3 Tips for Bridging Communication Gaps Between Parents and Teachers

Research by our partners Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield, New York Times bestselling authors, has revealed a frightening communication gap between parents and teachers that has the potential to affect children's achievement. Teachers feel that parents don't communicate important changes at home, and parents feel that teachers don't share enough descriptive details about their children's behavior in the classroom.

The study, based on the principles found in Grenny's best-selling book Critical Conversations, found that a similar communication breakdown occurs with five major life changes that teachers see as the biggest barriers to learning: Death in the family, serious illness, divorce, severe marital discord or other family breakdown, changes in mood, or possible drug use.

If we talk in numbers, for example:

• 93% of teachers want to know about a fatal illness (cancer, etc.) or accident in the family, while only 21% of parents inform the teacher when these events happen.
• 89% of teachers want to know about depression or mood changes in the child. When this happens, only 27% of parents inform the teacher.

Of course teachers are not perfect, for example;

• Only 27% of teachers openly talk about it when they suspect that a student is using drugs.
• Only 54% of teachers talk openly with parents when they suspect depression, anxiety or other mood disorders.

KEY CONCLUSIONS

• In the study of 689 parents and 174 teachers, 94% of teachers think it is important for parents to inform themselves about divorce or other marital problems.
• However, only 23% of divorced parents reported telling their child's teacher.

"When life-changing events occur in the home that have the potential to affect a child's behavior and performance, parents unfortunately do not share this information with teachers who are trying to help their children succeed," says David Maxfiel.

TIPS FOR PARENTS

1. Communicate early and often with your child's teacher when events disrupt family life.
2. Exchange contact information so that you can reach each other as easily as possible.
3. Cooperate with your child's teacher by getting close to him/her. If you have a question, ask him/her directly. And remember that a simple "thank you" goes a long way in strengthening this collaboration.

TIPS FOR TEACHERS

1. Before the start of the school year, telephone, video call or meet face-to-face with the child's parents.

2. Send a short family questionnaire to collect the necessary information.
3. Invite parents to the school in advance, without waiting for parent-teacher conferences.
4. Share your thanks and appreciation with parents who contribute to the communication.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH. Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield collected responses from 698 parents and 174 teachers for this study in August 2015.

To find out how Critical Conversations Training can help teachers and parents, visit www.successprogramme.com/tr or call +90 216 681 63 81.

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