Source:Partnership for Learning

Teachers Tell All

Below are the actual off-the-cuff comments offered by hundreds of teachers in the Your Child Survey conducted in April 2004 by EPIC-MRA about their hopes and fears in working with parents. Not all teachers offered such comments, and while the remarks reflect a range of views, they are not a scientific sample.

While some of the comments may seem highly critical, they offer a rare window into the frustrations felt by some teachers. This is a record of a conversational exchange, and no attempt has been made to clean up grammar, though some words in brackets have been added to clarify confusing statements.

1. It is so important to keep the lines of communication open. If there is a concern, parents need to bring their concerns to teachers first.
2. Parents of one [child] should initiate contact with a teacher of 150.
3. I wish I had more time in my day to communicate with them and I wish they weren’t so intimidating to approach.
4. Unfortunately, the parents you need to see the most tend to be the ones who you never meet. The majorities of parents really have wonderful intentions and want to do what is best for their child. When I send home interims or progress reports, parents complain that I didn’t tell them sooner. These communications are what I use to let them know in the first place.
5. Parents’ attitudes about school carry over to their children; if you didn’t like school, give your kid a chance to decide for themselves.
6. It would be great for there to be a team supporting our students instead of the battle of parents vs. teachers.
7. We need parents to work with us to instill an appreciation of education and make it a HIGH priority. It is usually one extreme or the other! Too little or too much!
8. I certainly could do a better job of communicating with parents. I could use some training in this area.
9. Our school is working on having Internet access that will allow parents to see their child’s progress and attendance in every class, every day. This will be a problem for some without the Internet, but it will help many.
10. Parents need to be partners with the teacher to give their child the best education possible.
11. Open communication and follow up to plans are crucial to success, especially for those students who are struggling in school. Don’t give up - everything good takes time to develop. Teachers need to keep on trying to find better ways to involve parents.
12. I’m calling parents because I feel their child’s education is important, not because I want to complain. Also it is important that parents trust what teachers are saying. If I suspect a child is doing something harmful or dangerous, I’m calling because I am concerned.
13. Things of great importance get sent home regularly and are not read. (Our school sends home flyers from every event and group in the city, so it is easy to see how these papers can get lost on occasion.)
14. As a general proposition, there are very few parents who do not want to see their child succeed.
15. The parents need to approach teachers more rather than expect the teacher to always approach them.
16. A contract is only a piece of paper and holds no validity with the parents or the child after the beginning of the school year.
17. Parental communication is a two-way street in which both parents and teachers need to do what is in the best interest of the student.
18. I wish parents could feel they are an advocate for their children, not their defense attorney.
19. Take a role in your kids' lives. Ask them what they are doing even if they don’t want you to. Be involved. Show school is important by leading by example. Make the effort to contact teachers. Let your students know you are in contact with teachers. Support education.
20. Most people think school is still like it was when they were in school. They have no idea the things that really go on here!
21. Most parents try to do the right thing by their children, but high school for many in my community is a scary place...nearly 25% did not finish high school and find it intimidating.
22. I’ve had a web site and e-mail address posted for two years. Two parents have contacted me within that time...out of 240 students! As the kids get older, the parents seem to be less involved...but that’s a mistake, I think.
23. It is imperative that we gain more access to communication with parents. Parents can be a school’s biggest ally. I don’t think that having school performance score cards is the way to go about it. Their is too much negativity that comes out of the press about schools rather than showing the positive things that schools do for the community.
24. Keep it brief...don’t be too specific...use visuals whenever possible...encourage...support...and pray for the best!
25. I think our entire society is at fault for valuing things like glamour, wealth, material possessions, convenience, and violence, instead of family values, innocence, kindness, and service.
26. Parents need to be more open to what teachers tell them. They can’t get defensive and say “not my child”. We get to know the students well and have a lot of experience. Please trust our professional (and personal) opinions. We know what we are doing.
27. I thoroughly enjoy writing my weekly newsletter to my parents.
28. I wish there was a way to convey to parents what a teacher really does. Because of the fact that all adults have been in school, I find they all think they know everything about schools.
29. Whenever I have parents teach lessons, they always comment on “they don’t know how I do it,” and I often feel there is a new sense of patience and understanding from the parent that would contribute to better communication between the parent and the classroom teacher.
30. Show me a child who has parental love and support and I see a successful child. Often when children do not go home to a loving, caring, supportive environment it is more difficult for them to be as successful as their potential. Parents get behind your schools! Get involved and be involved. Every year the same parents are at the School Improvement Committee meetings. We need everyone so all children will do better in school.
31. Parent-school contracts are only pieces of paper. They won’t guarantee any participation from the parents. A parent’s involvement must come from a genuine desire to help their child do their best. We need to find a way to change attitudes.
32. When they try and we try, the student has so much going for him. It’s really the best chance we have, to teach as a team. I also think that the public thinks they know what teachers do because they were once students. That is like me saying I can be Mario Andretti because I can drive a car. The public needs to be aware of the pressures and what we do daily and vice-versa. I need to know all my parents constraints, schedules etc. so we can work together.
33. Parents seem to want to “fix” everything for their children, even at the expense of actually learning a real-life lesson from the consequences!
34. I feel if we as teachers put more effort into communicating positives with them communicating the negatives wouldn’t be so hard. Also, if we often have good things to say about their child they will know we care and hopefully support us in dealing with the negative things.
35. Most parents aren’t bad parents; they’re uneducated and misinformed parents. Educate parents to be the adults and expect their children to respect, attend, and comply with their teachers. I believe you’d see our public school systems soar.
36. The administration should lead the way.
37. The more you communicate with parents, the better it is for the kids.
38. Communication is the answer. Many parents who criticize schools never set foot in them during the school day.
39. Keep the deep down conviction that a parent actually does care about their child.
40. I make everything easy, accessible and available practically 24/7. They must use the resources available.
41. We have to shout this message loud to parent.... “Talk to the teachers”. Parents are way too busy and we have to make them stop and participate in their child’s’ future.
42. Policy makers assume that teachers should be “fixed”. I’d like to see another survey that gathers a broad range of suggestions for successful interactions with parents, which encourage more active engagement of parents with the school. I think that we scare parents off by approaching them as if we had better answers than they have.

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Last modified: March 4, 2005

Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.