Solving Classroom Problems - Case Study Example

Running Head: SOLVING CLASSROOM PROBLEMS Solving Classroom Problems: A Case Study Name: Course: Tutor: Parent-teacher relationship in schools is considered a very important in improving the performance of students. Communication between the parents and the teachers about the students’ progress in school socially, emotionally and physically is encouraged as it has been found to be one of the reasons why some schools perform better that the others. In a study conducted by some researchers, findings revealed that schools in which students performed well had there parents invited and not ignored, had the parents consulted and not avoided and had the parents encouraged to communicate and not to complain (Lavoie, 2008). Parent teacher relationship however does not go without problems. Teachers and parents sometimes have personal differences and forget to handle the important issues in their relationships; parents sometimes refuse to comply with the recommendations reached by the two parties, parents sometimes feel not consulted and so many other problems. In this paper, one of the problems between teacher-parent relationships will be discussed. The paper gives a hypothesized case of a difficult situation with parents of a student who had problems in his performance. The student’s way of response in class had changed and the reason to this and how to improve his performance was the main aim of the discussion between the two parties. The Case Study Richard is a secondary school student now in grade 9 in a gifted program. His performance in grade 8 did not go well as expected of him depending on his previous performances. Mr. Johnson is Richard’s new class teacher and is concerned about the trend taken by his performance. He has a collection of Richard’s official school records and information from a private consultant who had been hired by his parents for fear that their son would drop out of school. Richard had developed some characteristics which made him not concentrate in class; he was often sent out of class by some teachers and regarded learning as useless. He never recognised learning as important and instead thought of it as a waste of time. Richard was in school because he had no where else to go or any other thing to do. According to reports from the teachers, Richard had all the indications of competency from grade 1. The trend of his excellent performance went on until grade five when some changes were noticed. He started showing some behavioral problems but performed well. In grade six, the impact of change of behavior affected his performance and Richard’s academic standing went down. At grade seven, Richard completed his academic year with an average of B+ and declined further in grade eight by 55%. Other information disclosed that Richard has been sent out of class by different teachers on several occasions and has been absent half the time for learning. In addition to that, he has also been described as inattentive and uncooperative. Mr. Jonson however noticed that Richard does well with more flexible teachers who put up personal learning styles and interests, and in his psycho-educational test which he scored 99.7%. Richard’s academic language skills were also very good. He only had mathematics skills indicating lower marks. Mr. Jonson found out that Richard has an artistic intelligence and temperament where he struggles with himself and the world with his emotionality, sensitivity and intensity. He recommends that Richards should be encouraged to continue his pursuits in all the areas he was found to be competent as these would develop his personality. Problem Solving Strategy: Working in collaboration with all Parties Involved In order to solve Richard’s problem, Mr. Jonson had to invite the parents and the teachers to discuss the matter. Mr. Jonson first strategised on how he would make that possible and made a plan on how he wanted to make Richard’s performance improve professionally. Jonson had found out Richard’s problem and aimed at making all the parties involved in his academic world aware of it and involved in it. The parents were an important party since they wanted the best for their child and had even hired a private consultant for his improvement. With all the information about Richard and how to make him improve, Jonson was confident that he would achieve his aim. The problem occurred when he met Richard’s parents. He had contacted previously and requested a meeting with them to discuss how their son could improve his performance. He was not lucky during the discussion with the parents. The first step was to inform the parents on what step he would make to help their son, then proceed to Richard, then to his teachers. Mr. and Mrs. Syani, Richards’s parents, come from a community where the cultures do not allow women to speak of their views in the presence of their husbands. The woman is regarded as disrespectful if she does that. During the discussion, there was conflict between the two parents, Richards mother claimed she knew his son’s cause of problematic behavior and the method proposed by Mr. Jonson would be appropriate while Mr. Syani claimed that Richard needed a private counselor. He even regarded his wife as disrespectful to him by opposing his view. Appropriate Problem Solving Method There are different ways a teacher could solve problems with parents in cases of classroom problems with students. The methods depend on the situations which arise for the teachers. In this case, the best method would be to use moral orientation and logics to solve the problem A teacher should work towards a long term relationship with the parents since the child’s performance is in both their hands including the child himself. In problem solving, the issue is given priority; this means that if a family has a different culture for example the one that does not permit a woman to talk or give her opinion in the presence of the husband, the teacher has to be cautious of what decision he or she makes. The teacher has to find out a way of making both parents understand the main aim of them coming and solving the problem without negatively affecting the relationship. One important thing in ensuring good relationship between parents and teachers is effective communication. Making sure that both parents understand the aim of holding a meeting, (helping Richard to improve) and making sure that communication is not hindered due to the culture and other factors. One way of making sure that this happens is by giving the woman an opportunity to speak in a manner that does not offend the husband. The Class teacher should find out a way of making the man understand that even that information from Richard’s mother is as well important. The teacher should begin by offering moral questions to the man in a different meeting with the man alone for him not to feel defeated or ignored (Garrod, 1992). Mr. Syani could be asked the following questions for example, Mr. Johnson: “Does your wife know anything about you?” Mr. Syani: “Yes” Mr. Jonson: “Would you allow her to tell the doctor about you when necessary?” Mr. Syani: “Of course yes, but they are not allowed to give decisions in our presence. I make decisions”. Mr. Jonson: “I wanted to make one exceptional request about your culture, could you allow her to tell me about Richard’s behaviors to let me know if the strategy I have taken would be appropriate”. According to Garrod, these moral questions should make the person understand that different situations need different actions and each person’s contribution is important (1992). The morals questions are part of a moral orientation strategy to solve problems by teachers. The above does not show a complete interview between Mr. Syani and the class teacher and does not indicate the exact questions that should be asked, but give an example of how the case should be handled. In any problem solving case, the student is the main aim of discussion and not issues between the parents or between the parents and the teachers (Garrod, 1992). Factors such as culture should however be considered. Lavoie notes in his article that teachers are suppose to act professionally when dealing with parents whose values, dynamics and attitudes differ from his or hers. This is because the family-teacher or parent-teacher relationship may be jeopardized by that (Lavoie 2008). Obtaining information about the boy is an important step in solving the problem. Already the issue of the woman should not speak is solved. From then on a meeting with Richard’s mother separately would be appropriate to get the information necessary and a joint meeting to inform the parents of the final decision would be made. Meeting Richard’s mother separately is important for both parents to feel that their culture is as well respected. The parents feel encouraged, important and not misjudged in the school. According to Garrod, Richard’s parents should be asked their roles in ensuring that their child improves his performance. This is another moral question that uses moral orientation to solve a problem. Using moral orientation justice is letting the person recognise what really is necessary. Before making a final decision, in this case, Richard was also involved in problem solving stage. This is the person with the problem and the problem has to be identified with him as well. He should be asked questions such as: “what are you comfortable doing? Do you have something specific that you would like to learn? How do you think you would learn best or what makes you feel you are learning? (Dona & Menna, 2003). After obtaining Richards proposals on how he should improve his academic performance, the next step is to inquire from his teachers the possibility of making such improvements. This is by asking questions on how Richard’s proposals could be made possible. Teacher-parent relationship as had been indicated is very important in solving student problems and failure to maintain good relations between the teachers and the parents may lead to poor performance by the school (Lavoie 2008). References Dona, M and Menna, R. (2003). Solving Problems Together: The Importance of Parent/School/Community Collaboration at a Time of Educational and Social Change. Education Canada, pp. 20 – 23. Retrieved on 6th April 2009 from: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/gifted-ed/articles/familyschoolsconnections.shtml Garrod, A. (1992). Learning for life: Moral Education Theory and Practice. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. Lavoie, R. (2008). The Teacher's Role in Home/School Communication: Everybody Wins. AdLit.org. Retrieved on 6th April 2009 from: http://www.adlit.org/article/28021 Read More