How To Prepare For An Interview With Your Child’s Teacher
Being called in for an interview with your child’s teacher can cause you nerves and uncertainty. However, it is important that you know that you both share the same goal and that their mission is not to judge or criticize you, but quite the opposite.
If there is a distressing situation for the parents, it is to be called to a meeting at the school. When this happens, the first thing we ask ourselves is what did we do wrong to cause our child to have poor grades or, worse, misbehavior.
However, this should not be the case. The mission of the teacher or tutor is to collaborate with the development of the child. Where appropriate, emphasizing learning. The fact of being summoned to a talk is not always linked to bad things, indeed, the opposite can happen.
When everything is going well for the child in school, it is the ideal time to encourage him to take on new challenges or enhance his skills. So do not fear and do not imagine the worst.
Why meetings with teachers are important
It is indisputable that the task of the school is to teach, since education itself begins at home. However, there is a point where these two institutions necessarily connect.
At some point during schooling, it will be extremely convenient for the two most responsible for the child’s moral and intellectual formation to join forces to coordinate efforts and compare results. Each of them will analyze the child in different contexts, which will allow us to see their adaptation and response to different environments.
In this way, possible signs of learning problems, behavior disorders, symptoms that indicate future probability of school failure or dropout, or many other inconveniences can be detected in time.
Therefore, the more eyes are placed on the child to guide him in this process, the better the results will be.
Most frequent topics in interviews with the teacher
In general, these types of meetings deal with the following topics:
- Child behavior.
- Ratings: can be low or, conversely, outstanding.
- Unusual behavior in the child according to his character or age.
- Relationship with colleagues.
- Family environment : in this case, the time spent on homework and studying at home can be analyzed and practices can be detailed to encourage extracurricular activities.
- Attitude and motivation shown in class and respect for classmates and authorities.
Tips for an interview with your child’s teacher
Although it is not advisable to worry beforehand without knowing what is happening, it is not advisable to “go see what happens”. You can discuss in advance with your partner what problem may have arisen, in which issue you need professional support or how to help stimulate certain capacities in your child.
Likewise, it is essential that you abandon the defensive attitude from the beginning. Remember, the purpose of the meeting is not to accuse you of being a bad mother or of not dedicating yourself to your child. In this sense, if any recommendation arises about a possible correction in your relationship with the child, keep in mind that it seeks to improve their learning process.
In addition, if you have an idea of what may be happening, it would be advisable to speak (by phone or by email) with the teacher before the meeting so that he can collect the necessary information. Thus, it will also be able to offer you more thoughtful and personalized solutions.
Some advisable questions
As we mentioned before, you can bring a draft with the topics that you would like to consult the teacher. Here are three common questions that are often asked in an interview with your child’s teacher:
- Do you think that the child reflects the education in values that you try to instill at home?
- What behaviors, attitudes or capacities do you recommend to improve or deepen?
- Is my child’s performance within expectations or is it necessary to help him / her?
On the other hand, the teacher may have prepared recommendations for you to face the training process of your child that will be of great use to you.
How often should these meetings occur?
The length of time between one interview with your child’s teacher and the next will be determined by many factors. Some of them may be the type of educational institution your child attends, the teaching model proposed by the directors, the personality and commitment of the teacher and, not least, the performance and behavior of the infant.
Generally, two are held: one at the beginning of the school year, which can be used to set priorities and objectives; and another on the end, to evaluate results. This does not mean that there may be others during the year.
In conclusion, we can emphasize that only one main beneficiary will emerge from this interaction, which will be the child. The alliance between parents and teachers is essential to make everything easier for you in your educational journey.
