Learning curve: parent-teacher conferences

Most schools have a second parent-teacher conference in the spring term to monitor students’ academic and personal work and facilitate improvement. The questions: What progress is the student making on goals set at the start of the year? What more can be done to ensure he or she will complete the year successfully?

As an educator and parent, I have been on both sides of the conference table. Successful sessions require having an attitude of being in it together. Constructive communication between parents and teachers is crucial for students’ growth and learning. It is important parents prepare for them because their involvement is critical to success for both students and schools.

For example, one parent alerted me to her daughter’s wish to change lab partner because he would tell her what to do during each practical. That led me to pay closer attention to this duo’s dynamics – and the realisation that the student was right. Separating the lab partners was necessary because one was quietly taking charge in a way that allowed little collaboration.

So, conference preparation means being familiar not just with the children’s performance in each subject, but also speaking to them about which topics they are finding difficult and even seemingly innocuous things such as lab partners.

It’s important to keep an open mind. Several years ago, I suspended a student from practical work for a week because he refused to follow guidelines on lab safety. He has since graduated, but his mother has never accepted that this punitive measure, though harsh, was necessary to instil discipline and was not personal.

Hostility towards a teacher and seeking to allocate blame serves little purpose.