Introduction
Education contains various aspects and markers to become the best channel between the knowledge and its receiver. In addition, education uses a lot of instruments, which help to improve the comprehensive part of studies and involve socialization of the pupils. Communication is remaining one of such instruments in building the relations not only between teachers and students but also involving their parents in the whole process.
Communication and building school communicative environment
First of all, to understand what role communication plays at school, it is necessary to define the term and its purpose in the educational process. Communication in education is the connection between teachers, their students, and the inverse process of connecting parents to the school life of their children. It is evident that the first and most widely-used instrument is actual verbal communication. It seems logical to suppose that there is no way for the successful connection between a teacher and a student if they fail to communicate verbally, making use of words to reach the understanding. Thus, verbal communication works well in the “parents-teacher” pair too. As an example, if a parent wants to know something particular about the child’s studies or the school atmosphere, in most cases he is free to contact the teacher and ask all the necessary questions (Swap, 2013).
There is also some differentiation in a teacher’s gender, or, in other words, in the way students perceive the teachers. It does not influence communication significantly, but during younger years of studies, a female teacher is most trusted. It is the process when a pupil tries to project the image of the caring mother to a female teacher, simulation the comfortable, homelike atmosphere, and people around. It does not mean that a man teacher is less competent or frightens the students, but the pupils are more likely to impose more trust on a female teacher in the process of school communication (Stamatis, & Nikolaou, 2016).
On-line and nonverbal communication, parents-to-school communication
Nevertheless, there is a great deal of technical development, which does not exclude the field of education. Here, the digital era also gives a considerable range of examples, but they lie mostly in the non-verbal aspect of communication. For teachers, digital device usage provides many opportunities for establishing better communication, because they can use internet resources, social nets, and media in the educational process. The Internet is a good instrument for widening the source of information, while the social nets give a chance to stay in touch with the students and be in the trend of online communication. Nonverbal, digital communication is also helpful for parents, as with the existence of on-line schedules, journals, and grade books, they stay informed and involved in the study process of their kids, together with being in touch with teachers. Nonverbal communication at school also supposes some psycho-pedagogical knowledge of the youth peculiarities. Moreover, the traditional understanding of nonverbal communication includes signals, postures, and gestures. Observing all these aspects from the point of view of psychology also helps to establish a lively communication atmosphere and environment (McCurdy, Skinner, & Ervin, 2017).
There are certain rules parents want to be established in the school communication, as no one usually wants too much interference with the private life of the child. Thus, returning to the nonverbal, digital way of communication, parents are pleased to know the grades of their children anytime, they want to participate in their child’s social school life, so it is good when parents are subscribed to some newsletters and school websites. It is also noteworthy that school communication for parents also includes the ability to control the progress of a child, so it is necessary for them to have access to some homework database. Timing also plays an important role, as parents should be aware of any curriculum or other changes. That is why it is necessary to get them acquainted with all the changes the moment they occur or, which is better, beforehand (Duck, & McMahan, 2015).
A brief analysis of school communication
Nonetheless, each aspect of communication can and should be improved. It is not enough just to stay relevant to the schedules and simple communication. Both parents and teachers should be surely interested in what they do and how they communicate with students. A conversation is of no use if the parties are not fully interested in it. So, if a teacher is not interested in a student, the communication will not be efficient. If parents are not interested in the educational process of their kids, communication with the school does not reach its purpose. As a matter of fact, it also seems rather important that the school system, including parents, should not only be interested, but it should be built in a way that presupposes the ability to interest a pupil. As a double-sided process, communication logically involves the mutual interest and understanding from all its parties (Ding, & Schotter, 2016).
The example of miscommunication at school
The possible example of miscommunication at school can be an average student or pupil with some apparently advanced skills in some subjects. Let us imagine that his teacher is not involved enough in the communication process and does not see his inclination to some particular topic. His parents also do not get the feedback from the teacher on the skills of their child. As a result, in such a situation the kid with some talents in literature can be led to specifying in mathematics, which is not in his scope of interests or capabilities and his grade score is lower than it could be. It is an obvious example of miscommunication, or, to be exact, of the lack of communication. In a healthy communicative environment, employing verbal and nonverbal instruments, the teacher would learn the interests of the student and could also share the information with parents, which finally would lead to highlighting the talents and the interest of a child (Aslanargun, 2015).
Conclusion
Overall, communication at school and the connection of the institution with parents are paramount. It does not matter, if the verbal or nonverbal instruments are used, the result should be productive. The mutual interest of teachers and students in cognition and studies, combined with the involvement of parents gives the school a chance to be a healthy environment for communication, socialization, and studying for children. It is the first, and the dominating purpose of communication in general and the school experience gain in particular. When there is a chance for a pupil to study in this healthy environment, there is more opportunity for success and a prospective future.
References
Aslanargun, E. (2015). Teachers’ expectations and school administration: Keys of better communication in schools. Eurasian Journal Of Educational Research, 15(60), 17-34.
Ding, T., & Schotter, A. (2016). Matching and chatting: An experimental study of the impact of network communication on school-matching mechanisms. Games And Economic Behavior, 10(50).
Duck, S., & McMahan, D. (2015). Communication in everyday life. SAGE Publications.
McCurdy, M., Skinner, C., & Ervin, R. (2017). Functional behavioral assessment of nonverbal behavior. Handbook Of Nonverbal Assessment, 269-285.
Stamatis, P., & Nikolaou, E. (2016). Communication and collaboration between school and family for addressing bullying. International Journal Of Criminology And Sociology, 5, 99-104.
Swap, S. (2013). Developing home-school partnerships (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press.