Preface
Sometimes our communications with each other resemble the bumper car ride at a carnival-haphazard, fast-paced and a little chaotic... cars bumping and crashing into each other, some spinning, some jammed up in a corner, some careening wildly off on their own... most of us having a good time but a few of us picking up bruises.
Sometimes our communications work like a graceful dance— well-orchestrated and beautiful... each dancer moving in rhythm... everyone participating with purpose and focused on a common goal.
And sometimes our communications are as brief as a lightning burst—a jolt of electricity that connects two parts and changes each.
There are many metaphors for the many different kinds of interactions that people have with each other. However, all communications are alike in that they tend to have a purpose whether we are aware of it or not.
At Head Start, the purpose of most of our communications with parents is to build partnerships with families. Interactions with parents should therefore support that purpose. However, directing our communications purposefully takes skill. It is an art learned over a lifetime. This guide is designed to help staff who are in day-to-day contact with parents refine their communication skills. It will help staff reflect on the value of authentic, positive communications and provides activities for staff to practice and use in advancing their skills.
In this guide, communication is viewed as a dynamic process—two-way and mutually beneficial. Therefore, the guide focuses on the concrete communication skills of listening and observing as well as speaking and writing. Finally, it takes staff through the process of planning at the personal and program level to ensure that overall communications at Head Start work toward the purpose of furthering successful partnerships with parents. From the perspective of program management, this guide can improve the opportunities for parents and staff to work effectively together on program planning and participation.
Of course communications at Head Start are not limited to staff-parent interactions. Parents interact with each other, staff with each other, and everyone with children. While the focus here is on the partnership-building communications that develop between staff and parents, staff will be able to apply and model their skills in other contexts.
Communicating with Parents is a functional guide. It follows the ground work established in the foundational guide, Engaging Parents. As parents participate in the program, it will be the quality of the ongoing communications that furthers their involvement and makes the most of the staff-parent partnership .