Parents are an important part of their child’s school journey but should know where to get off

Team TLT

Every school is an eco-system. Though there are many stakeholders who contribute and have expectations from this eco-system, the four key participants are the school, teachers, parents and the students. Except the parents, the others are bound by policies and processes. The parent cannot be or should not be left out, as we see happening in most of the schools around us.

Bond with the parents

An effective and strong partnership between the parents and the teachers will help the schools in achieving the purpose of their existence, which is to empower children. Good quality and consistent interaction between the parents and the teachers will have a positive impact on the child’s academic performance. A good parent-teacher relationship also ensures the child’s comfort level with the teacher to interact, learn and perform. This relationship influences not just academics but also increases the self-esteem of the child and that’s the starting point for a lot of other positives in the child’s life.

However, the mindsets of today’s parents are not the same as they were two or three decades ago. Regardless of the extent of their awareness about education globally, the trends and practices and its purpose, everyone has an opinion on the subject. Parents have their own ideas about what schools and teachers should do. While a parent’s expectations in the interests of their ward is understand- able, it is a growing concern for the school administrators and teachers.

Principals and schools which are not able to justify and convince the parents of their sincere efforts yield to parental demands. That is not something to be encouraged. A newly started school in Tiruchi, headed by an academician with close to three decades of experience in the school domain, conducted various sessions that sought to improve the communication skills of students. The idea was that their learning should not be confined to books. However, the school had to drop this exercise.

The parents alleged that the school had misused the money collected in the name of stationery. However, the cost of the props needed and used for the activity sessions was much higher than that. The school was a start-up and could not afford to bear the allegations of swindling and thus yielded to the pressure and demands of the parents. Events such as these impact not just such exercises but shake the vision of the founders.

School heads and teachers would have had similar experiences of demands from parents, sometimes even unrealistic ones the display a lack of basic understanding. These compulsions stop schools and teachers from attempting anything experimental in the interests of learning. In the process of compromising to meet the demands of the customers (parents), schools compromise in meeting the needs of the consumers (students).

This being the case, restricting parent entries and avoiding PTA meetings may not help the schools address this issue. A successful school is one which can groom and produce confident, competent and compassionate boys and girls. This success is directly proportional to the positive role of the parents in the school’s eco-system.

Meeting expectations

Schools should attempt to take every parent into confidence.

• The schools should clearly define the goals or outcomes for the academic year and if possible, break them down into milestones for every term and share them with the parents.
• Counsel the parents on what they can expect from their children and give them details about your efforts towards achieving the intended outcomes. Stress on the criticality of these age-appropriate learning outcomes as the students progress in their school and personal life.
• Describe in detail the expected role of the parents in achieving the desired outcomes.
• Make it clear that the school and the teachers own the responsibility and the right to strategise and alter pedagogy to reach the desired goals.
• Keep the parents informed that influences from the parents relating to ‘how’ and ‘what’ the schools should do cannot be entertained. However, schools can give parents a patient hearing and reassure them of their conviction and commitment.
• It will be a good practice to review with parents the progress of the child’s desired outcomes at regular intervals and work on the measures to be taken going forward.

Winning the confidence of the parent should be one of the very basic steps/goals of the school. Instilling confidence and positivity in the minds of the parents, who are the first brigade of a school’s brand ambassadors, will play a critical role in the way forward.