Parent Teacher Conference

Before meeting the parents

Preparedness is the key to effective conferencing. It is necessary that teachers take time to prepare for the session to make it effective.

Here are some things you can do:

1. Collect feedback from all subject tutors.
2. Familiarize yourself with the school’s policies and the list of help services available in the school.
3. Read the student’s registration forms in the CT file. Find out more about the student’s background so you can be alerted to what comments may be inappropriate (e.g. single parent family? Parents’ education level?)
4. Types of information you need to gather:

• Academic performance in each subject
• CCA involvement
• Attitude in class
• Relationship with peers

During the meeting

The key to an effective conference with the parents is the creation of a positive environment for communication.

Here are some of the things you can do:

1. Start with a positive statement or comment about the student. Parents often like to hear something positive about their child especially from a third party.
2. Present the student’s strength and weaknesses in a non-judgmental manner. It is often useful to present factual evidence in support of your comments.
3. Gather feedback from parents about the student’s attitude and behaviour at home.
4. Get parents to suggest how they can help the school deal with the “problem” if any.
5. Give your suggestions without dismissing the parents’ suggestions outright.
6. Develop an action plan for parent teacher collaboration.
7. Keep the communication open and positive throughout the conference.

After the meeting

The post conference is an integral part of the parent teacher communication process. The key to a successful follow up a conference is accountability to the stakeholders. Effort should therefore be made to ensure that the necessary follow up is done.

Here are some of the things you may need to do:

1. Keep brief notes about the conference to ensure that the parents’ concerns and follow up are recorded.
2. Review the action plan and develop a systematic monitoring process for the student.
3. Keep a set of records of the student’s progress and note any form of improvement at the next conference.
4. Share with other teachers and staff involved with the students the parent’s concern and discusses how they can help out in the monitoring and follow up process.

Dos and Don’ts when meeting parents

Dos

• Dress in a way that reflects the meeting's importance and your respect for the parents and the student.
• Greet the parents warmly before the discussion.
• Exercise diplomacy & tact.
• Weigh your words. Keep in mind your remarks can easily be interpreted as a Criticism of parenting skills. Give each parent the kindness, respect, and consideration you would expect from your own child's teacher.
• Always go back to basics- we care for our student and we will do our best to help in any way we can. (The other stakeholders- student and parents must also do their part)
• Stall for time when information is not available. Promise to get back to them and keep the promise.
• Rehearse what you want to say to parents (especially when the student has “a lot of room for improvement”).
• Maintain confidentiality. Do not divulge what is stated in confidence by other tutors.
• Back up what you say with concrete examples as far as possible.
• Involve parents. Ask parents for suggestions on how they can help their child even as the college does its part.
• Give your own suggestions on how parents could help
• Refer the parents to the subject tutor if the parents have concerns about the performance of the child in a particular subject.
• Mind your body language.
• Conclude with a sincere “Thank You”.
• End the meeting on a positive note as far as possible.
• Record the important issues discussed for back-up purposes.
• Ask for help if you foresee a potential volatile situation.

Do Not

• Criticize the parents or their parenting style.
• Label the student- give feedback on the behaviour and back up with concrete evidence. (e.g. “XX has been handing in work late for the last three assignments” rather than “XX is very lazy”)
• Dominate the meeting. Give the parents a chance to speak.
• Allow the parents to dominate the meeting – keep proper time-management; other parents are waiting. If there are many issues to talk about with a particular parent, fix another time to sort them out. (e.g. “I understand your concerns. We are pressed for time tonight and there are other parents who are waiting. Let's set up another time, convenient for both of us, when we can talk at length.”)
• Allow anger to take control of you.
• Blame anyone (student, parent, colleague, yourself etc)
• Be negative
• Be defensive (e.g. when parents want to teach you how to teach)
• Get involved in family issues. Do not take sides when the parents complain about their child. (Some parents may quote/ misquote you - “Mr xx agrees with me that you are …….”)
• Criticize other teachers – when parents complain about a colleague, do not give your comments (commenting on a colleague’s negatively in front of parents is unprofessional). Refer the parents to the respective PC or SC who is in a better position to answer queries pertaining to other teachers’ teaching.

A successful conference would:

• Resolve the issues that call for the conference.
• Reach an understanding for the appropriate action to be taken by all parties.
• Provide for further checkpoints before the next conference where necessary.
• Provide for a tentative date for the next conference where necessary.