How to Improve Parent-Teacher Communication – 7 Tips

Parents are essential people in a student’s education. They’re not just there to pay for the school’s quotation or tuition fee. The parents’ involvement in their kids’ education has a significant impact. For instance, student absences plummeted by 20% if teachers communicate with parents via home visits, according to an analysis from Waterford.org. That is just one of the many reasons why parent-teacher communication is essential. The connection between a parent and a teacher can help a student’s welfare in many ways. That said, your school’s faculty must improve its parent-teacher communication practices. To help you with that, we’ll show you seven useful tips.

How to Improve Parent-Teacher Communication – 7 Tips

Treat Parents as Partners

At the start of each school year, before you’re able to meet the students’ parents, consider them partners. What sort of partners? Well, partners in monitoring student progress and well being. You see, parents aren’t your boss as an educator or school administrator. In a sense, they’re more like your peers because all of you act as guardians to the students.

If teachers are treated as partners, there will be a lesser gap between them and teachers. That’s an ingredient to have better communication with them. So, make sure to cultivate a welcoming and less formal relationship with parents. A relationship that’s too formal and too professional can put a gap between parents and teachers. Thus, disabling a strong connection.

Build Open Communication

Parents and teachers must have open communication at all times. They should not hesitate to approach each other if there are things about the student they need to discuss. But, if we focus on your perspective as the school administrator, you have to let your faculty staff engage the parents openly. Instead of waiting for parents to approach teachers, it would be better if teachers will take the initiative.

Building open communication will break barriers that can weaken the connection between parents and teachers. Your faculty staff must not be afraid to be more social to their students’ parents. And also, they have to be open-minded about what parents have to say about their child’s needs on campus. In return, parents will also be open-minded about what your teachers have to say about their students’ performance and behavior in class.

Be Transparent to Parents

It’s important to communicate credible and timely information to parents constantly. For example, whenever you’re starting a school policy change that impacts the students, parents should know about it immediately. In other words, you and your faculty staff have to be transparent in your relationship with the parents.

Most parents sent their kids to your private school, knowing that it’s a trustworthy educational institution. You have to stay true to that for the benefit of your school’s reputation. Although no contract or agreement is stating that your school must disclose information to parents with transparency, it’s still your obligation to do so. Parents have every right to know about their children’s exact status on campus. If parents see that your faculty staff are transparent communicators, their trust in your school will strengthen further.

Inform Parents Regarding Student Concerns Promptly

When it comes to student concerns, your faculty staff have to inform the parents asap. These concerns could be students having failing grades, violating school policies, and other situations that need the parents’ immediate attention. In informing parents promptly, they’ll get the impression that your teachers genuinely care about their children’s education and discipline. It shows them that their kids are in the right hands.

In this way, parents and teachers can help each other in making students better, mainly in their behavior and academic performance. On top of that, parent-teacher relationships will be more fruitful. Parent-teacher collaborations could even become a norm in your school, which bodes well for the students.

Schedule Parent-Teacher Meetings More Consistently

Parent-teacher meetings are a common occurrence in schools. Of course, we know that your school organizes that. But, it might not be as frequently as it should. If your school schedules parent-teacher meetings bi-monthly, that’s good, but monthly would be much better. However, it depends on how pressing the concerns are at school. For example, if many students are having academic struggles, a weekly parent-teacher meeting should be on your checklist.

Moreover, more consistent parent-teacher meetings can be a way of doing an assessment of your school’s standing. How so? Well, that’s because teachers and parents will also discuss school issues during such meetings. Lastly, let your teachers use a meeting minutes document to keep records of the takeaways of every parent-teacher session.

Involve Parents in School Activities and Events

Parents are vital stakeholders in your school. So, it’s fitting to involve them whenever there are upcoming school-wide activities and events. Let parents participate in structuring the business plan for such gatherings. Teachers can also present them with a proposal to provide funding for educational activities. Involving parents in activities and events will make them feel that they’re part of the school community. Plus, it’s a great means to nurture a camaraderie between parents and teachers.

Use Reliable and Efficient Communication Tools

Parents are busy people as well. Most of them might not have the time to attend face-to-face meetings. However, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. With the digital tools and software we have today, communicating with parents is easy. For ones, there’s the cellphone; by asking the parents’ phone numbers, teachers can easily contact them. And, there’s email, Hangouts, Messenger, and other apps for communication.

In some schools, they even have a messaging system that can disseminate announcements to parents. It does so by sending emails or text messages with multiple recipients. You should check and try any of such communication tools if you have the budget. Anyway, the point is to take advantage of technology to make parent-teacher communication convenient.

All of the tips in this blog are achievable and cost-friendly. It’s just a matter of implementing and letting your faculty practice them. Having improved parent-teacher communication tactics in your school will benefit the students. And subsequently, you, your co-administrators, and your faculty will meet the desired student outcomes.

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