Research Paper on Parent-Teacher Partnership: A Key to Child Success

Introduction

A positive correlation between parents and teachers has been proven by several studies to be integral in the social competencies, emotional well-being, and academic growth of children. Parents who engage teachers in molding the behavior of their children and doing a follow-up on their academic performance enable teachers to have a closer look at the activities of those children at school, and this ultimately results in a positive change of behavior and increase in their academic performance. The primary objective of this study is to discuss the importance of the parent-teacher partnership in the development of children. The expected outcome of the study is that parent-teacher collaboration is integral in the development of the social and academic performance of students.

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Different studies have indicated that when there is a positive partnership between parents and teachers, children develop a rapid transformation in their work habits, school attitudes, and grades. Besides their grade improvements, the children also develop massive improvement in their social skills, increase their ability to adapt to situations, and minimize behavioral problems. The partnership between parents and teachers does benefit not only the children but also the duo. When teachers and parents work together, it has been established that they develop an effective method of communication, their relationships become stronger, and they create skills that are integral in the development of the behavior and learning of the children (Ballam & Stanley, 2009).

The partnership between parents and teachers addresses the opportunity gaps, particularly for the historically underserved students. The connection is integral in developing the learning abilities of the children and the enhancement of lifelong skills and networks. The partnership is also fundamental in strengthening the ability of the parents to be involved in the school experience of their children. It is evident that the collaboration between parents and teachers is integral in the development of children both at school and at home; thus, identification of how the partnership between the duos can be built is also essential. The relationship between a teacher and a parent can be achieved through collaboration, communication, and consistency.

Literature Review

The importance of a productive relationship between a parent and a teacher has been well documented. According to Murphy (2006), the relationship between the two people is not only beneficial to the child but also the parents and teachers themselves. A productive parent-teacher relationship is more than a status vehicle driving teachers around to inform parents of their children's progress in school. It should be a collaboration that offers a two-way flow of information between teachers and parents about the development of the children at both school and home. The relationship provides a mechanism for teachers to invite and support the active role of the parents in the education of their parents in the home environment. The collaboration also offers the connection between classroom learning activities and home learning activities.

The relationship between parents and teachers could also help the latter in understanding the progress of students at home, given that the parents or the prime caregivers have the firsthand knowledge of the child. Through collaboration, parents can learn how to utilize such information as an aid in assessing and understanding their children. Understanding the behavior of children at home and in other contexts, enable teachers through the information they receive from parents to make an ideal assessment of the students. This is particularly imperative in cases where children display conditions or behavior that require special attention. Teacher-parent communication is very integral in a child's growth. The information of a child at times comes from other people other than parents, and this calls for teachers to be prepared to work with different caregivers, from parents to relatives or nannies. Constant communication with the prime caregiver is often complex since the current generation is fast-paced, and children are caught in it.

An ideal relationship between a teacher and a parent is pivotal in the growth of a child academically, socially, and psychologically, and the beginning of a new semester is the best time to reignite such a partnership. According to Athey (2007), the approach given to the conference of parents and teachers should be considered as an opportunity to modify the learning plan of the children to clarify the roles of the parents, teachers, and children, which are aimed at bringing the best out of the learners. Given that teachers attend to many students during the learning session, the conference will enable a busy teacher to focus on a student at a time and identify their needs with the presence of the parent. The discussion can be made productive by not taking school for granted and discussing with the child their daily experiences at school. Parents should also engage their spouses by discussing questions and concerns of the child with them before attending the conference. This process should be riddled with items such as identification of the information that one wishes to ask the teacher and reviewing of reports and files from the previous conferences to remind themselves of the fundamental topics that they should concentrate on during the meeting (Fredricks, Hsieh, Liu, & Simpkins, 2019). Parents should also identify the gains and challenges of their children, both as students and social beings. Parents should also be on the same page with their spouses before the conference. If their discussions yield differences in their views on the recommendations that should be implemented by both teachers and them to help in the improvement of their children, they should resolve them before the meeting. The review of the questions and recommendations to be made to the teachers by the parents might not be conclusive based on some minor differences. Still, parents should have their issues and varying views clear to make the conference more productive.

The preparation period before the parent-teacher meeting also requires parents to attend the conference on time. During the conference, most teachers handle the parents' issues successively, and they might fail to meet each parent in time, and this gives the parent an ample time of review the fundamental issues that affect the academic and social growth of their children (OZMEN, AKUZUM, ZINCIRLI, & SELCUK, 2016). Parents should also develop a team approach with the teacher by attentively listening to their views before raising their concerns. Parents are expected to identify the areas in which they agree with the teacher based on the progress of their children, and respectfully ask clarifications in parts that they feel they are not contented with. Given the sensitivity of the meeting, the parents are required to take notes to remind themselves accurately of the progress of the child in the upcoming sessions. The meeting should also call for the identification of a proper learning plan. The plan entails the activities of the child both at home and at school, or it may involve the modification of homework, creation of specific study space at home, arrangement of tutorial assistance, or ensuring that a disabled child receives extra time and attention, which is suitable for test-taking. A proper plan also covers a rescheduled time for meeting to discuss again the progress made by the child, especially if the issues that were addressed before required maximum attention (Aldrich, 2017). The parents who employ the strategies discussed above in creating a partnership with teachers will ensure that their children are more productive both socially and academically, and they enjoy their life experience at school.

Teachers and parents offer an integral support system for the academic and social growth of students. Proper communication and work between the two often yields long-term success in students. Based on the research that was carried out by Baker (2017), a productive and positive relationship between teachers and parents enable students to prosper, and the relationship can be enhanced more by the training programs developed by the teachers. These sentiments were also echoed by Janssen-Vos & Weijers (2012) in their study in which they surveyed more than 100 teachers who were engaged in a professional development program. He discovered that children whose parents were identified by teachers as actively involved in the program had a higher level of pro-social behaviors and academic performance. This is a clear indication that parents and teachers who work together to empower students could be pivotal in improving their performance. Janssen-Vos & Weijers (2012) further noted that positive relationships between parents and teachers enhance the perception of the community in schools.

Both parties can enhance the connection between teachers and parents to help the academic and social progress of the students. Educational leaders should also support their efforts by creating programs that benefit both teachers and parents to come together. Teachers can help in creating a positive relationship with parents by opening their communication lines. This would enable parents to understand what is happening in the classroom and the progress their kids are making at school. The academic leaders should ensure that teachers share information about the activities in the school and projects. They can achieve this via different means such as through electronic means or print media or both. Teachers should also be provided with professional development opportunities that are focused on parent communication. By enabling teachers to comprehend various styles of working with parents can assist them in enhancing their skills and strategies. The academic leaders should ensure that the training they offer fits the teacher's strategic direction and the school's mission. The parents' communication should be incorporated into the growth and evaluation of teachers. The teachers should work with each faculty member to organize parent communication benchmarks that are viable for their growth and evaluation plan (Wilson, 2018). This enables teachers to observe the continued support for the initiative and assist them in identifying the right pathway for their children's success. The engagement of parents at school can also be increased by providing school contacts to parents and getting to know them early. This way, they will be able to reach out to teachers for questions when they feel comfortable in doing so. The schools should offer opportunities that parents can easily connect with, such as class activities and parent-teacher committees. Teachers should also share their classroom goals or their expectations with teachers and advise them to do the same. Teachers should device various mechanisms of connecting with parents as much as they can, and this can be achieved via email, texts, or apps (Faizi & Rudneva, 2019).

The academic success of a child is often not achieved by the children themselves but also by a combined effort of the teachers and parents. The effort made by parents in encouraging their children to learn at home and be engaged in the education of their kids is the most accurate predictor of academic achievement. When parents get involved with the school lives of their children, the students get the home support and knowledge they require in completing their assignments and create a lifelong love for education. Teachers who engage parents in the academic progress of the students often observe a profound...