Give Them All an 'A'

As an advocacy organization we tend to write from the point of view of our 3.2 million educator-members when we write about parent-teacher relationships. Typically, our members’ point of view revolves around a pair of concerns: 1) the need to enlist parents in the effort to educate their children, and 2) the need to manage their relationships with parents, which can sometimes be difficult if not occasionally confrontational or hostile. The titles of some recent NEA Today stories -- “A Field Guide to Parents” and “How can you deal with angry parents?” -- underscore educators’ need to understand parents and to manage their relationships with them effectively. The Field Guide is intended to introduce new teachers to various types of parents they might encounter, while Angry Parents is full of advice from our readers, seasoned teachers, and other experts.

A few months ago Bill Ferriter, a writer for Teacher Magazine, wrote about the complex relationship between teachers and parents in a piece he titled, “Parents Are From Mars, Teachers Are From Venus” (this link is pass-word protected; paid subscription required). Playing off the classic book “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus,” Ferriter attempts to elucidate the dynamic between two groups who need each other but have only a rudimentary understanding of how to communicate and work together in a productive way. It’s a more even-handed approach (a luxury of the unaffiliated!) that examines the relationship from both points of view and seeks to build common ground with lists of pointers for both parents and teachers.

With that said, I want to introduce you to Bluebird’s Classroom, the blog of a middle school teacher who earlier this week wrote about an incident involving one of her students and the girl’s mother. Says Bluebird, “Give That Mom an A!” There are no misunderstandings, no confrontations, and no one needs a bunch of fancy-pants wonks or writers to tell them what to do or how to act. All you’ll find are teachers, administrators and parents who work remarkably well together and have enough common sense to get the job done. Everyone looks good, and (best of all) they do right by the child.