Is your food tasty?
For example, consider the food situation. This aspect most clearly expresses how much the organization of control in a preschool educational institution should depend on the feedback received from parents. Without touching on the material and technical aspects of catering, we can point out the constant need to make adjustments to the menu of preschoolers, based on the opinions of parents and children.
Despite their young age, preschoolers have the right to speak out about what they eat. Of course, children have a specific view of food, but if educators notice widespread refusals of children from this or that dish, then they need, at a minimum, to notify the kindergarten administration.
The organization of control in preschool educational institutions in the field of nutrition can be regulated by valuable information received directly from parents. It will not be at all difficult to conduct a survey of parents, during which it will be possible to find out which dishes children like and which they do not like, which products and dishes, as well as entire menu developments, the parents themselves could recommend. Some preschool institutions even hold competitions and voting, where the best dishes are selected, recommended by parents and then introduced into the kindergarten menu.
Style of communication between the teacher and parents consultation (preparatory group) on the topic
Communication style between teacher and parents
The psychological dictionary interprets the term “communication” as “the interaction of two or more people, consisting in the exchange of information between them of a cognitive or affective-evaluative nature” [1]. Communication is a complex process of establishing and developing contacts between people. The need for communication, the need of a person for a person V.A. Sukhomlinsky called it the most ineradicable and the most humane. Is the ability to communicate given to a person by nature or does it need to be learned? Of course, people learn communication skills throughout their lives.
The success of a teacher’s work, which involves constant contact with parents and children, largely depends on his ability to communicate. At the same time, the leading role in communication between the teacher and parents belongs to the teacher, since he is a professional and an official representative of the educational institution.
It has long been a common phrase in pedagogical circles: “It is not as difficult to work with children as it is difficult to communicate with their parents.” Almost every teacher has a lot of examples of how difficult it can be to achieve mutual understanding with parents: someone brushes aside the advice of the teacher - “We gave them to you, you educate them”, someone avoids parent-teacher meetings, others begin to blame the teacher for everything that arises. problems, etc. Therefore, it is important for a teacher to know the structure, communication styles, and be able to find a way out of conflict situations. In teaching practice, communication is the most important factor in professional success. According to M.I. Skatkina “High technique of pedagogical communication is not only one of the components, but also the leading component of pedagogical skill.”
In the process of interacting with each other, everything turns out to be important: what we say, how we say it, how we perceive the information of our communication partner. Therefore, the first and necessary condition for successful interaction between a teacher and parents is knowledge of the structure of communication.
Psychologists distinguish three components of communication:
— The first component includes the perception of a person by a person in the process of communication.
- The second component is the process of transmitting information: the exchange of opinions, information, desires - this is what we say.
— The third component involves the organization of joint activities, interaction in conversation (how we speak, what goals we pursue), which can be expressed in pressure, avoidance, or passivity of one of the partners.
Speaking about communication, it is necessary to pay attention to the teacher’s self-presentation. We have not yet had time to say anything, but an opinion about us has already been formed, in accordance with the impression we made on the interlocutor. Our appearance: clothes, hairstyle, gait and much more told our parents in what manner to communicate with us. Therefore, it is very important for a teacher to present himself: to be neatly dressed, in clean shoes, so that they are shoes and not soft slippers without backs. After all, parents, like teachers, “read” information from his external appearance and adapt to a certain state of the interlocutor. At this time, the teacher can grasp the parent’s mood, attitude towards himself, find the right tone, and create an atmosphere of business interaction. As a rule, teachers at school take their appearance quite seriously, but for some reason kindergarten teachers believe that there is no point in trying to look good and be neat, since children are too small and do not understand anything. Unfortunately, this is an erroneous opinion; it is the kindergarten workers who should pay special attention to their appearance, which is one of the factors in the formation of the child’s internal culture.
The next stage of communication is verbal communication. Pedagogical practice shows that an incorrectly structured speech message can lead to both partners’ misunderstanding of each other and to open conflict. V.N. Kunitsina, in her book “Interpersonal Communication,” gives the principles of constructing verbal communication. They can be presented in the form of a diagram.
Principles of communication
If a conflict arises with parents, it is better to adhere to a formal manner of communication.
In order to involve a communication partner in contact, it is necessary to make the very first minutes surprising, unexpected, bright, to create a positive emotional mood, A.F. Koni advises using “catching” hooks at the beginning of the conversation. It could be something from life, some paradox, an unexpected question. “Hooked” and what next, is success guaranteed?
The effectiveness and success of communication between the teacher and parents will also depend on the style of communication.
The first experimental study of communication styles was conducted in 1938 by German psychologist Kurt Lewin. In this work, he points out that each person has his own, characteristic only for him, style of communicating with people. It changes somewhat depending on the partner and the nature of the activity, but at the same time maintaining its essential features and its uniqueness. The style of communication reflects the specifics of relationships between people, the diverse and at the same time unique essence of the individuals included in the dialogue.
Nowadays, there are many communication styles, we will focus on the main ones:
Collaborative creativity
The basis of joint creativity is the unity of the teacher’s high professionalism and his ethical principles. The activity-dialogue scheme of this communication puts the teacher and parent in a position of parity when common goals are set and solutions are found through joint efforts. In this style, as on photographic film, all the personal qualities of both parties are revealed. Passion for a common cause is a source of friendliness, and at the same time, friendliness, multiplied by interest, gives rise to a joint, enthusiastic search.
Authoritarian style
According to the authoritarian style, the teacher makes all decisions individually, gives orders, and gives instructions. With an authoritarian communication style, decisions are made by the teacher and given to parents in the form of directives, which is why this style is often called directive. In this case, according to the teacher, his directives are not subject to discussion, they must be undeniably followed.
Permissive style
A characteristic feature of the permissive communication style is the teacher’s insignificant activity; problems with parents are discussed formally. The teacher is subject to various influences, does not show initiative in joint activities with parents, and is often unwilling or unable to make decisions himself, limiting himself to formally fulfilling the duties and instructions of the administration.
Style - distance
Without maintaining distance, pedagogical communication can slide into familiar and condescending relationships. Distance acts as an indicator of the leading role of the teacher. The popularity of this communication style lies in the fact that novice teachers often believe that distance communication helps them immediately establish themselves as a teacher, and therefore they use this style to a certain extent as a means of self-affirmation. But, the use of this style of communication, in most cases, leads to pedagogical failures, so you should choose a reasonable range of its application. Communication - distance is to a certain extent a transitional stage to such a negative form of communication as intimidating communication.
Style is intimidating
This style artificially puts the partner in a dependent position, causing him to have a negative attitude towards the opposite party. The communication process turns out to be strictly regulated, driven into a formal and official framework. An invisible barrier of alienation is erected between those communicating.
Style - flirting
Essentially, the type of communication-flirting corresponds to the desire to gain false, cheap authority from parents, which contradicts the requirements of pedagogical ethics. It is often used by young teachers to quickly establish contact with parents and get them to like them; this is caused by the lack of the necessary general pedagogical and communicative culture, pedagogical communication skills and experience, and experience in professional communicative activities.
Mentor style
The mentoring style of communication appears when one of the partners (most often this is a person who considers himself an “experienced” person) voluntarily or unintentionally takes on the role of a mentor. An edifying and patronizing tone is present not only in the dialogue, but also in its entire appearance.
According to G.B. Monina [2], an effective communication technique is to use the “lawyer” and “prosecutor” styles.
It is recommended that the teacher use the “lawyer” style when communicating with parents in the following cases:
— parents ask for advice, seek help, share their problems, take an interest in the child’s behavior and successes;
-parents place excessive demands on the child and expect too high results from him;
— the teacher needs to provide negative information about the child. You can start the conversation from an “advocate” position, telling the good things about the child, and then move on to the unpleasant moments. The teacher can talk about the child’s problems from the position of his defender, a person who sincerely wants to help the child and parents.
Experienced teachers often complain that they begin to view the world from the perspective of “good” and “bad,” “right” and “wrong,” which results in a certain categorical attitude. This categorical attitude does not contribute to the formation of a friendly atmosphere, because the interlocutor is afraid to openly state his position, and negative information about the child, expressed in a critical style about his behavior, is often perceived by parents painfully, sometimes even aggressively, developing into conflict.
In order to avoid deepening and expanding the conflict situation, the teacher needs to choose the desired style of communication and competently build a behavior strategy. The “teacher-parent” conflict, as a rule, assumes a “superior-subordinate” type of conflict, which determines the teacher’s behavior as an accusatory party. And if previously this situation suited both sides, now parents, having certain knowledge and experience in the field of psychology, strive to prevent pressure on themselves from kindergarten workers.
No matter how much we would like it, it is hardly possible to imagine, much less implement, completely conflict-free interaction between people. Sometimes it is even more important not to avoid conflict, but to wisely choose a strategy for behavior in a conflict situation and lead the parties to a constructive agreement. K. Thomas [3] proposed ways to regulate conflicts. They are presented in Table 1
Table 1 Ways to resolve conflicts
| No. | Behavior style | The essence of strategy | Conditions for effective use | Flaws |
| 1 | Competition (competition) | The desire to achieve satisfaction of one’s interests to the detriment of another object of communication | The outcome of the conflict is very important. It is effective when a person has a certain power: he knows that his decision is correct and has the opportunity to insist on it. | In case of defeat - dissatisfaction, in case of victory - guilt, unpopularity, damaged relationships. |
| 2 | Evasion | Avoiding or postponing resolution of a conflict, “escape” from responsibility. | The outcome doesn't matter. Detachment from resolving the conflict in order to deal with it later, to be more prepared for it. Do not waste energy on solving it when the situation is hopeless. | Transition of the conflict into a hidden form. |
| No. | Behavior style | The essence of strategy | Conditions for effective use | Flaws |
| 3 | Device | Smoothing out disagreements through self-interest while working with others. | The subject of disagreement is more important to the other. The desire to preserve peace. You cannot gain the upper hand because the other person has more power. | You are giving in on something important to yourself. The other person will not appreciate your concession and will take it for granted. |
| 4 | Compromise | Finding a solution through mutual concessions | Compromise allows you to maintain the relationship and you agree to gain at least something rather than lose everything and take advantage of short-term gain. | Getting only half of what you expected. The causes of the conflict have not been completely eliminated |
| 5 | Cooperation | Joint search for a conflict resolution that satisfies all participants | Solving the problem is important for both parties. There is time to work on the problem that has arisen. Clear understanding of the other's point of view. The desire to maintain the relationship | Time and energy costs. No guarantee of success |
According to L.B. Nevalina, you can adhere to the following recommendations if you are forced to participate in a dispute:
- Do not be biased, even with different views, identify at least one common point of view.
- Do not allow yourself to be drawn into an empty verbal skirmish.
- Do not lose composure; tactlessness, swearing is a sign of weakness and lack of arguments.
- Rely on facts and logic.
- Be concise.
- Predict the consequences of your words.
— They are not afraid of criticism, as it helps them see their weak points.
- Be able to admit your mistake.
— Avoid dishonest methods in disputes.
- Don't fall for compliments.
The listed proposals by L.B. Nevalin’s options do not exhaust the entire variety of communication styles developed in long-term practice. They can give the most unexpected effects that establish or destroy the interaction of partners during communication and are, as a rule, found empirically. At the same time, the found and acceptable communication style of one teacher turns out to be completely unsuitable for another. The style of communication clearly reveals the individuality of each person, both teachers and parents.
Constructive communication between a teacher and parents is possible if there is a common understanding of the goal aimed at successfully raising a child.
Can we say that using various techniques will help you find an approach to any parent? Of course, this is not entirely true. The parent's character traits, his past experience, his psychological problems - all this can become a serious obstacle to building cooperation with the teacher. No psychological techniques guarantee a successful result. However, in most cases, if the teacher tries to act thoughtfully and consciously, and chooses the desired style of communication, he will be able to build contact, which will become the basis for productive interaction. After all, teachers and parents really have a common goal.
Organization of control in preschool educational institutions and the educational process
In monitoring and correcting the educational process in a preschool institution, establishing feedback from parents is no less effective. The modern variety of educational programs practiced in preschool educational institutions allows the preschool education system to be more flexible in relation to the requirements of parents. In other words, a parent who wants his child to study some interesting and special specialized subjects at a preschool educational institution has the opportunity to find a preschool educational institution where this desire will be satisfied. But, sometimes, the preschool institution you are looking for may be located on the other side of the city, and it is inconvenient for parents to take their child to and from there every day.
So why not listen to the opinions of parents and make changes in the educational process? If parents express interest in introducing, for example, astronomy for preschoolers into the general education course, you can find the means and strength to organize additional classes in kindergarten on this topic. Or, if parents express the opinion that their children are doing too much math and too little drawing, organizing control in a preschool educational institution always presupposes a real possibility of making changes in the educational process.
As in the case of nutrition, in order to find out the opinions and wishes of parents, educators can regularly conduct questionnaires and surveys of a relevant nature. Daily cooperation between educators and administration representatives with parents is useful and necessary work, since both sides of the process are interested in one thing - creating the best conditions for the development and learning of children.
