Completing the Triangle: Why Involving Our Students' Parents Is So Important

We have just completed two full days of “Three Way Learning Reviews“. Time was taken out of the regular school schedule, the timetable was suspended, and we were dedicated to conversations about learning. Parents signed up for individual interviews with homeroom teachers and specialist teachers like me. But the most important feature of these interviews was that they required all stakeholders to be present. Student. Parent. Teacher. And, for these reviews to be effective and worthwhile, all three components of the triangle needed to be equal collaborators.

I was prompted to write this post because I was approached by a parent of a child I taught three years ago. She came up to my table in the big gym where I was seated waiting for my next interview and said only seven words: “I need to give you a hug“.  This caught me a bit off guard – it’s not quite a request I would expect at a relatively serious event. She is not a parent I know really well, but the connection was there. That one moment really sparked me into thinking about just how important it is that we connect to the parents of the students we teach. And how important it is that students are very much aware of these connections. Her son positively grinned when I obliged and hugged her!

In the old days, when I was at school, I remember my parents going to meet my teachers. They returned home after an evening at my school discussing me and my progress. Without me being there! Even now I wonder exactly what they talked about. Most likely my behaviour (I was an angel at school, devil at home) and the grades or percentages I was achieving in tests. I wonder how much they actually talked about my learning. I should really ask my folks about that.

Things are different now. Things are improving. Educators are realising the importance of involving students in discussions about their learning. The importance of empowering the students to take ownership of their learning. The importance of enabling the students to have a voice in the learning process. This realisation is also trickling into the minds of the parents. It can take effort and dedication to educate parents sometimes. Our Vice Principal wrote this great post to parents explaining the importance of the learning reviews. It is imperative that we take time to educate parents of the students we teach. Involve them in conversations. Be transparent about what we, as educators, do. 

During the past two days I have met with students I have worked with for four years and also students who are new to the school. Important discussions about learning with five to eight year olds and their parents. We talked about aspects of the performing arts programme that the students found challenging, a piece of cake or just plain FUN. Every student I met with identified a learning goal to work on for the next few weeks. It was not a goal set by me or their parent. It was a goal set by the student him/herself that was personal to that particular child at that particular moment in time. A goal I will definitely be referring back to in weeks to come.

When students see their parents and teachers connecting and working together, they begin to realise that the learning they are doing is important. That THEY are important. Meeting the parents also adds a much deeper layer in our understanding of the students we work with. Often, we begin to discover the reasons behind certain behaviours, talents or struggles. When educators have an enhanced understanding of the students they work with they are empowered to be much better learning facilitators.

Meetings like these are crucial and should not be seen as an added extra to a teacher’s workload. They are an integral and necessary part of a child’s learning journey.

Pyramid image constructed by Sarah Hodgson using the following image: ‘774 – Neuron Connection – Pattern‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/60057912@N00/4743616313. Found on flickrcc.net

#parents #students #teachers #triangle