Let’s Try to Assume Positive Intent
Parenting our children is one of the hardest “roles” I have ever had the honor to encounter. Having worked most of my career within schools, my experience had always been from the educator’s perspective. However, once we had children, I would join the other side of the table as a parent. Prior to having children, I was often frustrated with parents about what I had perceived as a lack of engagement, however, I soon came to learn that wasn’t the case for a majority of the parents.
Once I truly began to assume positive intent for parents, the connections developed were more purposeful. At times, educators are hesitant to be honest with parents regarding their child’s progress. However, there is a way to work alongside parents while being honest, direct, and empathetic. This is important when mentoring educators. Teaching is more than just providing instruction in the classroom.
It was during our first parent-teacher conference where I reflected on how we as educators, need to support our families more. It is also vital to relay to parents how important their child is to you. As educators, we schedule back to back conferences to make sure we can meet with all our students’ families. It is usually a long and tiring process but for each parent, it is 20-30 minutes of actual face to face time with the person who spends the majority of their day with my child.
As a parent, we aren’t unsympathetic to the fact that it is a long day, however, for those minutes, we want to know our child is the focus of your concern. We want it explained to us in a language we will understand and to know that if our child is struggling, that there is a plan to help. We want to avoid the assumption our children don’t have any concerns and then finding out months later that our child is struggling. We need to work together and improve our dialogue with each other. We should be able to have these conversations together in the best interest of our children.
#standreadytosupport