One issue that causes the greatest difficulty in the management of any business, school, organization, or program is trouble with communication. Nothing can ‘gum up the works’ or cause more problems for a preschool program than poor communication (in any direction) 

Elements of Good Communication – The components of high quality communication are clarity, continuance, and respect.  All messages and communiques must be accurate and easily understood by recipients. Communication must be carried out on a continuing basis, and must be worded with respect and regard for the person reading it or listening to it.

Communication can be carried out by spoken word, phone, email, text, or by documentation on paper.  Often a written document carries more import and emphasis than spoken word, so a combination of documented and spoken word is necessary for the most accuracy and the clearest comprehension.  Some issues require written documentation such as parent and staff orientation material, class calendars of “news” and future events and assignments, program notices of financial, curricular, or procedural concerns, and minutes of meetings.

While Lead Teachers do most of the actual communicating, administrators are responsible for the overall effectiveness of the system.  Clear written staff orientation information and individual job descriptions are a MUST.  Everyone must know exactly what is expected of her and have a clear understanding of the chain of command.  Many problems can come from unclear job descriptions, differences in interpretation of mission, philosophy, and practices, and differences of opinion about ‘who does what?’, ‘where do I go for help?’, and ‘what if I have a problem?’’ types of questions.

Putting It in Writing

Among Staff Persons – Sometimes it makes people nervous to receive a written statement at work. If you are not concerned about your job performance, worry less about documents from administrators. A document makes things more clearly understood and there are times when clarity is a MUST.

With Parents – With the increase and ease of technology, communicating by email and social media is a much easier and more efficient way of seeing that everyone who needs information can get it. Parents need this communication so they can be as involved and informed as possible about procedures, events, needs, and emergencies.  Parents greatly appreciate being informed but also appreciate the volume being kept at a minimum (or they will ignore it).

With Children – It is wonderful for a child to receive a personal note from his teacher that congratulates him for his successes, his attempts, his progress, his behavior, or his attitude. This is a technique that boosts self-esteem, motivates appropriate behavior, and helps a child to connect printed word with meaning. A personal note of a positive nature does more to make a difference in a child’s world than a hundred notes about the “bad things he did at school today”. Make every effort possible to give this gift to each child at least once or twice during the school term. Don’t overuse it as it needs to keep its “specialness” – but know that using it in moderation works wonders.

Teachers spend A LOT of time writing notes to parents, creating lesson plans, making calendars, contributing to newsletters, doing assessments, filling our administrative forms for requesting stuff and using space, and completing accreditation and licensing requirements.  It can feel as if it takes away precious time spent with the children, but it is a necessary evil. 

Learn to be brief and concise in notes to parents and in mandated forms needed for licensing and accreditation. Use short clear sentences that make information easy to understand. Use pre-printed lesson plan and calendars that can be “filled in” with your ideas each week/month, and keep post-it notes and notebooks for jotting down observation facts so assessments are not so tedious later on. 

If you find you spend more time on paperwork than interacting with your children, talk to administrators and co-workers to see how to reduce the paperwork. Never take time from your attention to the children to complete paperwork.

Putting It in Words

Among Fellow Staff Persons – Talk to each other politely and in an informal, but professional way.  If you are speaking to a group of coworkers, and there are language differences among the staff, try to speak the language most in common to all, so there is no confusion and no feeling of exclusion. Likewise, do not assume that because you do not speak the language being used, that you are the object of the conversation. Smile and greet each other as you need to greet the children and parents and if there are philosophical differences, DISCUSS THEM IN PRIVATE AWAY FROM ANY PARENT OR CHILD!  Model manners and warmth at all times.

With Parents – During formal conferences with parents, make sure to stress strengths before tackling need or behavior issues.  Try to limit talking to parents to greeting at arrival and saying goodbye at dismissal times rather than having discussions while you are supervising the children.  Assure a parent with concerns that you’ll get to them at another time or make sure the children are completely supervised by another staff person before giving attention to a parent or any visitor.  NEVER TURN AWAY FROM THE CHILDREN IN THE CLASSROOM OR ON THE PLAYGROUND TO HAVE A CONVERSATION THAT DISTRACTS YOU FROM CAREFUL AND WATCHFUL SUPERVISION.  Let your parents know at Orientation (and remind them often) if you turn from them or choose not to engage with them while you’re with the children, that you are not being rude, but caring for their children.

With Children – Young children are extremely vulnerable when it comes to tone and nature of language.  They often react less to what you are saying than to HOW you are saying it.  Speak to Infants and Babies in a calm pleasant way so a mood of safety and peace is created.  Speak to Toddlers and Twos in a clear and understandable way because they are beginning to hear and understand the message as well as the tone.  Speak to Threes, Fours, and Fives with clarity, but also with a sense of wonder and interest.  The tone must match the message.  Use “big” words but explain them.  There is a difference in nonsense words, which are fun and silly and should be used, and baby talk. Baby talk and speaking in a high-pitched sing-song voice is demeaning and not a good way to model appropriate speaking for a young child.  Enthusiasm and wonder, yes. Baby talk, not so much.

A Final Word on Words:  Except for times when big NOs are necessary for safety reasons, if you have nothing positive, informational, or uplifting to say FIRST, to a child, a parent, or a coworker, it may be best to recall what our mothers taught us, and say nothing at all.

Next Blog:  Confidentiality!!!!!