Suggestions for parent-teacher conferences

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SUGGESTIONS FOR PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

A Project Presented to the Faculty of the School of Education The University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Education

by Janice Barta Ambrose June 1950

/

UMI Number: EP46171

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T h is project report, w ritte n under the direction of the candidate’s adviser a n d ap p ro ved by him , has been presented to and accepted by the F a c u lty o f the School o f E d u catio n in p a r t ia l f u lf illm e n t of the requirements f o r the degree o f M a s t e r of Science in E ducation.

D ate.......

A d v is e r

ft,

Dean

TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER I.

PAGE

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OP TERMS USED.

...

1

The problem ♦ ....................... Statement of the problem.

.............

Importance of the p r o b l e m ..............

1

Definitions of terms.used . . .......... I*

2

Organization of remainder of the paper. II.

1

REVIEW OP THE LITERATURE.

...

............ .

Techniques of c o n f e r e n c e s ..............

5

14

Summary of literature ....................... III.

CONFERENCES IN NEIGHBORING SCHOOLS.......... Method of making survey

f IV.

5 5

Present status of conferences . . . . . . . . *

1

20 .

............

22 22

Techniques used in the districts........

27

Summary of f i n d i n g s .....................

28

A GROUP CONFERENCE IN ONE OP THE SCHOOLS IN THE LOS ANGELES CITY SCHOOL DISTRICTS. . . .

30

Need for the c o n f e r e n c e ................... ..

30

Topic of d i s c u s s i o n .....................

31

' Limitations of the c o n f e r e n c e ..........

36

Summary of the group conference .............

37

iv CHAPTER V.

PAGE

INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES IN ONE OF THE SCHOOLS IN THE LOS ANGELES CITY SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

...

38

Need for the individual c o n f e r e n c e s ........ 38 Problems discussed at the c o n f e r e n c e s ...... 39 Techniques of the conferences

........... 49

Summary of the individual conferences ......... VI.

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . Summary

...................

Recommendations .....................

49 51 51

. . . . .

56

B I B L I O G R A P H Y .................

58

APPENDIX

65

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM One of the challenges that besets educators today * Is that of the parent-teacher conference*

There is a

wide diversity of opinion as to the importance of the parent-teacher conference.

Some administrators feel the

conference is well on its way to replace all other forms of pupil progress reports.

Other administrators fear

that such a conference will unleash potential dynamite in the hands of the untrained and unqualified teacher. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the present status of the parent-teacher conference in a representative group of schools in Southern California, particularly in the area surrounding Los Angeles.

The

secondary purpose of this study was to evaluate a series of conferences held In one of the schools in the Los Angeles City School Districts, using the data gathered on conferences held in the surrounding school areas for con­ trast and comparison. IMPORTANCE OF THE PROBLEM There has been a growing tendency for the home and school to drift ever farther and farther apart, with some

2 parents feeling that their presence was an unwelcome one in the schoolroom*

Others are content to sit at home and try

to comprehend today's classroom in terms of their own experience years before.

Parents and teachers must co­

operate if children are to grow and develop.

Benjamin C.

Willis makes this point when he says, "A good school is not an island with twice daily contact from the mainland.”^ In order, then, to establish the harmony and rapport between school and home that is essential for maximum growth and development of the child, some such program as the parent-teacher conference must be set up. DEFINITION OF TERMS The term "parent-teacher conference" is meant to apply to the planned conference between parents and teacher. It does not apply to the hurried visit from the parent with a written or oral excuse for the child's absence of a preceding day, or the casual contacts at a ParentTeacher Association meeting.

By intent, the parent-

teacher conference establishes a meeting ground for home and school in order that, together, the parent and the teacher can better help the child.

It may be informal

Benjamin C. Willis, "Good Home-School Relations," School Executive, 68:75-6, November, 1948.

but it is never unplanned.

It need not lack spontaneity

because it has direction and. guidance. ORGANIZATION OP THE REMAINDER OP THE PAPER A review of the professional literature on the parent-teacher conference will be found in Chapter II. Educators* views of the conference on a nation-wide scope will be presented, with the philosophy and beliefs of these leaders in the educational field.

The purpose of

this chapter is to establish an awareness of present trends and practices in the schools of the nation.

This

will give a basis for comparison with the local confer­ ences in the schools of Southern California. Chapter III gives the method of making the survey with a report on the sources of data, a list of materials used, and the method of procedure in reporting on the r

conferences held in the schools surrounding Los Angeles. This chapter includes the results of parent-teacher conferences, as well as the recommendations and sugges­ tions of the various schools for more successful con­ ferences. Chapter IV is a report on a parent-teacher group conference held in one of the schools of the Los Angeles City School Districts., It contains the invitation to t h e parents from the teacher, the goals of education, which"’’

4 formed the basis of the conference discussion, and the findings of the conference. Individual conferences in one of the schools In the Los Angeles City School Districts will be discussed in Chapter V.

This chapter contains an analysis of the con­

ferences and suggestions and recommendations for improving them* Chapter VI gives an over-all analysis of the parent-teacher conferences in a general summary with con­ clusions and recommendations.

I

CHAPTER II REVIEW OP LITERATURE In any campaign, often a strategic plan is the sur­ prise attack.

Edgar L. Harden tells about such a plan In

his report on "Parents and Teachers Work Together.1,2

He

discusses the school’s invitation for criticism, which surprised the parents.

They had not known that the teach­

ers wanted parental reactions to the school.

There had

been a feeling on the parents’ part that the teachers thought they "knew the answers."

The parents felt a

sense of satisfaction in being able to tell the school of its Inconsistencies and shortcomings. while elements of the program were:

Some of the worth­ the school and home

were united to work for the best interest of the children; the parents were impressed that counsellors and teachers are actively, interested in the children; helpful sugges­ tions for improving the curriculum were made; the teach­ ers and counsellors got first hand information from the parents; and the students were aware of the closer co­ operation between school and home. In order to bring about better school-home g Edgar L. Harden, "Parents and Teachers Work Together," School Executive, 65:41, August, 1946.

relationships, it must be acknowledged that certain atti­ tudes and practices of the parents develop certain re­ actions and responses of the children.

Parents are brought

to understand their children’s behavior in the light of their own behavior.

Attitudes of companionship on the part

of the parents produce reactions of confidence, right con­ duct, and wholesome development on the part of the chil­ dren.

The responses of the children to the parents and

the home situations, as well as to school and school situa­ tions are influenced by outside factors. Several types of conferences are discussed by Kenneth C. Coulter in his recent article, ”Parent-Teacher Conferences.”^

He enumerates the general interest confer­

ence, conferences concerned principally, with school prog­ ress, and conferences when help is needed in school work, and those called for reasons of health.

Coulter feels

that the conferences of the kindergarten teachers and parents were successful, in many ways, such as, helping to restrain and guide aggressiveness and dominance, helping in breaking down fear, helping to establish good habits of health and of the rest periods, helping to encourage quiet play for the over-stimulated child, developing the child’s interests, preventing feelings of insecurity, giving the

Kenneth C. Coulter, "Parent-Teacher Conferences," Elementary School Journal, 47:385-90, March, 1947.

child a better chance at adjustment to school, understand­ ing reasons for physical and mental retardation, developing ways to help the child become more self-reliant, and ex­ plaining to the parent what is expected of him. Occasionally an irate patron calls at the school in a critical mood and gives tongue to her ire.

There is

good advice in W. F. Bolen's remarks in "Converting School Critics.”4

He suggests that the parent be given credit

for having the energy to come to school and that she be thanked for coming.

When she is shown that the school and

the parent have the same aim of helping the child develop, she will be more willing to help establish the rapport that is essential to a profitable exchange of advice and confidence.

Some disarming remark such as "You came be­

cause you are interested in this child, didn't you? are not asking for special favors.

You

You just want him

treated as well but not better than the rest,”5 will pro­ vide a starting point for mutual,appreciation and co­ operation.

Give the critic credit for the interest neces­

sary to criticize and simultaneously pave the way for better relations between school and patron.

4

W. F. Bolen, "Converting School Critics," Journal of Education, 127:274, November, 1944.

8 When the public lacks interest in its schools, it forgets that the school not only belongs to it, but also is responsible to it*

Hunt

6

emphasizes this point when he

says If public opinion is an aggregate of individual opinion, then public relations is the aggregate of individual relations and good public relations are achieved through good individual relations. Our schools belong to the public. To serve effectively the teacher must determine the aspirations and needs of the community and exert every effort in directing educational endeavor to the realization of these objectives. We must bring about on the parents’ part an awareness of what we are attempting to do, a knowledge of our over-all educational objectives and of the factors that will contribute to the realiza­ tion of those aims. Parents must tinderstand the school regulations which have been established, why they are or have become necessary, and how they help to bring about smooth functioning of the educational program. Interpretation brings understanding and awareness and these in turn lead to appreciation of the task at hand and a sympathetic recognition.7 There has been more interest in helping children establish themselves in their social group both at home and at school as is evidenced by a growing number of move­ ments such as school councils, or associations whose aim has been to place less emphasis on ’’training” children and more on the growth and development of the personality of the child.

The prime requisite must be keeping the

g

Herold C. Hunt, ’’The School, the Teacher, and the Publics,” Chicago School. Journal, 29:50-3, January, 1948. 7 Ibid., p. 50.

Individual in mind.

8

Conferences, to be successful, must be.preceded by teacher indoctrination.

Occasionally a teacher who has

not had the benefit of education in public relations, will hold a conference and find to her surprise that she can talk with a parent without having something in mind which she wished to try to correct in the child.

Teachers must

make their criticisms constructive, keeping in mind that there is always something which a child can do well.9 Too often conferences are sought by parents or teachers only when the child is In trouble.

Contacts at

the Parent-Teacher Association meetings are frequently superficial and perfunctory.

To make up for the lack of

technical understanding on the parents’ part, and the lack of life experiences on the teachers’ part, a planned parent-teacher conference program Is endorsed by leading educators.

The teacher must show her respect for the

parent’s job, which is the foundation of good family living as well as of creative and releasing relationship between the home and the school.10

8

G. A. Lyward, "Parents, Teachers, and Children,” The New Era, 30:23-5, February, 1949. 9 Ruth W. Washburn, "Parents and Teachers in Partnership," Parents Magazine, 23:36-7, October, 1948. 10 Katherine W. Taylor, "It Takes Both Home and School," Childhood Education, 22:80-5, October, 1945.

10 Some communities hold conferences in homes rather than at school. Myers

11

One such community is described by

where the neighbors invited twenty-five guests,

parents and teachers, into the home for an evening’s dis­ cussion.

The normal child’s development was discussed as

well as other topics of interest such as the use of charts instead of books, construction, phonics, dramatic play, excursions, and other interests of the school child.

In

an informal attitude some of the matters that otherwise might have lain dormant, came out into the open for frank appraisal and discussion. Occasionally conferences are used as a supplement to report cards, with bulletins and descriptive pupil reports combined with the conferences to give the parents 12 a truer picture of their child’s progress. 13 One authority emphasizes the importance for more

preventive measures in guiding our children.

He feels the

need to develop more adequate techniques of treatment for the individual in order to devise more effective programs

11

N. D. Myers, "Parents and Teachers Meet as Neighbors," National Elementary Principal, 25:133-7, September, 1945.

IP

Enoch Dumas, "A Parent-School Relations Program," National Elementary Principal, 25:95-101, September, 1945. 13 (New York:

Carl R. Rogers, Counseling and Psychotherapy, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942),p. 11.

11 for the group. An enthusiastic supporter of the parent-teacher 14 conference plan is Wilson, who names the following three reasons for parent-teacher organizations:

parents can get

more objective views of their offspring when teachers provide information; the parents get to know each other; and a closer bond between the parent and the child is established. Perhaps one of the important phases of parentteacher conferences that is sometimes overlooked by the teacher is that of the ’’average” child.

Teachers, with

their advantage of technical training, have accepted the fact that there is no Maveragen child, but sometimes this truth comes with sudden enlightenment to a confused parent.

Hughes

15

makes it clear that this knowledge of

the teacher must be shared and accepted by the parents. The awareness of the individuality of their own child is a big step toward understanding and appreciating that child. That the questions and problems arising from parent-teacher conferences is not solely confined to our

Helen Van Pelt Wilson, "Education Is a Two-Way Street," Parents Magazine, 19:24-5, November, 1944. 15

Marie M. Hughes and Vivian K. Cox, "Parents Report to Teachers," Childhood Education, 21:317-21, February, 1945.

12 nation is evidenced by the report of Ruth Thomas

16

from

the National Council for Mental Health in England,

She

summarizes the situation in relation between parents and teachers as ranging from mutual understanding and appreci­ ation, mutual criticism, and face-to-face apathy.

In

France there is an apparent desire for both parents and teachers to influence each other and a wish to pass on to each other the responsibility for the more difficult problems of child-behavior and child-learning.

This author

lays down a real challenge when she says: Is It not presumptuous of us as teachers to speak forcibly of parent education when the problem Isso profound and we are far from being psychological specialists? It is far from being the case thatthe teacher everywhere is more advanced in these matters than the parent, and until, all educators are new educators not only in technique and method but in an informed feeling for human personality, it would be unwise to make any generalization about schools being superior to homes in educational aims and under­ standing. 1? One of the new movements that came out of the National Council for Mental Health in England was a public organization, quite separate from the State, called the Home and School Council of Great Britain, whose work is to spread information by pamphlets and by publication

16

Ruth Thomas, "Parent-Teacher Relationships,f* The New Era, 27:199-200, September, 1946. 17

Ibid., p. 200

13 of a handbook and a journal about the proved methods of co­ operation between school and home.

An important feature of

this organization is that it is a third impartial agency from which both the school and the home gets help. One of the benefits of parent-teacher conferences is that, through them, parents and teachers establish a common meeting ground for sensitive appraisal of today’s children.

Pehlman

18

makes clear the necessity for parents

and teacher to have the same point of view.

Often parents

have their own 3et of educational goals for their children, and until the teacher knows these goals, she will be un­ able to understand disappointments and disapproval affect­ ing the child’s home life.

Parents usually are interested

in the home adjustments, the moral and ethical slant of children’s qualities.

Teachers are more apt to judge a

child's eagerness, pep, vivacity, gaiety, cheerfulness, personality characteristics, and the social, intellectual and artistic abilities.

It is vital, therefore, that the

home and the school cooperate in establishing a method to give youngsters a confidence and ability to view the world. Conferences can be beneficial, too, in highlighting

X8

Charlotte Fehlman, MOur Children— Their Assets and Liabilities,” Educational Leadership, 3:298-302, April,

1946.

14 the importance of parental care and affection in healthy mental attitudes and actions.

Hamrin makes this point when

he quotes, "A good home is one in which there is enough money to pay for good food, cod liver oil, orange juice and the doctor’s care, but not enough to hire a nurse­ maid.”19 Teachers must not lose sight that they, as well as parents, are responsible for recognizing and respecting individual differences.

Both discovery and development of

the individual play important roles. Various authorities use different techniques in con20 ducting conferences. One authority lists these three as the basic ones:

learn something physical about the child,

investigate the child’s mental equipment, and, know his scholastic training. behavior problems are:

Different methods of dealing with persuasion and reasoning, gentle

and humorous teasing, discriminating neglect, deprivation of privileges, and separation from the group.

Suerken

defines behavior problems as ”insecure people who meet situations by aggressive, attacking behavior or by with21 drawal and evasion.”

19

By proper guidance an individual

S. A. Hamrin, Guidance Talks to Teachers (Bloom­ ington, Illinois: McKnight and McKnight, 1947), p . 128. 20 Ernst H. Suerken, A Guidance Primer (Hew York: Hobson Book Press, 1945), pp. 39-40. 21 Ibid., p. 67.

15 is helped to make an intelligent choice at a time of crisis in his life. One authority related his school's experience in setting the stage for friendly home-school relations.

The

first contact a parent made with

the school

was a friendly,

informal, cordial registration.

The school

assumed its

full share of responsibility in the problems to be solved, but left final decisions to the home.

If a child was

about to be retained in the same grade for another semes­ ter, the problem was discussed with the parents long before promotion time, and if the home situation warranted it, the child was promoted despite the school's feeling that re­ tention would have been beneficial. never answered in kind.

Usually

Critical notes were the teacher would make a

telephone call to the parent, asking school.

her to

call at the

Disciplinary cases were handled by asking the

parent to the school with some discreet note such as, "Would you mind dropping in at school for a few minutes sometime this week or early next week. about Mary Ann.

I need your advice

I ’m not satisfied that we are doing all

that we should for h e r . " ^ Among other conference techniques, Sraitter

p