NOTE: This blog was first published in February 2019 by Twinkl: Top 5 Tips for Engaging Parents (twinkl.com.au). Minor adjustments have been made to ensure the information reflects current understanding of best practice.
Parental engagement in the school community has been linked to significant positive outcomes for students, including improved academic outcomes, a reduction in behaviours teachers find challenging, and improved school attendance rates.
The Importance Of Parental Engagement
Parental engagement in the school community has been linked to significant positive outcomes for students. It enables teachers to better understand their students' needs and to quickly address parental concerns, leading to improved academic outcomes, a reduction in behavioural problems and improved school attendance rates.
Positive parent-teacher relationships are important for all students, but for students with disability they are crucial. Teachers need to work collaboratively with parents to identify strengths and weaknesses and to develop effective Individual Learning Plans. They therefore need to be proactive in engaging with parents of children with additional needs, cultivating an environment where parents feel they are a valued member of their child's education team and where they feel comfortable discussing any concerns they have about their child.
Developing Positive Parent-Teacher Relationships With Parents Of Children With Additional Needs
Positive relationships are built on trust, respect and communication. These foundations should be laid at the beginning of school and built on throughout the year. The following are some practical and easy to implement strategies for developing positive parent-teacher relationships and increasing parental engagement in the school community.
Spend time getting to know both the student and the family
This could be face-to-face in a meeting scheduled for the first part of term one, it could be through informal conversations, or through a personalised questionnaire sent home for the family to complete. Factors to take into consideration include:
If a questionnaire is used, ensure it isn't a generic 'getting to know you' form. Questions should be relevant to the child's needs whilst also respecting the family's privacy.
Consider the whole child. Gather information on their achievements, interests, likes and dislikes, social-emotional and physical needs, as well as academic needs.
Respect parents' expertise by discussing what accommodations are used at home, strategies that have worked in the past and what their goals are for their child (if the child is too young to set their own).
Introduce yourself, providing a mixture of personal and professional information. This fosters a sense of partnership and encourages parents to share more information.
Increase communication
Frequent, honest and open communication is key to building respectful relationships with parents, especially if a child's disability means they are unable to communicate with their parents about their school day. However, it is not practical or desirable for teachers to have a blanket open-door policy. Some suggestions for effective communication are:
Ask parents what their preferred method of communication is - email, telephone, handwritten etc - and be willing to accommodate this.
Set clear guidelines early in the year regarding when and how you will communicate with parents, keeping in mind that there may be times when some flexibility is needed.
Use a communication book that is written in each day and sent home. This provides two-way communication about a child's day and allows parents to communicate even if they are unable to come into the school.
Alternatively, use an application such as Seesaw or Class Dojo for daily communication. The benefits of this include adding videos and photographs, and also the ability to ask and answer questions in real time.
Celebrate student successes - don't leave communication to when issues arise!
Listen to concerns with empathy
Parenting a child with disability can be challenging and complex. Navigating health and support services and advocating for your child takes time and energy. It is important that teachers are mindful of this and attempt to understand the situation from the family's perspective when addressing concerns.
Work collaboratively to develop Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
Parent and student collaboration is not only essential for developing effective IEPs, consultation is a legal obligation. This does not mean creating an IEP for the parent to agree to. It is important that teachers view parents and students as equal partners in this process.
The following should be taken into consideration when conducting IEP meetings:
Be flexible with the times you are available, the format of a meeting and who attends the meeting to accommodate the needs of everyone, e.g. working parents, separated parents and parents with English as an additional language.
Encourage parents to bring an advocate or support person if needed.
Ensure the environment is comfortable, welcoming and non-threatening.
A draft IEP can be sent to parents prior to the meeting, however these goals are not fixed, and goals should be determined collaboratively with parents and studnets during the IEP meeting.
Discussions should be strengths-based, focusing not only on challenges but on how strengths can be utilised to address areas of need.
Use plain language that is accessible for everyone- avoid 'teacher-talk' and jargon.
Provide accommodations to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to contribute to the disscussion, for example using images to engage the opinion of children with comminication difficulties
Use this practice guide from QUT's Center for Inclusive Education to help you meet the legal obligation to consult with students and their representatives Practice Guides - The Centre for Inclusive Education (qut.edu.au)
Be flexible and open-minded
Different parents will need different levels of support to engage in their child's education and it is therefore important that you are flexible and open-minded when collaborating with parents of children with additional needs. It is important to avoid judgement and comparisons and understand that everyone has the same goal in mind; a happy and successful school experience for their child.
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