Printer-friendly versionBeyond the language we speak, the words we choose can help or hinder the effectiveness of communication with parents and guardians. How do our word choices assist or prevent necessary interaction? How might our communication practices reflect power, instead of partnership?
High school creative writing teacher, Foster Dickson, talks about how the use of jargon and unidentified acronyms can impede effective teacher/parent communication.
Look For:
- What education-specific knowledge and terminology do I take for granted when speaking with parents?
- How might even the inadvertent use of such language hinder parent engagement strategies?
Go Deeper:
In this interview, education reformer Lisa Delpit encourages teachers to discover who their students are outside the classroom by engaging parents in authentic, meaningful ways and introduces her conceptions of culture and power.
Reflect on:
- What is the implicit message that the use of jargon and unidentified acronyms sends to parents?
- Are there unwritten or unspoken cultural codes in play when I communicate with parents?
- How does my communication strategy reinforce or reconstruct the teacher/parent power dynamic?
Ready Resources:
- NEA's Parent Interview Tip Sheet (PDF)
- Do's and Don'ts of Communicating with Parents (PDF)
- Tip Sheet for Parents (PDF), from the Center for Effective Parenting
The following resources are recommended for personal reflection and learning and for use by teacher work groups and other professional development endeavors.
Short Briefs:
"What Research Says About Parent Involvement in Children's Education" from the Michigan Department of Education
"A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement", a research synthesis by Anne T. Henderson & Karen L. Mapp, published by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Papers:
"The Effects of Comprehensive Parent Engagement on Student Learning Outcomes" by Sam Redding, Janis Langdon, Joseph Meyer, and Pamela Shelly for Academic Development Institute at Harvard University Graduate School of Education
"Parent Engagement Information and Tools: Moving Beyond Parent Involvement to Parent Engagement" from the Michigan Department of Education
"Readiness: School, Family, and Community Connections", a research synthesis by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2004
"Diversity: School, Family, and Community Connections", research synthesis by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2003
Books:
Halmoni & the Picnic. By Sook Nyul Choi and Karen Dugan. ($10) Houghton Mifflin, 1993. In the story, a student worries that her classmates will make fun of her Korean grandmother who has agreed to chaperone the class at a picnic in Central Park in New York City. ISBN-10: 0395616263, ISBN-13: 978-0395616260
School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, Second Edition. ($30) by Joyce L. Eptein, Mavis G. Sanders, Beth S. Simon and Karen Clark Salinas. Corwin Press; Second Edition, 2002. ISBN-10: 0761976663, ISBN-13: 978-0761976660
School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Preparing Educators and Improving Schools ($45) by Joyce L. Epstein. Westview Press, 2001. ISBN-10: 0813387558, ISBN-13: 978-0813387550
Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family/School Partnerships. ($17) By Ann T. Henderson, Vivian Johnson, Karen L. Mapp, and Don Davies. New Press. ISBN-10: 1565848888, ISBN-13: 978-1565848887
Doing Multicultural Education for Achievement and Equity. ($35) By Carl A. Grant and Christine E. Sleeter. Routledge, 2007. ISBN-10: 041595184, IBSN-13: 978-0415951845
