Teacher and Parent Interactions:
"Strong partnerships between a school, its teachers, parents and community make a positive contribution to student learning" (NSW DEC 2014, pg.20).
Creating parent- teacher relationships can be hard due to the limited time both parents and teachers have. It important to build and maintain positive relationships with parents in order to create a supportive school and home environment.
Research suggests that positive development in a student’s learning is most prominent when school staff and parents work collaboratively in order to facilitate a supportive learning environment (Clinton, Hattie & Dixon 2007; Epstein & Sheldon 2006; Denessen, Bakker & Giervald 2007). It is therefore important to encourage and cultivate parent engagement to create the best possible learning environments for all students.
Some helpful tips to break down teacher-parent barriers
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If conflict arises and is ongoing with a parent, it is important to report this to a supervisor or principal in order to deal with it professionally. For more information of how to deal with complaints, go to the link below for the “Complaints Handling Policy Guidelines” (NSW DEC 2007).
http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/detresources/about-us/how-we-operate/how-we-handle-complaints/printabledocs/printguidelines.pdf
The DEC website (2014) provides teachers with an abundance of information regarding how to approach, deal with and communicate appropriately and professionally with parents in order to create and maintain strong teacher-parent relationships. The link below takes you to the page “Consulting with Parents” (NSW DEC 2014). This looks at ways to communicate effectively with parents.
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/studentsupport/studenthealth/individualstud/consultparent/index.php
Elena Aguilar’s Blog “2o Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents” is a helpful and practical source of information helping to create strong relationships with your students’ parents (Aguilar 2011). Follow the link below to see her tips and ideas.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-developing-positive-relationships-parents-elena-aguilar
For a more extensive guide on how to communicate, form partnerships and supporting parents, follow the link below to the webpage “Positively Engaging Parents” (SLSP 2010). This gives a range of ideas on how to form positive partnerships with parents across a variety of different forms of communications that arise in the school environment.
http://www.worklinks.com.au/files/positively_engaging_parents.pdf
http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/detresources/about-us/how-we-operate/how-we-handle-complaints/printabledocs/printguidelines.pdf
The DEC website (2014) provides teachers with an abundance of information regarding how to approach, deal with and communicate appropriately and professionally with parents in order to create and maintain strong teacher-parent relationships. The link below takes you to the page “Consulting with Parents” (NSW DEC 2014). This looks at ways to communicate effectively with parents.
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/studentsupport/studenthealth/individualstud/consultparent/index.php
Elena Aguilar’s Blog “2o Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents” is a helpful and practical source of information helping to create strong relationships with your students’ parents (Aguilar 2011). Follow the link below to see her tips and ideas.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-developing-positive-relationships-parents-elena-aguilar
For a more extensive guide on how to communicate, form partnerships and supporting parents, follow the link below to the webpage “Positively Engaging Parents” (SLSP 2010). This gives a range of ideas on how to form positive partnerships with parents across a variety of different forms of communications that arise in the school environment.
http://www.worklinks.com.au/files/positively_engaging_parents.pdf
Parental Engagement
"Parental Engagement in Learning and Schooling” (2012) is another fantastic resource which goes into detail about how to engage parents in the school community and the many benefits this has on the student’s academic, social and emotional development. This is a great resource for parents and teachers. The link to the PDF can be found below.
http://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/7/filename/Parental_engagement_in_learning_and_schooling_Lessons_from_research_BUREAU_ARACY_August_2012.pdf
As an employee of the DEC, it is important to know and uphold the expectations and professional behaviours when interacting with staff, students and parents. This helps to create, maintain and develop a positive work environment that is beneficial to students and the whole school community (NSW DEC 2014).
The Code of Conduct (NSW DEC 2014) can be found on the DEC website or follow the link below to see the PDF.
http://www.teach.nsw.edu.au/documents/code_guide.pdf
http://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/7/filename/Parental_engagement_in_learning_and_schooling_Lessons_from_research_BUREAU_ARACY_August_2012.pdf
As an employee of the DEC, it is important to know and uphold the expectations and professional behaviours when interacting with staff, students and parents. This helps to create, maintain and develop a positive work environment that is beneficial to students and the whole school community (NSW DEC 2014).
The Code of Conduct (NSW DEC 2014) can be found on the DEC website or follow the link below to see the PDF.
http://www.teach.nsw.edu.au/documents/code_guide.pdf