than the current monologue. In parent consultations I suggest the opener of 'good evening, how can I help you', rather than ' little johnny is....'.