The sole focus of a parent / teacher interview should be the student. Topics should be based on the academic, social and emotional development of the child at that particular moment. Sometimes successes are discussed. Sometimes areas of concern are highlighted. Both these cases are positive examples of parent / teacher meetings. But they are only positive meetings if the focus is the child and working out a plan of attack to support the child and their home / school environment.
Too often parent / teacher interviews are not about the child. They are about:
· Parents and teachers accusing each other and laying blame at problems
· Glossing over the real issues that may take time
· Promoting own self importance
I am an advocate for Student Participation in Parent Teachers Interviews.
Successful meetings can occur between parents and teachers if students are also involved in the process. Below you will find a list of ways this can be achieved. I believe that if students have some involvement then all parties will remember the real reason for the meeting: to create a better educational experience for them.
Examples of Student Participation
1. Desk / Book Investigation
This first way is simple, involves very little planning or organisation and can be used with all age groups. And it is very effective.
Here is how it works: If you are a classroom teacher than sit the parents at the student’s desk. If you are a high school teacher then ask for all student notebooks before the meeting. All meetings usually involve questions about whether the student is up to date with work, neat or organized. To answer, the teacher just needs to show the parents the desk or books. That visual, either positive or negative, will give parents a real understanding of their child operates at school.
2. Student Reflection
This is another strategy that can be given to students of all ages. Ask students to reflect on their learning. One example is to ask students to write a letter to their parents, and then at end of meeting ask parents to reply. This worked extremely well with Grade 3. I gave students a writing scaffold – What work do you want your parents to look at, what are you worried about at school. For older students you could ask them to reflect on an assessment task or a specific subject area.
Strangely enough, I have found most students very open to the idea and parents are often surprised at the detail they will write in a letter. This reflection is an excellent prompt for both parents and teachers to remember the student’s needs, which may be totally different to what the parent or teacher expects.
3. Student Portfolio (with or without child)
This is a very common strategy where the student and teacher collect pieces of work that then can be perused and discussed at a parent teacher meeting. For me, it is my least favourite example of student participation. I feel that Portfolio’s are time consuming, staged and lack the opportunity for students to discuss their social and emotional needs.
4. Student involved in meeting
This is the most effective and powerful way for all parties to be aware of the needs of the child. But the strategy will only work if preparation, clear ground rules and empathy from all parties is in place.
Preparation – The student needs to understand that they will be involved in the meeting. I say involved and my students know that this means that they will have the opportunity to voice their opinion. I may spend some time before the meeting prompting them to reflect on school or friends. I will let them know an example of a positive that I am going to discuss as well an area of concern.
Clear Ground Rules – Before the meeting I explain either by email or phone call that the child will be in the meeting. I will explain to the parent that all three of us will be talking about the strengths and areas of concern as well as creating an action plan. This initial contact is also the opportunity for either myself or the parent to discuss something that we don’t want to say in front of the child.
Empathy – Once in the meeting you need to be prepared to understand all sides of the argument. I have found in some many cases that two of the parties regularly ‘gang up’ on the other. Adults vs student, Family vs Parent. For real student participation to work teachers and parents need to spend some time trying to understand where everyone else is coming from.
Student involvement in parent teacher interviews can be risky. Students may say things that are surprising. But we need to give students the opportunity to voice their opinion and their education.
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By Ainslie Hunter
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