Page 22 - Leadership Basics 5

Live Communications

Having just discussed media‐space communications and the use of ICT, it is important to balance this
with a discussion on ‘live’ communications in the school. It would be inappropriate if all
communications were through ICT.

Meetings

Staff find meetings frustrating and unproductive, with mismatched expectations and mutual incom‐

prehension (also see booklet on meetings). Live or face‐to‐face meetings can be more effective
when:

there is enough time to develop a real dialogue

meetings take place within a clear framework.

meetings are rooted in accessible evidence of the student's progress, behaviour and achievements.

all partners go away knowing what joint targets have been agreed, what each might reasonably be
expected to do and when the situation is next going to be reviewed together.

A strategic approach to teacher‐parent meetings

School leaders rarely review the process of teacher‐parent meeting and what happens at these
meetings is often taken for granted, and rarely monitored in any way. Perhaps a strategic initiative
would be to provide ‘training’ or professional development for teachers in how to facilitate effective
meetings with parents.

How people hear information affects how they respond. When talking with parents about
emotionally‐charged information, teachers need to think about what they are likely to say before
they say it. What words will be used and how might the parent perceive what is said? Perhaps
teachers can ask a trusted colleague (a supervisor or co‐teacher) to listen to what they plan to say.

They must not only listen to the words, but also hear the message the words convey. Does the
statement of concern sound like a complaint? Will parents perceive comments as criticism of them
or their child? Does it seem like we are blaming the parents?

Ambivalence about what teachers – or school leaders ‐ need to say can cause more problems than

any other single factor. The parent is more likely to hear what we say when we are clear about what
we need to say and how we want to say it. Otherwise, we give conflicting messages and only make
matters more confusing. When there is clear, open, empathic communication, everyone benefits.

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