Transcript Ten Guidelines for Communicating with Parents and Families

Basic Communication
Skills
Ten Guidelines for
Communicating with
Parents and Families
Dr. Karen McFerrin
Advance Organizer
7/17/2015
Presentation: Strategies for Communicating
with Parents
Presenter: Dr. Karen McFerrin
• Introductions
• Purpose of the presentation: To discuss basic
communication skills and strategies for
working with parents, especially parents of
children with disabilities
• Basic Communication Skills
(examples/nonexamples) (Knackendoffel et. al,
1992)
• Ten Guidelines for Communicating with
Parents and Families (Heward, 2006)
• Resources
• Questions and Answers
• Evaluations Free Template from www.brainybetty.com
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Basic Communication Skills
*Listen Actively
(Examples/Nonexamples)
Includes:
• Body posture
• Eye contact
• Facial expression
*Use Nonverbal & Verbal
Encouragers
*Minimize Distractions
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What to Focus Your Mind On
• Focus on the content of the
person’s verbal statements.
• Focus on the Person’s feelings.
a. Tune into the speaker’s voice
tone;
b. Tune into the person’s
nonverbal behavior.
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Make Reflecting Statements
• Paraphrase the Speaker’s Words;
• Reflect the Speaker’s Emotions;
• Pause at least 5 seconds after
making a reflecting statement.
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Ask Questions
• Ask Open-ended Questions
Examples:
“What would you like to discuss
today?”
“What solutions have you tried?”
“What seems to be the problem?”
“What successes has your child
experienced recently?”
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Close-Ended Questions
Examples:
• “How many assignments is Peter
missing?”
• “Do you agree with the proposed
changes?”
• “Are you feeling discouraged
about this situation?”
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Indirect Questions
Examples:
“I wonder how often this has
happened?”
“I wonder what might have
happened to cause this behavior.”
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Clarifying Questions
Examples
• “You’ve stated that John has a
bad attitude. What does he say or
do that indicates to you that he
has a bad attitude?”
• “What’s an example of how Jane
reacts when you tell her NO?”
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Summarizing
• How to Summarize:
1. Begin with an initial phrase that
introduces the summary.
Examples:
“Let’s go over what we’ve
discussed so far.”
“Let’s review what we have
covered.”
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How to Summarize (cont.)
• 2. Make the Summarizing Statement.
• 3. Ask the Person to Confirm or Reject
the Summarizing Statement.
Example: “Did I include everything?”
4. Listen Actively.
5. If Necessary, Ask the Person to
Correct the Summarizing Statement.
Example: “What have I omitted?”
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Basic Communication Skills Activity
Directions: Please practice using the Basic Communication Skills.
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Listen to a (i.e., teacher, student, administrator, parent) problem.
Paraphrase the Problem in your own words.
Ask an Open-Ended Question to clarify the problem.
Ask a Closed-Ended Question to clarify the problem.
Make a Reflecting Statement about the problem.
Make a Reflecting Statement on the Person’s Emotion.
Ask the person the following questions: Is this correct? Do you want to add/change
anything that I said?
Make a Summarizing Statement.
To assist you in your Problem Summaries, I have designed a table for you to follow.
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2. Paraphrase the Problem (Retell the story/problem in your own words)
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3. Ask an Open-Ended Question
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Ask a Clarifying question.
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4. Ask a Closed-Ended Question
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Ask an indirect question.
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Ask a Clarifying Question
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5. Make a Reflecting Statement
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6. Make a Reflecting Statement on the Person’s
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Emotion
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7. Ask the person the following questions:
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a. “Is this correct?
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b. Do you want to add/change anything?
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8. Make a summarizing statement.
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Ten Guidelines for Communicating
with Parents and Families
Regardless the mode of parent-teacher
communication or differences in cultural
experiences and language backgrounds
of the participants, the following
suggestions are valuable guidelines for
educators in their interactions with
parents and families.
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1. Don’t assume that you know
more about the child, his/her
needs, and how those needs
should be met than his/her
parents do.
If you make this assumption, you
will usually be wrong and, worse,
will miss opportunities to obtain
and provide meaningful
information.
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Collaboration & Support
NOT GOOSE BUT GEESE
You may be interested in knowing that
science has discovered why geese fly
in a V formation. It was learned that as
each bird flaps its wings, it created an
uplift for the bird immediately
following. The whole flock adds at least
71% greater flying range than if each
bird flew on its own.
• (This is true for people too. They can
go a lot further with support of others.)
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2. Junk the jargon.
Educators who use technical
terminology will have difficulty
communicating effectively with
parents (or with anyone else, for
that matter). Speak in clear,
everyday language and avoid the
alphabet soup of special education
(e.g., FAPE, IFSP, IEP).
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Collaboration & Teaming
• Further, whenever, a goose falls
out of formation, it suddenly feels
the drag and resistance to trying
to go it alone and quickly gets
back into formation.
(Some things are just done
easier within a group.)
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3. Don’t let assumptions and
generalizations about parents
and families guide your efforts.
If you are genuinely interested in
what a father or mother feels or
wants, ask. Do not assume a
parent is in the x, y, or z stage
and therefore needs a, b, or c.
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Collaboration & Support
• When the lead goose gets tired, it
rotates back in the wing so that
another bird can fly point.
(It pays to take turns doing the hard
jobs.)
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4. Be sensitive and responsive to the
cultural and linguistic backgrounds
of parents and families.
The information and support services
desired by families from different
cultural and ethnic groups vary, and
majority educators must work to be
sensitive to those differences
(Harry et al., 1999; Lynch & Hanson, 2004).
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5. Don’t be defensive or intimidated.
Unless you are one, you cannot ever
really know what being a parent of a
child with disabilities is like. As a
professional teacher, you do know
something about helping children with
disabilities learn. That’s your job; it’s
what you do every day with lots of
children. Offer the knowledge and
skills you know without apology, and
welcome parents’ input.
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Collaboration & Encouragement
• The geese honk from behind to
encourage those in front to keep
up their speed.
(Words of encouragement for those
in front of you will always take an
organization a lot further.)
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6. Refer families to other professionals
when needed.
As a teacher, you interact with parents
and families in an effort to improve the
child’s educational program. You are not
a marriage counselor or a therapist. If a
parent or family member indicates the
need for non-special education services,
offer to refer him/her to professionals
and agencies qualified to provide them.
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Collaboration & Caring Community
Finally whenever a goose becomes
sick or injured, two other geese
will fall out of formation and help
the sick one until it recovers.
Thank goodness for our geese!
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7. Help parents strive for a realistic
optimism.
Children with disabilities and their
families benefit little from
professionals who are doom-andgloom types or who minimize the
significance of a disability. Help
parents analyze, plan, and prepare for
their child’s future
(Giangreco et al., 1998; Turnbull & Turnbull, 2006).
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8. Start with something parents can be
successful with.
For many parents, involvement in
their child’s education program is a
new experience. When parents show
an interest in helping their child at
home, don’t set them up to fail by
giving them complicated materials,
complex instructions, and a heavy
schedule of nightly tutoring. Begin
with something simple that is likely
to be rewarding to the parent and the
child.
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9. Respect a parent’s right to say “No.”
Most educators are eager to share
what they know and to help families
plan and carry out shared teaching
goals. Professionals sometimes “fail
to recognize” the more basic needs
of families. One need may be that a
professional support person is not
needed!....There comes a time when
parents and other members of the
family wish to be left alone.
(Howard et al., 2005. p. 124).
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10. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t
know.”
Sometimes parents will ask
questions that you cannot
answer or request services you
cannot provide. The mark of a
real professional is knowing the
limits of your expertise and when
you need help. It is okay to say,
“I don’t know.” Parents will
think more highly of you.
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Heward, W. L. (2006). Exceptional
children: An introduction to special
education (8th ed.). Columbus, OH:
Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Knackendoffel, A., Robinson, S. M.,
Deshler, D. D., & Schumaker, J. B.
(1992). Collaborative problem
solving: Teaming techniques
series. Lawrence, KS: Edge
Enterprises, Inc.
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Resources
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http://www.exceptionalparent.com
http://www.beachcenter.org
http://www.nichcy.org
http://www.prenhall.com/heward
http://www.specialchild.com/index.html
http://www.assistivetech.net
http://www.cec.sped.org
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Additional Print Resources
• Gorman, J.C. (2004). Working with challenging parents of
student with special needs. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin Press.
• Lynch-Quinonez, C. (2000). Bless my special child:
Prayers and insights for parents. Liguori, MO: Liguori
Press.
• Naseef, R. A. (2001). Special children challenged parents:
The struggles and rewards of raising a child with a
disability. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing
Co.
• Simons, R. (1987). After the tears: Parents talk about
raising a child with a disability. Denver, CO: The
Children’s Museum of Denver, Inc.
• Wilmshurst, L., & Brue, A.W. (2005). A parent’s guide to
special education. New York: AMACOM.
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Post Organizer
• 1. State the five basic
Communication Skills?
• 2. Describe two strategies for
communicating with parents.
• 3. How can you apply this
information now?
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