Teaming-with-educators

Parents Team With Educators – Part 2

In this three-part series, I will discuss Parents’ Team With Educators. We discussed establishing trust with educators in the first part, thus building your understanding. Trust will bring about the chance to ask questions and understand first-hand how much schools have changed since you were in school.  In Part 2 of this series, let’s look at making connections.

In Part 1, we talked about walking your child into the school and classroom by taking time to meet the teacher and chat for a few seconds. You begin to build trust with the staff and you by doing this.  At times, I have heard parents say; I am just a “Mom” or “Dad,” as if that makes them somehow of a lower status than an educator.  Don’t place yourself in that light; teachers want parents as partners.  Sometimes this unequal dynamic that feels like you’re not a member of the education team gives the impression to the parent that teachers know what is best.

I encourage you to enter the classroom and be there, observe, ask questions, and become familiar with the curriculum.

By asking educators what acronyms mean (we have many of them and often assume everyone knows), you begin to show an interest and the desire to be equal.  Be aware of questions you may have regarding the assessment of the learning.  Find opportunities to ask the teacher questions when they are free.  You don’t want to interrupt class.  Still, they serve as an essential leap to building a relationship with educators.  Attend school accountability meetings, and you will learn a great deal about the data surrounding your school.

You will soon begin to have opinions about what is going on with education and share and speak the language effectively.

All of this takes time, and there are no shortcuts.  Building an effective team with educators is worth the investment, even if you need to take a couple of hours off work to visit your child’s classroom.

In case you missed it, here is Part 1 in this series, Parents Team With Educators – Part 1 – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)

Here is Part 3 in this series for your reading pleasure, Parents Team With Educators – Part 3 – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)

Very Well Family has a post here on this topic that will help your awareness, The Benefit of Parents and Teachers Working Together (verywellfamily.com)

Yours for better parenting,

Rich