Episode 102: Revolutionizing the Parent-Teacher Conference Experience

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Welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim J. Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped with to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. This podcast is at the intersection between education research and parental actions. If you're looking to find out more about the current trends, issues and themes in education that could affect you or your children, and you want to know the specific actions you can take to support and advocate for your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K12 education topics is important to you, so keep listening. On this episode I'll be discussing how to get the most benefit from a parent teacher conference. What's a ritualized event that is one of the most common forms of direct communication between parents, teachers and schools? The answer is a parent teacher conference. A parent teacher conference is actually a two way street. There's information shared by the teacher and insights shared by the parent. It allows teachers and parents to address particular issues related to a child, most notably their academic progress and behavior. It can also be a source of stress for both parents and teachers. I discuss why this seems to be the case as well as other notable characterizations of these encounters, and I provide action steps that you can take to ace your next parent teacher conference. Let's untangle this. You participate in your child's schooling in many ways as audience, volunteer, advocate, etc. Yet the most significant occasion for interacting with and communicating with the school and the teacher is the formal Parent teacher conference which centers on your child's academic and social well being. Depending on the teacher's availability and ad hoc parent teacher conferences can be held in any grade, particularly if there are specific issues that the parent wants to address. Most schools hold a once a year conference, but many schools host A parent teacher conference twice a year. Participation by parents in parent teacher conferences is relatively high during the child's primary school years, that would be grades K through 5, and the benefits have been well documented in many cases, especially with new teachers. Problems in communicating effectively are often encountered with parents in parent teacher conferences. Both teachers and parents should occupy equitable positions of power in the communication process of a parent teacher conference. This means that in a parent teacher conference, teachers not only fill the role of educational experts but but they also function as learners about the family's history and experience. Likewise, parents draw on their own multiple experiences of their child as a family member while they also learn more about the school's programs and processes. There are a number of barriers, so to speak, in the parent teacher conference communication, especially since the typical conference lasts about 15 minutes. These include how some parents experience anxiety during interactions with teachers due to their own personal experiences in school. Parents and teachers may hold conflicting expectations of the conference outcomes. Parents of color parents whose language or social background is different than that of the teacher may experience cultural barriers during communication. The teacher as the educational expertise may appear to assume a more powerful position in the relationship to the parent, especially if the parent lacks professional knowledge of the school. And the last barrier is logistical constraints in school such as poor timing of the conferences, inadequate venues for the conferences, poor seating arrangements for parents and teachers, as well as external noise in the school environment. All of these can affect outcomes in a negative way. Scheduling of the conferences is particularly important for fathers non custodial parents, those would be parents who are divorced and one doesn't have permanent custody of the child and non traditional caregivers such as grandparents who may have issues attending parent teacher conferences. Teachers need to be sensitive to parents understanding or lack thereof of educational jargon, the school curriculum and report guard grading when they have discussions with parents in parent teacher conferences. Several strategies have been proposed for improving parent teacher conferences. These include implementation of prior planning for conferences and parent teacher contracts in which the teacher and parents agree on the written goals for the child, the availability of student files which document student grades and setting up follow up meetings after the conference to assess progress. Another strategy is including the student in the parent teacher conference which can ensure that the child also engages in his or her own plan for improvement. The parent teacher conference is most beneficial if it includes meetings to discuss positive points and not just the bad news about a child. They should be occasions for the affirmation of good performance by the student. Here's some food for thought as a feedback mechanism. Why don't schools conduct a survey of parent satisfaction with parent teacher conferences. Also, why don't schools provide a written record or conference report for the parent after a parent teacher conference? This report could include teacher concerns, parent concerns, decisions, goals, action items and plans, and follow up with a specific time frame. The parent teacher conference is an optimal opportunity for schools to work with parents as partners. Instead. Parental capitals such as cultural knowledge, experience, and and raising a particular child is not easily recognized by most teachers. Are parent teacher conferences still relevant in this technological era? Should their structure be changed as well as how they are conducted? These were questions that were addressed in a 2017 study which examined whether there is an association between computer assisted communication and and parent involvement. There are three different types of parent teacher encounters. One type is a general parent teacher meeting where the teacher meets with all class parents. The second type is an individual parent teacher meeting where the teacher meets with each student's parent alone or in the presence of the student. The third type is an unofficial encounter during the school year, like when the parent and the teacher informally have a conversation during a school function. This type of encounter can be conducted by telephone, text, or other means. The overall purpose of these encounters is to provide knowledge and guidance. That's the cognitive aspect, to establish and maintain a constant dialogue, the emotional aspect, and to create parental involvement in the schools and a specific classroom. That's the ethical aspect. The goal is for parents and teachers to work together to develop a uniform front on behalf of the child. Given the rapid technological development, computer assisted communication in the school is a topic worth exploring. Computer assisted communication can either replace face to face meetings or add another level to face to face meetings. Computer mediated communication such as video conferencing, telephone conferencing, online correspondence, and email can be ways of increasing the school to home communication to provide parents, teachers, and students with a way of remaining connected and updated as well as encouraging regular communication. These are certainly more convenient ways to contact a teacher and may eliminate the need for attending parent teacher conferences which can disrupt a parent's work day. The types of applications that help to maintain constant school parent communication includes an online calendar to keep parents informed about all the events taking place at the school, posting grades online, and emails. The use of these technological channels of communication in schools depends on the type of leadership at the school, the degree to which the leader takes responsibility for enhancing and developing communication systems that keep parents involved and engaged. A key issue with using computer assisted media to communicate with the teacher and the school is that some families can't afford these media and this creates inequality. It's important to consider the socioeconomics of the school community when considering using using technology in daily school communications. The parent teacher conference structure could be changed to not only focus on current academic progress and or behavioral concerns to one that focuses on creating future plans to help the child progress towards setting goals as well as courses of action that parents could embrace. This would help make the most of the parent teacher conference in order to help the student advance and could involve resources that could help contribute to achieving those goals. In a lot of the research, findings indicated that when parents tried to communicate and contribute information regarding their child in parent teacher conferences, there was a perception that the information was not treated credibly by teachers. In other words, the parents role as experts regarding their own child was often downplayed. This is unfortunate, but it plays into the idea that teachers come to parent teacher conferences as the quote unquote expert, the transmitter of information, as well as the one who sets the agenda for the meeting. This may be true regarding education processes and policies as well as teaching methodologies, but it doesn't apply to knowing the whole child. Parent teacher conferences can be a great opportunity for feedback. At the same time, they can cause a certain anxiety. Some parents experience feeling surprised and disheartened when the teacher describes their child's behavior at school. They even feel that the child's performance in school reflects negatively on their ability as a parent. This leaves many parents feeling confused about what they should do next because the parent may feel that there's self worth worth has become entangled with their child's behavior. It's as if their sense of success as a parent is threatened. The overall goal is for the teacher and the parent to be honest in their assessment about a child and that each values each other's opinions. This requires the parent to disentangle his or her self worth from the behavior of the child for the child's sake and for the parent's sake. The parent and the educator are two important pieces of the puzzle because teachers are never going to know your child better than you know that child. And you could offer insights about your child that the teacher would never see at school. These insights could provide crucial information that the teacher could use to help motivate your child to learn. On the other hand, the teacher could offer his or her perspective based on the observations of your child who spends five days a week in that teacher's classroom. When both parties collaborate, it's for the betterment of the child. When teachers and parents have communication issues and aren't able to work as a team. This is detrimental to a child because if the teacher feels unsafe having important conversations with parents about their children, they will avoid telling parents the truth. In this case, the child may not be receiving the services or interventions they need to navigate their future successfully as appropriate. Parents need to have conversations with their children about the feedback they receive from their teachers. This lets the child know of the high expectations that you as a parent and the teacher who together with the parents are holding the child accountable. Building relationships is the key to success of the parent teacher relationship. With these things in mind, how does what I've just discussed apply to you? Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic. Come prepared to a parent teacher conference by having your observations and questions ready, you are the best advocate for your child. You need to formulate and ask your own questions regarding your child's education. It would be a great best practice for teachers to send materials to parents ahead of an upcoming parent teacher conference. These materials would include a handout inviting parents to generate and prioritize their own questions in advance. However, if no pre conference materials have been sent to you, then formulate and ask your own questions, especially questions about how you can best support your child's learning. One of the key things that you're looking for is whether the teacher actually knows and appreciates your child. Be sure to ask teachers for data to support their observations, not their opinions. These data include work samples, behavioral assessments, etc. You may also need to ask your child's teacher to describe what may trigger your child's inappropriate behavior. Classroom Conduct if this is a concern, this could be things such as anticipation of recess or an interaction with a certain classmate. At parent teacher conferences, teachers need to be able to identify strengths of every child, whether that strength is academic or not. Teachers also need to make the conference setting inviting. This means not making you sit at those little desks while the teacher gets to sit behind a big adult desk. Ideally, communication flows better when the adults are sitting at 45° or 90° from each other at a full sized table. Respect and honor the teacher's classroom practices and expectations. The relationship between you and your child's teacher is mutually beneficial when the teacher is explicit about expectations and practices and you follow those. For example, a teacher's syllabus could specify that they only answer emails from 7:30am to 4:30pm this sets the expectation that they won't be answering emails outside of that time frame. You should honor that. Additionally, be sure to communicate with your child's teacher your preferences for how you like to be communicated with as well as any information that you can share to help the teacher. Teacher Best support your child Many school principals and teachers suggest having your child attend the parent teacher conference, especially for conferences held in middle school and high school. This keeps all parties accountable. The student could explain what he or she likes about school and talk about things in general, and then the student could get more specific by going through the work that they've completed for that class. In this scenario, the student gets to participate, the parents get to understand the course work a little better, and the teacher provides any additional input. Creating a positive outcome in parent teacher conferences begins long before the conference is initiated. It starts with the intention of the entire school staff to reach out, engage and connect with parents and help them feel welcomed and as an essential part of the school community. Here are this episode's takeaways. Participation by parents in parent teacher conferences is relatively high during the child's primary school years and the benefits have been well documented in many cases, especially with new teachers. Problems in communicating effectively are often encountered with parents in parent teacher conferences. Both teachers and parents should occupy equitable positions of power in the communication process of a parent teacher conference. Several strategies have been proposed for improving parent teacher conferences. These include implementation of prior planning but conferences and parent teacher contracts in which the teacher and the parents agree on the written goals for the child, the availability of student files which documents student grades and setting up follow up meetings after the conference to assess progress and the inclusion of the student in the parent teacher conference which may ensure that the child also engages in his or her own plan for improvement. The overall goal is for the teacher and the parent to be honest in their assessment about a child and that each values each other's opinions. This requires a parent to disentangle his or her self worth from the behavior of the child for the child's sake and for the parent's sake. The parent and the educator are two important pieces of the puzzle because teachers are never going to know your child better than and you know that child and you could offer insights about your child that the teacher would never see in school. These insights could provide crucial information that the teacher could use to help motivate your child to learn. On the other hand, the teacher could offer his or her perspective based on the observations of your child who actually spends five days a week in that teacher's classroom. When both parties collaborate, it's for the betterment of the child. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, then leave me a rating A review or a comment on Apple or podchaser. Leaving me a review is a great way to support me and to help my podcast grow. If you like this podcast, click Follow on your podcast player of choice to subscribe and get the latest episodes and share this episode with anyone that you think will find it valuable. Be sure to tell your friends, family and community about about my podcast. Thanks for listening today. I hope you'll come back for more K12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle. Until next time, aim to learn something new every day.

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