Can Parents and Teachers Play Nicely?

Weeks ago, my post Parents and Teachers: An Effective Partnership in Education? answered questions posed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. From the national contributions, the United States Department of Education has compiled themes, requirements almost, of what is necessary for a sustainable parent and teacher relationship. As the government continues discourse with the public about these four points, lets watch the development and add to the conversation. My previous post, Comments from Parent-Teacher Partnerships, elaborated on the development of the first two themes; these are the final two.

3. Parents and teachers sometimes sabotage their relationship when they don't understand each other or don't feel heard. When a teacher's or a parent's needs are left unmet, or when a child's needs are unmet, the adults might become defensive and blame one another.

Repeating that adults should not blame each other will not fix this problem, but clearly defined roles might help. Teachers should be responsible for a child's educational needs and overall safety at school. Parents should be responsible for everything else, right?

Parents will say they know what is best for their children (and hopefully they do) and often want teachers and administrators to take student's personal concerns into account. Teachers want to know that a child's grandmother is ill or that his dog died, as personal issues will change the student's behavior.

What happens when a student's personal life overtakes his ability to succeed in school? This is where the line becomes muddled, because one side eventually asks the other side over.

4. Parents and teachers best meet their common objectives for students when they form partnerships on behalf of the child. Two factors seem to be most important: authenticity and communication.

Inauthenticity hurts a parent and teacher relationship. Schools and parents unfortunately create shows of communicating. Parents ask questions and have interest at the start of school years and when trouble arises. Schools invite parents' opinions during curriculum development, but forget to ask them back for results and later modifications.

Follow through as well as sheer numbers create communicative obstacles. For instance, in smaller classes it is possible for parents and teachers to meet and create common objectives for all students. It is unrealistic for larger classes, such as in middle school and high school, with over a hundred students per teacher per semester. Throughout a child's educational career, the needs concerning a parent and teacher relationship will change. Schools should set guidelines for parent and teacher relationships instead of providing pretenseful summaries in student handbooks. Guidelines should also be different dependent on grade levels. Acknowledging that studnets and teachers are different at all educatin levels goes a long way in bettering communication for everyone.

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