The New Parent Teacher Meeting

We just had our first parent teacher meeting at Josephine’s new school. It’s usually not the kind of thing I’m most enthusiastic about (having been a troublemaker in my own middle school). But this one was actually pretty cool and very different from what we were used to.

First it started with Josephine writing her own 4 page reflection. She rated herself on different school tasks and described what she enjoyed versus her challenges. Then after reading her reflection, we filled out the parent reflection doc on what to celebrate for her and how we wanted to work with the teachers to help her. Since it’s perf season at work as well, I wrote my parent reflection the same after as manager feedback for my reports — see parenting skills and people manager skills are really quite similar :)

When we finally went to her school for the meeting, it was 3 way meeting — 3 teachers, 2 parents, and Josephine herself all sitting around the table. We went around the table each celebrating an improvement/achievement we’ve seen in her. She had to nominate something for herself too and chose to talk about growing her time management skills this semester. Then each teacher talked about how she performed in their specific classes, including the positives and the opportunities for improvements. The really cool thing was that Josephine got to participate in the entire conversation, contribute her own opinion and agree/commit to improvements.

This was very different from the meetings in Josephine’s past schools and from when we were kids too. I always remembered parent-teacher meeting as the time when people talked about me behind my back and I never knew what I was going to be punished for when my parents got home. Having the kid participate in the entire process is brilliant. In the end it’s their life and they should be in the driver seat — we are all just helpers. So why shouldn’t they hear the feedback and discussions about themselves first hand.

Even though it was a bit of work, I really appreciated the reflection writing process as well. Introspection is an important life skill. Spending time reflecting on oneself and planning for the future is such a good habit to grow in them early on. Having both parents and teachers spend the time preparing for the meeting also made it a much more engaged conversation.

I have to say I’m quite impressed. This parent-teacher meeting integrated in many methods we use at work — letting the employee drive their own career, setting measurable goals, celebrating achievements, almost 360 review (wouldn’t it be cool if the kids also gave each other feedback to make it a true 360).