As a teacher you sometimes have the task of asking parents to engage themselves more in the schoolwork of their child, or you have the feeling that the child could use some more engagement. But how do you tell the parents this? It is never enjoyable to have such a conversation, but if you, as a teacher, deem this to be necessary, you will have to have the conversation nonetheless. To help you in you search for the right words or to help you to find the right approach, we will help you here by summing up som basic rules of communication.
Engagement of parents? Some communication techniques
If you end up having a difficult conversation or you have to say something which is not nice to someone, you can use certain techniques. If you want to tell parents that they should engage themselves more in the schoolwork of their child, this is considered to be criticizing or giving feedback. If you do one of these, it is important to consider the opinion of the other person or what the other person says, even if you find it important to send a message. This does not mean that you should not be allowed to let them know what you want them to know, but it means that it is best to give this message while leaving space for the opinion of the other person. It is also important to put your message in an assertive way. This means that you are clear about what you believe, but that you do not adopt an aggressive method of being so.
Engagement of parents? Learning these techniques
15 Minutes 4 Me developed an online program which helps teachers in dealing with stress, which can largely influence your communication techniques. Especially when you want to give someone a difficult message. Learn, thanks to 15 Minutes 4 Me, how you can keep your inner peace during a conversation, and show the best side of you in order to let your conversations go more smoothly.
Engagement of parents? Take the stress test!
If you want to know to what extent you experience stress because of difficult situations or times in your life, then take the free stress test here, which will tell you which symptoms of stress you experience!