A conflict I recently experienced at work was a situation in
which a parent was upset because she felt her child was not enjoying Kindergarten
and was upset at drop off. The parent stated the child felt the teacher was
mean. Observation of the classroom showed that the child appeared to enjoy
class but was in need of fairly constant redirection and struggled with
following directions. Despite this she gave her teacher hugs frequently and seemed
to have bonded. One conflict resolution skill we were able to employ in this situation
was compromise. After meeting with the parent and teacher together we chose to
change the behavior tracking system so that it reflected and rewarded the whole
class behavior rather than each individual child. The class earned a pom pom in
the jar when any one group of children did something praiseworthy. This we felt
would help the child feel less like she was being singled out for negative behavior
and may not feel as anxious at drop off. It also accented the positive behaviors
of the class rather than negative. Another conflict resolution tool we used was
one of the Gerber’s three R’s, responsiveness. When the parent brought the
concern we listened responsively, set up a meeting immediately and responded in
a way that she felt heard and didn’t have to dwell on the concern for days. The
situation seemed to be resolved quickly and the child and mother appeared much more
comfortable and at ease immediately afterwards.
It feels good to know that we are able to help a person in need. I am glad the situation was resolved and both party felt satisfied. Having a reciprocal communication pattern with the parents is essential when it comes to help the children have a better school experience.
ReplyDeleteJennifer I think this was a wonderful idea. Listening in a responsive manner is extremely important an can resolve the situation better. I like how a observation was done to see what was actually going on rather than just listening to what the parent had to say, Observations help you to determine where you may need to make changes. Changing the behavior tracker was a great idea and I agree it should focus on the entire class and not just on one particular child.
ReplyDeleteJennifer
ReplyDeleteI think that was good that you listen to the parent corner and address her need. You did not jump to conclusion and side with parents . I love that observe child to see how she was behaving in the classroom. I also love how you brought the parent and teacher together to working on this problem .
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteComing up with a compromise that helped the child want to go to school helped everyone involved. I hope that this plan continues to help all of the children. It is hard sometimes to feel some criticism, even at a young age, but in the end it can help us develop maturity.