Parent and Teacher Communication Essay

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Parent Communication Plan

Introduction

Parent-teacher communication is one of the bedrocks of education. The reason for this is that education is not something that solely transpires in the classroom. It extends outside its walls and continues on into the real world. The student’s home is one area where education also occurs, and that is not the realm of the teacher but rather of the parent. Thus, to ensure that both parent and teacher are on the same page and are communicating the same vital messages and lessons to the child, it is wise that they themselves communicate with one another, share ideas, and discuss important issues that are likely to be faced by the child (Graham-Clay, 2005). As Merkley, Schmidt, Dirksen and Fuhler (2006) point out, there are many ways in which parent-teacher communication can be conducted today: the face-to-face meeting is always an option, but technological advancements have also made it possible to communicate via email, text message, or video conference. Indeed, Thompson, Mazer and Flood Grady (2015) show that today’s research reveals “an increase in parents’ preference for frequent e-mail communication as well as for emerging modes of parent–teacher communication such as text messaging and social media” (p. 187). This parent communication plan, therefore, will explain how the goals of parent-teacher communication can best be accomplished by utilizing the tools of the modern era that have made communication so much easier in the past years, while making exception and allotting time for those parents who still prefer the old, conventional modes of communication.

Different Kinds of Communication

One of the main goals of parent-teacher communication is to get the “news” of what is going on in the classroom out to parents so that they can be on the same page as the teacher. However, another goal is to obtain feedback from parents so that important issues for parents can be taken into consideration by the teacher and implemented inside the classroom whenever possible.

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Thus, to enable the spread of information in an easy way and to enable two-way flow of information so that feedback can always be obtained, the best mode of communication is the use of social media. Social media has become the dominant mode of communication in the 21st century and parents and teachers can use it to coordinate, collaborate, communicate and assist one another in the educative process (Thompson et al., 2015).

While there are of course myriad modes of communication that can be used, such as letters in the mail (typically a one-way flow of information mode), newsletters (another one-way flow mode), or phone calls (a conventional two-way flow mode), there are problems for each. First, the problem with newsletters and conventional mail is that it does not facilitate the feedback required for the attainment of one of the main goals of parent-teacher communication. It provides information in one direction—from teacher to parent. Most parents are not going to sit down to right a letter in response and even if they did the time lag is considerable in the age of digital media. Phone calls, too, are problematic because most people today have very busy lives and find it difficult to manage time enough to take a phone call. That is why most parents today prefer to communicate via text messaging—they can read and respond in their own time and a ideas can be exchanged over the course of a day rather than at a pre-arranged time or at a time that is inconvenient (Thompson et al., 2015). Social media combines the best of both worlds—it offers a platform for the dissemination of news as in a newsletter and also allows for feedback to be obtained, as….....

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References

Graham-Clay, S. (2005). Communicating with parents: Strategies for teachers. School Community Journal, 15(1), 117-129.

Merkley, D., Schmidt, D., Dirksen, C., & Fuhler, C. (2006). Enhancing parent-teacher communication using technology: a reading improvement clinic example with beginning teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 6(1), 11-42.

Thompson, B. C., Mazer, J. P., & Flood Grady, E. (2015). The changing nature of parent–teacher communication: Mode selection in the smartphone era. Communication Education, 64(2), 187-207.

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