Communication in Schools

Communication and collaboration with the community in education is very important. Individual and collaborative relationships should be promoted with students, families, and the educational community. The most important part of education is the relationships a teacher establishes. A teacher can’t effectively teach any academic content to a student if they can’t connect or relate to them on an emotional level, which is also why emotional intelligence is so important in teaching. On top of just day to day communication with students, it is imperative that teachers can effectively communicate with a students’ family. The two places a child will spend their time is at school and at home. So, although a teacher might communicate effectively in the classroom, students are human and can forget (or selectively forget) certain information to tell the parents and if the teacher is not establishing that relationship with the parents, the parents won’t be on the same page as the teacher and expectations for the student will be different between home and school. It is also important to create collaborative relationships with the education community. Other teachers in a building, and even district, can help by giving their ideas on classroom management, curriculum, and even simply how things in the building are run, which is especially helpful to new teachers. Furthermore, in today’s modern world there is the special opportunity to create relationships with teachers all over the country in different states through social media like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Many teachers also use things like TeachersPayTeachers to find new curriculum and ideas to use in their classrooms.

While creating relationships with students, families, and other educators is very important, it is also important to reach out to those in the community who might not have any interaction with a school at all. People who don’t have kids, businesses, and others in the community might not be as inclined to reach out to teachers or schools themselves, so it is even more important that teachers take time to form relationships with these community members. School-business partnerships are a great way for business to 1. do something great for the community and 2. create a good image for the public and boost their business. It is also great for the school because they get additional resources and usually don’t have to give much on their end except maybe their time. Other civic and cultural relationships that are important to form are relationships with the police, fire stations, libraries, and things like nature centers and local art exhibits. They will be excited to have students learn about what they offer the community and it will show others in the community that the school places an importance on more than just academics or promoting their own school.