Parent Teacher Meeting Guide: Benefits and Tips for Stakeholders
stablishing an effective parent-teacher collaboration requires constant efforts and a planned approach. Throughout the academic year, schools keep requesting parent participation in many ways. But of all these parent teacher meetings are the most essential craft to a student’s fulfilling educational journey. Despite knowing the advantages of stakeholder collaboration, many parents and teachers still find these meetings dreadful. Ground-level challenges like poor footfall/not showing up in a virtual meeting, obvious one-sided discussions, and understanding issues are enough to TURN OFF! In both an online and an in-person meeting, there are many factors that determine the success of a PTM. How can a virtual parent teacher conference be productive for parents? And what are the tips that teachers can use to improve the overall experience? Let’s explore all this together and eliminate your fear of a PTM meeting for good!
What is a Parent Teacher Meeting?
Commonly known as a PTM, these periodic meets are planned to allow parents and teachers to interact with each other directly. The most common agenda of a PTM meeting is to discuss a student’s academic achievement, holistic development, behavioral issues, and any other concerns that need attention.
These meetings are supposed to be interactive. However, many stakeholders still feel uncomfortable with the very thought of a parent teacher meeting. In most cases, negative feelings are mostly due to anxiety related to the student’s progress reports (summative exams). There can also be some other overwhelming aspects (like parents’ communication abilities, time constraints on working days, etc.) that get carried over during these meetings.
Most of us already know about PTM in traditional schools. But what about online schools?
How are Parent Teacher Meetings Held in an Online School?
Periodically an online school conducts a virtual PTM. A schedule/meeting notice (date and time slot) is shared with the parents in advance. All parties join the virtual meeting from their respective locations. Upon sharing the intimation, the online school often takes note of the parent’s acknowledgment. In case of need, the meeting is also rescheduled to ensure the presence (maximum participation) of the parents.
In most cases, these meetings last somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes. The school maintains a detailed record of these discussions to gauge the effectiveness of past and current communication.
Like any other traditional school, the message of an online parent teacher meeting also needs to be loud and clear for the best results. Parents have a BIG ROLE TO PLAY while collaborating with their child’s teacher. So they must know what to ask teachers during a virtual PTM.
Best Questions That Parents Can Ask Teachers in PTMs (Class Teacher/Mother Teacher)
- What is the status of academic goals, does my child need extra assistance in any specific subject?
Discussing the student’s academic strengths and weaknesses is an obvious part of a parent-teacher conference. It has far-reaching implications including a professional’s guidance in choosing the right career path.
- What is my child’s learning preference/style?
Students can have a mix of different learning styles. An online parent teacher meeting gives insight into the student’s unique preferences because teachers are trained and tend to identify these styles easily.
- Does my child mingle with other students enough?
Unlike parents in a nuclear family, teachers see students interact closely in large groups. You can always take an accurate update about your child’s social skills in a parent teacher meeting.
- What are the upcoming school events that my child can participate in?
Most schools have activity/event calendars with tentative dates. You can clarify the teacher’s plans to involve your child in any of the upcoming events in a PTM meeting. Make sure you are open to the teacher’s suggestions as well.
- Your observations
Writing skills, speech clarity, fluency, spelling, command over language, or any other academic struggles are common concerns shared by teachers and parents. Take up your concerns sequentially keeping the PTM duration/time slot in mind.
Benefits of a Parent-Teacher Meeting
Collaborating to address learning difficulties in time
Education being a tripolar process revolves around the teacher, student, and the social environment. A parent teacher conference is a platform to identify/gauge, and plan remedial action before it gets too late for the student.
Understanding more about holistic development
Holistic development can be complex to understand. In meetings like these, parents can get a hang of all that is required from their side to support their child’s holistic development. Today, academic excellence is not the only aspect that holds importance. Skill building, empathy, resilience, perseverance, self-awareness, etc. are equally important in the 21st century.
Taking a closer look at the learning journey
Parents play their roles as learning coaches in an online environment. Parent teacher conference allows them to customize the child’s learning better. Study habits, homeschooling schedule planning, the feasibility of interacting with the teacher, and red flags are the best discussed in a virtual PTM meeting.
Deriving answers to academic struggles
A detailed discussion during the PTM aids academic progress in all possible ways. This includes enrichment opportunities and potentially workable areas.
Are we as stakeholders making the most of a parent teacher meeting?
Some Data Revelations:
Where do we lag?
Consistency
- 85% of the parents attend their child’s initial/first year’s PTM meeting, but gradually in the following years, parents tend to lose their interest in these meetings.
- In families where parents attended these meetings there was a 25% decline in truancy (missing school without permission).
Poor participation in certain schools:
- 70% of parents in government schools attended these meetings (in Delhi).
- In rural areas, the participation was dismal. Only 15-20% of parents showed up for the meets.
- On average only 40-50% of the parents attended these parent teacher meeting.
How can we make things better?
We have some tips for both teachers and parents!
Tips for Teachers to Make a Parent Teacher Conference Successful?
- Be a good listener when parents voice their concerns.
- Prepare well before the PTM, keep your observations, notes, and feedback documented and handy.
- Try to be genuine without sounding harsh.
- Maintain positivity throughout the meeting.
- Start with the student’s achievements before coming to workable areas.
- Always be open to feedback.
Tips for Parents for a Successful PTM Meeting?
- Keep your discussion points ready to save time and finish in your allocated slot.
- Promote positive interaction throughout the online parent teacher meeting without blaming the teacher for any child-related issue.
- Collaborate effectively and take note of the follow-up points seriously.
- Do not make the interaction one-sided.
- Stay away from biases to understand the true picture.
- If you have any issues with the teacher, take it up separately with the school management and not in your child’s presence during the PTM.
- Discuss your time slots in advance if you wish to modify the timings of the parent teacher conference.
Conclusion
With prior preparation, and an open mind, an online parent teacher meeting can be a common space to add great value to a student’s academic journey. Focus on playing your part well. And remember a PTM meeting need not be hard all the time!
You can now experience the advantages of virtual schooling right here in India. Learn more about K8 School’s online programs before you leave.
Thanks for Reading!
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a virtual parent-teacher meeting?
A virtual PTM is a meeting held online through a video conferencing platform or the school’s online learning portal. Parents and teachers discuss the student’s academic progress in detail during a PTM meeting. - How to make PTM interesting?
Greet the parent/teacher with a smile. Personalize with names, add positivity with your tone and word selection, and discuss the meeting agenda sequentially with inputs for improvement.
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