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Why is it important to support parents?
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Parents are the primary support and teachers for their children. We as teachers are supposed to be lifting a burden from them by teaching the basics and reinforcing a Christian worldview so that they can focus on the times of the day when they are with their children. We need to make sure that we can take into account the issues that a family is facing and help the students and their parents get the most out of their Christian education.
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It is extremely important to support our student’s parents, and guardians. When the family is supported holistically, it provides a level of security for the student. When a student feels that a teacher is supportive of their family as a whole, then you’ve lowered boundaries, and raised encouragement. Having families involved in the students learning decreases stresses in both the classroom and the home. We can keep “communication” open through apps, newsletters, emails, classroom events, etc.
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God placed parents over their children as the first teachers and role models. As a family unit, parents show children their first examples of love, care, leadership, and discipline. God refers to himself as our Father, pointing again to the importance of fathers in general and God’s role as a model of the perfect father. As teachers of children, we ourselves are children living under the authority of our heavenly Father. As ones tasked with teaching children, we want to support the authorities God placed in their lives before us so we might show the value of parents and model how to be part of the larger body of Christ. Parents as the first teachers deserve our respect and support as fellow members of the body of Christ.
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When I first started teaching, I was not a parent and I struggled to relate to parents during parent/teacher conferences. Now that I have gone back to teaching after raising 3 children, I can remember how difficult it was to pour into my children. When a teacher was unable to recognize the value that my child brought to their classroom, I recognized that it wasn’t a problem with my child. I also think parenting has only gotten more difficult. Therefore, the parents of my students need my communication and they need my positive encouragement so more than I need their child to behave exactly how I wish they would.
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It is important to support parents because they are primary in a child’s life. Children need to see that we are on the side of their parents, rooting for them, supporting them, loving them, and helping them. Our relationship as teacher and parents should be one of teamwork. We both have the best interest in mind of the child and want to work together to see the child succeed, however the ultimate responsibility lies with the parents. We should honor that position. God designed parents intentionally and purposefully to be the most important influence in a child’s life. We want to remind children of that truth. I think by helping children be respectful and speak respectfully about their parents we make parents feel supported. As we do build a supportive relationship with parents, they most often tend to be very supportive back to us as teachers.