Parent Communication

The Teacher Leaders Network recently had a discussion prompted by this piece written by Bill Ferriter for Teacher Magazine.  In the article and discussion, Bill and TLN teachers discussed some of the communication gaps between parents and teachers.  Bill described the problem as a “false sense of transparency"--the feeling that parents know everything about teaching and teachers know everything about parenting.  The Teacher Magazine article includes a number of suggestions, like “recognizing that parents are valuable partners” and “admitting your mistakes.” They’re perfectly good suggestions, but nothing surprising.

I’m left wondering about the elephant in the room, something that came up last night at a fascinating National-Louis forum:  What about when teachers and parents do not communicate well, not just because they have different roles with regards to the child, but because their conversations are filtered through the lenses of their race, class, age, or language?

Labels: Conversations