Communicating Effectively With Parents

One aspect of teaching we will all need to tackle at some point will be an angry or annoyed parent or guardian.

By being open, inviting and personable your students’ parents will be impressed with you and the way you manage your classroom. A miscalculated response can backfire, fan the flames of an upset parent and burn the bridges between home and school. This in turn can cause a lot of damage whether there was a basis for the anger or not.

So this encounter needs to be turned into an opportunity for everyone – parents, student and teacher. Although much of this is common sense I have pulled together this ten page booklet with some suggestions for successfully defusing such a meeting before, during and after it arises.