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When you were a kid, parent-teacher interviews were likely a mysterious grown-up ritual you had no power in, even though they could decide your immediate future (namely, whether you were rewarded or grounded). But those days are long gone. Now, increasingly, these learning conferences include the children in question, and, increasingly, are led by them.
For parents, it can be intimidating enough to face these interviews yourself, let alone with your kid right there. Because even if the conversation is a positive one, it’s kind of awkward, right? And that’s not even getting into if there are challenges or concerns to address. So how do you get the most out of the 15 or 20 minutes you might get with a teacher, especially when your kid is present?
Keep communication open
The first step is to see the mid-year parent-teacher interview as just one part of a longer, ongoing conversation with the school, says Rachel Jones, an assistant principal at Gulyangarri Public School in Liverpool, New South Wales. “It’s really important for both parents and teachers to be open-minded about establishing a deeper connection between home and school,” she says. “It’s about how the family can become a partner in their child’s learning journey.”
