Strategies to Increase Communication

This post on strategies to increase school and teacher communication is the last in a series of nine topics requested by puberty educators.

Two Focuses for Increasing Family Engagement

Research has revealed barriers and facilitators of family engagement related to sex education, and suggests that schools focus on two main efforts to increase family engagement:

1. Provide parent materials that address the barriers to parental engagement and encourage parent-child communication at home.
2. Increase school and teacher confidence to communicate with parents about sex education.

This post addresses the second focus by suggesting 13 strategies for increasing communication. Communication and transparency are two keys to success when engaging families in a home-school partnership. They help build the trust that is so important when it’s time to teach students about puberty, relationships, and behaviors.

Why Increase Communication

Most parents want their children to receive an accurate puberty education at school. Yet, they want to be the ones to instill their own family values. If parents don’t know what and how puberty education will be taught in the classroom, they might be afraid that their role will be undermined. This lack of information can lead to misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts and controversy.

Clear communication and transparency about the puberty education program and its goals can alleviate the tension that results when people are concerned about the unknown. It can prevent the conflicts and controversy that arise when rumors, misinformation, and disinformation are the primary information available. Schools have a responsibility to inform and engage parents to earn their trust and support for puberty education.

13 Strategies

These 13 strategies are just a few of the many strategies schools can enact to increase communication about puberty education with parents, family members, caregivers, and other trusted adults:

1. Establish positive parent-teacher relationships
2. Share information via a variety of methods
3. Adopt a sex education curriculum that includes family engagement
4. Assign a contact person
5. Notify parents
6. Include puberty education information in each newsletter
7. Make a presentation to the parent-teacher association
8. Invite students to interview their parent or other trusted adult
9. Conduct a home visit
10. Implement comprehensive sex education sessions for families
11. Hold a panel discussion
12. Conduct a parent/guardian survey
13. Make a presentation to the school board

Watch this video to learn more about these Strategies to Increase School and Teacher Communication.

Resources:

• Sample Parent Survey, scroll down to “M: Parent Sex Ed Survey”
• Puberty: The Wonder Years blog, use these in your newsletters with attribution
• Parent Resources, these in your newsletters with attribution
• Parents As Partners in Puberty Education
• Barriers and Facilitators of Family Engagement