Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
7.3 Engage with the parents/carers
Standard 7.3 states that I should understand strategies for working effectively, sensitively and confidentially with parents/carers. Therefore I have included evidence of my effective communication strategies with parents/carers over the course of my experiences (AITSL, 2014). These include an introduction letter, class newsletter, communication via student diaries and face to face communication.
Introduction Letter:Before beginning my work in schools I feel that it is polite and respectful to introduce myself to the parents/caregivers of the children I will be teaching. In doing this I feel that parents are more inclined and willing have discussions with me about their child's progress and any other concerns they may have. Providing an introductory letter aims to make parents feel more comfortable and aware about what is happening in their child's classroom.
Class Newsletter:Most parents love to hear about what has been going on in the classroom, especially those parents who are unable to drop off and pick up their children. I sent home this short newsletter to my parents of the children in my special needs unit. I had comments from parents thanking me for being informative and always positive.
Student diaries and face to face communication:I strongly believe it is important to develop effective working relationships with students, families and the wider community in order to provide meaningful and authentic learning experiences for students. Through ongoing and open communication with families I aim to be a part of the support network. I do this by communicating each day in student diaries to update parents/carers on student progress and this allows me to be aware of and sensitive to parent/carers needs in regards to educational support in the home. The examples I have provided are comments by mentor teachers surrounding my partnerships and communication with parents/caregivers.
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7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Standard 7.4 suggests that I should understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening my professional knowledge and practice (AITSL, 2014). The following evidence I have supplied includes comments on my reports from my professional experience where I liaised with paraprofessionals and colleagues.
Liaising with paraprofessionals:Liaising with paraprofessionals is crucial in special education field. In my unit I worked along side a speech pathologist to develop a beginning communication system for a student when it came to meal times. I also seeked advice from a physiotherapy coordinator about how I could implement strategies in class for a student who had difficulty crossing the midline. In my special education unit I also worked with multiple SSO's who I also had to liaise with effectively to create a smooth running classroom.
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Liaising with colleagues:Liaising with colleagues and other teaching staff was both insightful and beneficial for building my professional networks and knowledge. Over the course of my degree I have engaged in many staff meetings where I have shared information and gained feedback from other colleagues. In one classroom I had a student with significant challenging behaviours. This student had Autism, an intellectual disability and he was non-verbal. Therefore I sought out his previous teachers to discuss what worked well for them and what some of his interests were. These teachers provided me with many ideas which I trialed and had much more success.
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