Communication is key to providing students with all they need to succeed.
Behavior
Why Teachers Feel Neglected by Parents (Parents Don't Know Their Kids Need Help!)
Communication is key to providing students with all they need to succeed.
From communicating with your class, speaking to the school administration, or talking directly with parents, teachers are always actively involved in a conversation with someone or other. But with so much on our plate, it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks. And often, the first thing that gets forgotten is instigating contact with the parents ourselves instead of waiting for them to contact us.
A teacher spends around 15 minutes per day communicating with parents. We all speak with concerned parents and worried guardians about their child’s education via phone, email, or face-to-face meetings. But one thing we are often afraid to do is ask for help – though parents ask us for support all the time. Over time, this can lead to us feeling neglected and left behind when it comes to the management of the students we see day-in-day-out; but it’s just as much on us to open that communication as it is for parents to reciprocate.
There are many situations in which a student may need extra help and support, including:
- Struggling with keeping up with or maintaining a standard of classwork
- Being unable to concentrate, sit still, or listen to instruction
- Acting out or misbehaving in small or significant ways with other students or authority figures
In many of these cases, it can seem the best choice is to watch and wait to see what happens; some behavior is temporary, and students often work things out for themselves. But not only are we doing our students a disservice by not getting more involved, but we’re not allowing parents to provide their support from the beginning. Instead of carrying the burden of managing behavior or supporting students alone, invested and engaged parents can help move the process along can achieve better things than you can alone.
For some parents, school and home can feel separate. As such, it’s far easier for parents to have unrealistic expectations that they have no understanding of when it comes to the work their child has to achieve. But for children to properly thrive in their educational environment, there must be a little mixing between the two. Bringing knowledge home and continuing to learn and study are vital skills carried through to exams, college, and beyond. Parents who are unaware that their children are having trouble – or that they have a complete disconnect between home and school life – can’t provide their help to ensure their child is doing well.
So, as teachers, what can we do to ensure we don’t feel neglected and that parents know when their kids need help? Here are just a few ways those goals can be achieved easily and practically:
Education resources
Be more communicative
This particular factor is incredibly vital in bringing parents back into the loop. If you’re not communicating with your student’s parents and guardians regularly, you aren’t giving them the insight they need to provide help. Speaking to parents promptly and openly as and when required makes it possible to nip problems in the bud and talk out concerns in realistic ways. Whether directly sending a quick email or inviting parents in for a brief meeting, talking about events when they happen can be the key to success.
Invite parents to be more involved
If parents aren’t aware they can be more involved in their child’s school life, they won’t be. But actively encouraging a little more engagement can go a long way, whether it’s school events, class meet-ups, or even a casual BBQ on warmer evenings. Making yourself more approachable and open to parents is one way to ensure that the line of communication is there when you need it. Parents that are more involved are more aware and have a greater understanding of their child’s educational world beyond the classroom door.
Make notes of everything
Teachers are busy. As such, it’s easy to forget about an incident at the start of the day by lunchtime or to miss a cue that suggests your student is struggling. If your school system provides a way to make notes on a computer or tablet, use that; if not, get a notebook and keep a record of all incidents to remember later.
Do you feel neglected by your parents as a teacher? Perhaps you’re struggling to connect with your parents and looking for the right answer to your problem.
