Communication with Families - Essay Example

Communication with Families A. First, the teacher showed concern by arranging for translators. Second, the disclosure document contained instructions for internet illiterate parents about how to use the school’s website. Third, the teacher showed sensitivity toward working parents by deciding to stay at school till 8pm once a week.B. Through translators, parents’ could properly understand the speech so that they did not miss important points. The step-by-step instructions in the disclosure document taught the parents how to use and communicate through the school’s website.

Teacher’s decision of staying till 8pm once a week made it easy for working parents to visit the teacher after their working hours. Working parents, especially fathers, or those who live at distant locations are “less involved” in their children’s education “unless the school organizes opportunities…in various times and in various places” (Epstein, 2001, p. 407).C. The teacher said that the document contained some information that came “directly from our state education office”.

This technical information was less likely to be understood by less educated parents. Secondly, the teacher said that the “web site will also allow us to communicate by e-mail”, but he did not consider the fact that many parents would not be having any computers at home or e-mail addresses through which they could communicate with school authorities.D. The information that came directly from the state education office would have affected less educated parents since they might not have understood such formal phrases.

Secondly, those parents who did not know how to use internet or did not have computers at home got no help in getting to know how to use the website. Mendoza (2003) asserts that “when professionals use technical terms and jargon without sufficient explanation, parents may not understand key information about their children”.E. The teacher could have shown greater sensitivity to the parents by explaining the instructions of state education office in easier words so that every parent could have understood it.

Mendoza (2003) states that the difficult reading level of the written materials makes them “potentially inaccessible to parents with lower literacy skills or to second-language English speakers”. Secondly, the teacher should have considered how those parents were going to communicate who did not have computers at their homes. F. A parent plays a vital role in his child’s education. He has to stay well informed about his timetable. He must be able to communicate with the child so that he shares with him all troubles that he might be facing in his studies.

The parent must stay in regular touch with his child’s teachers so that he knows the progress. I, as a teacher, would organize parent-teacher meetings once a month to keep the parents well-versed about their children’s performance. I would provide the parents such opportunities that will help them get access to all information that they require about the school and studies. Mendoza (2003) states that “early childhood programs” help “to ensure that parents have access to information that they need”.

Epstein (2001) also suggests the same that “caring communities can be built intentionally” which cater to the needs of parents (p. 408).ReferencesMendoza, J. (2003). Communicating with parents. Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting. Retrieved August 9, 2011, from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Website: http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/eecearchive/digests/2003/mendoza03.html Epstein, J. L. (2001). School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Preparing Educators and Improving Schools.

Boulder, CO: Westview Press.