Notwithstanding anything in this section, teachers who are considering adopting or adapting any of these tips or suggestions are encouraged and reminded to do so in an informed way that a) respects collective agreements, b) adheres to board policies and other regulations and laws governing the profession, and c) does not adversely affect their own well-being.

As elementary teachers and educators, we can model effective communication with parents and guardians in these ways:

• Maintain professionalism in all your contact with parents in person, over the phone, and in writing.
• Use clear language that avoids educational jargon. The latter can confuse parents or cloud matters, and distract from the real issue(s).
• Adopt a “no surprises” approach to communication with parents. Even though students experience increasing levels of autonomy and responsibility as learners, parents and guardians still need to be kept informed.
• In any interaction, first listen actively to understand parents’ needs and concerns, then respond.
• Make positive, ‘sunshine’ phone calls home to parents to share milestones in achievement or sudden growth in learning.
• Enter into conversations with parents and guardians in ways that help all parties to arrive at a deeper understanding such as accenting the positive first, then transitioning to a discussion of the challenges.
• Ensure that conversations about student learning are informed and supported by documented evidence, like student work, that emphasizes an asset-based or growth mindset.
• Use language that invites open dialogue and trust such as “this is what I’m observing about your child at school; what are you observing at home?”.
• Frame questions in parent-teacher interviews and conversations in ways that convey a belief to the parent that a student can improve with increased effort.
• Identify the most commonly asked questions by parents and co-develop parent/guardian-friendly responses; make these available to parents/guardians.
• Help parents to understand the learning goals, success criteria, and how evidence of learning is gathered and used to determine their students’ progress or grades.
• Stagger communications to parents so as not to overwhelm them.
• Enlist the help of a settlement worker or translator to support communication at main school events.
• Set up a buddy system between experienced and new teachers to review report card comments or to role-play potential interactions and difficult conversations with parents and guardians.
• Update regularly tools for parent communication (e.g., calendar, student agenda).

This section offers some considerations, approaches, and strategies that could be harnessed to support working with parents and guardians. These suggestions should be personalized by a teacher or educator to meet their own needs and to respond to their specific context. Furthermore, clearly some tips reflect approaches that cannot be undertaken by an individual teacher.

Notwithstanding anything in this section, teachers who are considering adopting or adapting any of these tips or suggestions are encouraged and reminded to do so in an informed way that a) respects collective agreements, b) adheres to other regulations and laws governing the profession, and c) does not adversely affect their own well-being.

As secondary teachers and educators, we can model effective communication with parents and guardians in these ways:

• Maintain professionalism in all your contact with parents in person, over the phone, and in writing.
• Use clear language that avoids educational jargon. The latter can confuse parents or cloud matters, and distract from the real issues.
• Adopt a “no surprises” approach to communication with parents. Even though students experience increasing levels of autonomy and responsibility as learners in their secondary years, parents and guardians still need to be kept informed for students up to age 18.
• In any interaction, first listen actively to understand parents’ needs and concerns, then respond.
• Make positive, ‘sunshine’ phone calls home to parents to share milestones in achievement or sudden growth in learning.
• Enter into conversations with parents and guardians in ways that help all parties to arrive at a deeper understanding such as accenting the positive first, then transitioning to a discussion of the challenges.
• Ensure that conversations about student learning are informed and supported by documented evidence, like student work, that emphasizes an asset-based or growth mindset.
• Use language that invites open dialogue and trust such as “this is what I’m observing about your child at school; what are you observing at home?”
• Frame questions in parent-teacher interviews and conversations in ways that convey a belief to the parent that a student can improve with increased effort.
• Identify the most commonly asked questions by parents and co-develop parent/guardian-friendly responses; make these available to parents/guardians.
• Help parents to understand the learning goals, success criteria, and how evidence of learning is gathered and used to determine their students’ progress or grades.
• Stagger communications to parents so as not to overwhelm them.
• Enlist the help of a settlement worker or translator to support communication at main school events.
• Set up a buddy system between experienced and new teachers to review report card comments or to role-play potential interactions and difficult conversations with parents and guardians.
• Regularly update tools for parent communication (e.g., calendar, student agenda).