There would come a time in any teacher’s profession when dealing with difficult parents in special education is something they face on a weekly basis. Since this part is inevitable, learning to cope with it along with some ways you can open discussions with parents with the best outcomes for both parties involved including the child.
On this blog, I’ve written about several topics on self-care. Teachers do not practice this enough, and this is why they burn out. Read more articles for teachers here.
Dealing with difficult parents in special education
Our job as teachers not only pile on, but I don’t know any other profession, by which one is constantly put to the test to perform various different tasks other than their main job which is teaching.
These conditions that teachers are forced to be in certainly don’t make it an attractive career option, anymore that is in 2022.
I remember when I was just 19 and doing my first year of university, how excited I was to start teaching.
That innocence for the passion of teaching and the job has been ripped from us unintentionally albeit, but it has.
But I’ll tell you something, I will still teach under all those conditions and any new ones we face.
Why?
How to deal with a negative school culture. Ideas and tips on spotting unfair treatment.
Dealing with difficult parents scenario
There are so many scenarios we face on a daily basis when it comes to teaching. Dealing with parents though, is one massive hurdle we need to tackle.
One scenario from parents that teachers can face is threatening or disrespectful behavior.
For example a friend of mine had a parent call her names for not giving her daughter a particular shaped sticker.
My friend had told her that she won’t cater to this need because we’re supposed to teach kids how to accept what they get, and be grateful for it.
The parent then went on to complain to the administrator about this incident.
Did it really require a formal complaint?
Was the teacher not doing her job?
Was the teacher simply not just catering for her daughter but that also, if she had agreed to what the child wanted, wouldn’t that mean the teacher would be setting the same example to the rest of her peers?
So, when teachers have rules, they don’t put them out just for fun.
They serve a purpose.
Role of parents in special education
Some parents feel as though teachers don’t want to bend the rules for the children, but this simply isn’t true.
In most cases, teachers feel pressure to be fair to all students equally and try to set behavioral standards that is expected of them to grow up to be well rounded human beings.
Special needs printables and activities you may like:
- Best Printable Feeling Words List PDF for Special Needs Kids
- 5+ Essential Life Skills Activities for Special Needs Students
- 10 Brilliant Low Prep CVC Activity Sheets for Any Kindergarten or Special Education Classroom
The role of parents is enormous. Whether their child is in special needs or not.
Parents provide the basic care and support towards the good behavior and general development of their children.
This means that they are needed to be actively involved in their children’s development.
Things like:
- Emotional support
- Basic self care
- Supportive hand / listening ear
- Help further develop their child’s academic skills
And more!
Parents need to be involved.
Some basic ways to involve parents in the classroom:
- keep them posted on what their child is actively completing during school hours
- Use an app to help keep parents involved in a simple and time effective way
- Don’t ever pressure parents to get more involved. Just simply encourage them and keep talking about the positives and outcomes if they provide support.
I hope these ideas were useful to help support you in involving parents in the classroom and with their child.
It’s not always easy, but adopting this positive mindset (even though we will encounter resistance) is always the best way forward and brings about a lot more rewards than adopting a negative way.
