"When I think of one thing that could ultimately improve the educational experiences of students, I think of communication. Communication between teachers and parents, parents and administrators, teachers and administrators, and most importantly between students and teachers as well as students and parents. Each of these four groups has their own agenda. Parents want their students to get a good education in university. Teachers want to get through to students and provide them with a good education. Administrators like to see the success of a whole university as well as provide a grooming environment for students. And the students want to get through university without feeling bored and unmotivated. So how does one go about uniting these very different causes and pointing them towards a common goal of a students education. Well, communication is the key. Without it, teachers will feel hassled, parents will feel annoyed, administrators will feel drained, and students will feel confused and let down.
So how do you go about providing an environment that fosters communication? Here are some simple steps to help make the process as painless as possible. All of these steps have come from personal experience and observation.
1. Face to face communication- Email is a great tool and a wonderful asset to our lives. But when you are trying to develop a plan to educate a student, email just falls short. A phone is okay, but meeting face to face is the best. This shows that all the parties involved care and are committed to the cause as well as makes the whole conversation much more personal.
2. Avoiding the Attitude- Anyone who has listened to someone speak will know that as soon as they start being angry, people stop listening. By keeping calm and not losing your temper, you can make sure that your opinions are heard.
3. Avoiding the Superiority Complex- Parents: The truth is that teachers and administrators have many students to take care of, parents should recognize that everyone needs need to be taken into account.
Using these three steps, we can make communication much much easier."