Innovate-for-Teachers

10 eachers and parents are both vital cogs in the wheel of a student’s growth and development. According to recent research by VitalSmarts there is often a disconnect between the two. A study ‘Speak Up or Burn Out: Five Conversations that Drive Educational Excellence’ by David Maxfield (VP of Research at VitalSmarts) conducted with 689 parents and 174 teachers found that teachers feel parents often fail to keep them informed about major changes happening at home that could affect their students, while parents feel that teachers fail to share details about their child’s behaviour in the classroom. The outcomes of Maxfield’s research determines that teachers need to be updated on major events in a child’s life - such as divorce, major illnesses or accidents and deaths in the family - because they can have “a profound impact” on the child emotionally, which could impact their ability to learn. Interestingly, the study also found that 94 per cent of teachers felt it was important for parents to inform them of a divorce or other struggles in the marriage, while only 23 per cent of divorcing parents reported they shared this information with their child’s teacher. Teachers know that any significant changes at home have the potential to unsettle a child and may cause difficulty concentrating, or even some disruptive behaviour. This can be concerning particularly when there’s been no issue previously. T The Benefits of Effective Parent-Teacher Communication