Written by Ms Ramonita C. Sabalboro,
Preschool Leader

Ms. Ramonita has been inspiring young learners for more than 20 years

Keeping positive and open lines of communication between parents and teachers can significantly enhance the overall performance of students. In these challenging times of online /blended learning where teachers are constrained to work more closely with parents, the struggle to dialogue effectively is real. Relying on the school’s website is no longer enough as parents grapple with the need to be actively involved in their child’s homeschooling. Parents can tune in and assess classes like never before so this created immense pressure on teachers. This special situation can at times create an unintentional misunderstanding and dissatisfaction between both parents and teachers.

As a teacher, you can eliminate this pressure by turning parents into a comrade instead of a foe. This can be achieved through open and clear communication between both parties. After all, we have a mutual goal–to educate our students well during this pandemic.

Here’s how we managed to have mutual cooperation and trust between parents and teachers in SIS Cilegon:

1. Having an informative and open school orientation

During the school’s orientation program, parents should be briefed on what is expected of them. Rules and standards should be spelt out clearly. This can avert misunderstandings and false expectations. Remember that the goal here is to actively engage both the faculty and the parents in maximizing pupil learning.

2. Creating a Parents Portal

Here, they can log in to check announcements and assignments from the teachers or post questions which can be helpful. Taking advantage of group chats for the sole purpose of communicating general concerns with the class adviser which was already in place even during pre-pandemic times, can also be helpful.

3. Being available for Direct messaging at a certain time

For more personal queries and immediate responses, the teacher should make himself available through SMS or direct messaging. Teachers have to contend with a lot of concerns and so they have to regulate their time in addressing parent queries. The parents must respect quiet hours so the teachers can recharge and be ready to teach the next day.

It would serve the best interests of all concerned if both parties would employ tact, diplomacy and sincerity when discussing a child’s performance. Say what you mean, mean what you say.