Day 37-Types of parents
Disclaimer: The below mentioned ideas are based on my (limited) experiences and not written with a view of hurting or ridiculing a certain set of people. They are purely personal opinions
There is one thing I am quite certainly sure of- every parent wishes his/her best for their child/children and any act is purely a result of unadulterated, genuine concern.
Nevertheless, I was trying to recall the different types of parents I have encountered in my working experience in schools.
1. The Hygiene freak-wants his/her child to use a hand sanitiser before and after food, wants their child to use ONLY the spoon/fork/cutlery given by them and NEVER to use others' cutlery, will provide the child with the cleanest bacteria free water everyday and stop them from drinking water outside, will always give valuable lessons on cleanliness and hygiene to the child at every appropriate situation.
2. The Diplomat- This parent will always say the right things in the meetings. She/He will use words like "I am certain that the teacher has her best interests for my child , however, .....", "I am sure you have picked your teachers carefully in this school but...", "I have certainly a lot of trust in the school and the system which is why I selected this for my child..but..." usually statements preceding these diplomatic lines will be the harshest and most stinging ones which basically equate to ..."You need to do this better or I will escalate the issue".
3. The academically supreme- These parents make sure they always mention their titles or educational institutions that they have studied in..."Being a Harvard educated, I am of the opinion that...", " I am myself a product of the IIt, so I do understand ..." . They basicallywante to make the point that they have a very strong academic background and so are entitled to question the academic system and demand for changes.
4. The Emotional ones-Some parents are quite emotional as may be depicted in their "crying" in case they hear something bad about the child or them becoming aggressive to side the child without even having to find out the other side of the story.Ofcouse there are those who shout and use pretty derogatory terms in front of the teacher in an inability to mask their emotions that arise from their feeling of being cornered or targeted.
5. The policy changer- Some parents always try to show the school management how to Runa. school. "I strongly advise to considerate homework policy of the school", "I request the school to look into their holiday policy and align it to the state policy which I have studied in detail"Pretty interesting ones these :)
6. The popularity user- These parents never talk to school authorities before they discuss with their peer group. These usually administer common social groups like "Parents of Grade 5 " WhatsApp group or Facebook group. They like to discuss every single happening and keep themselves abreast of how much equality is rendered in the school. They will also never fail to mention this in their communication- " I have spoken to many other parents of the class and would like to mention that all of them are of the similar opinion as me "
There are a few more that one may see- the one who treats the teacher like God(but others like "nothing", The one who confronts the teacher a lot, The one who discusses the teacher's efficacy with the child, the one , The one who constantly says "My child is Ms. X's pet", the one who finds opportunities to volunteer at the school, the one who finds the weak spot in the school and carries gossip to her other friends, the one who constantly compares the school with other schools and makes sure these research data are shared with the school management and the one who likes her child's teacher to wear western formals and will not respect the one in a traditional attire.
So many of them. So very interesting.
Teacher training courses must have one complete module on "how to deal with parents and effectively communicate with them".
Another blogpost coming up about "Types of teachers". Let us balance it out and have some fun..Shall we?
There is one thing I am quite certainly sure of- every parent wishes his/her best for their child/children and any act is purely a result of unadulterated, genuine concern.
Nevertheless, I was trying to recall the different types of parents I have encountered in my working experience in schools.
1. The Hygiene freak-wants his/her child to use a hand sanitiser before and after food, wants their child to use ONLY the spoon/fork/cutlery given by them and NEVER to use others' cutlery, will provide the child with the cleanest bacteria free water everyday and stop them from drinking water outside, will always give valuable lessons on cleanliness and hygiene to the child at every appropriate situation.
2. The Diplomat- This parent will always say the right things in the meetings. She/He will use words like "I am certain that the teacher has her best interests for my child , however, .....", "I am sure you have picked your teachers carefully in this school but...", "I have certainly a lot of trust in the school and the system which is why I selected this for my child..but..." usually statements preceding these diplomatic lines will be the harshest and most stinging ones which basically equate to ..."You need to do this better or I will escalate the issue".
3. The academically supreme- These parents make sure they always mention their titles or educational institutions that they have studied in..."Being a Harvard educated, I am of the opinion that...", " I am myself a product of the IIt, so I do understand ..." . They basicallywante to make the point that they have a very strong academic background and so are entitled to question the academic system and demand for changes.
4. The Emotional ones-Some parents are quite emotional as may be depicted in their "crying" in case they hear something bad about the child or them becoming aggressive to side the child without even having to find out the other side of the story.Ofcouse there are those who shout and use pretty derogatory terms in front of the teacher in an inability to mask their emotions that arise from their feeling of being cornered or targeted.
5. The policy changer- Some parents always try to show the school management how to Runa. school. "I strongly advise to considerate homework policy of the school", "I request the school to look into their holiday policy and align it to the state policy which I have studied in detail"Pretty interesting ones these :)
6. The popularity user- These parents never talk to school authorities before they discuss with their peer group. These usually administer common social groups like "Parents of Grade 5 " WhatsApp group or Facebook group. They like to discuss every single happening and keep themselves abreast of how much equality is rendered in the school. They will also never fail to mention this in their communication- " I have spoken to many other parents of the class and would like to mention that all of them are of the similar opinion as me "
There are a few more that one may see- the one who treats the teacher like God(but others like "nothing", The one who confronts the teacher a lot, The one who discusses the teacher's efficacy with the child, the one , The one who constantly says "My child is Ms. X's pet", the one who finds opportunities to volunteer at the school, the one who finds the weak spot in the school and carries gossip to her other friends, the one who constantly compares the school with other schools and makes sure these research data are shared with the school management and the one who likes her child's teacher to wear western formals and will not respect the one in a traditional attire.
So many of them. So very interesting.
Teacher training courses must have one complete module on "how to deal with parents and effectively communicate with them".
Another blogpost coming up about "Types of teachers". Let us balance it out and have some fun..Shall we?
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