How Parents and Teachers Can Work Together For Powerful Learning Outcomes

By Katrina Schwartz DECEMBER 28, 2015

Mind Shift readers are often intrigued by new ideas and strategies being tried around
the country, but many educators are also parents and know the huge role parents play
in education. This year some of our most popular posts have focused on how parents
can set their children up for success, as well as when their involvement can hinder
important development. As conversations at school and at home continue about the
importance of having space to learn from failure, how can parents and educators
become a stronger team as they work toward the mutual goal of successful, happy
kids?
PARENTS ARE THE FIRST TEACHERS
When kids are young, it can feel like they need constant care (which they do!), but
babies and toddlers are also building the architecture in their brains that will serve
them throughout childhood. Parents have a unique opportunity to help their toddlers
develop the emotional intelligence that will aid them in academic and social settings
for the rest of their lives.
Young kids often arent able to control their own emotions, which is why their tantrums
can be fierce, but parents dont have to stand by, powerless to these whims. Each
tantrum is an opportunity for parents to help children learn to identify what they are
feeling and why. They can also work to normalize emotions by admitting all people feel
angry or sad or frustrated sometimes, while working on strategies to calm down. The
strategies for a 3-year-old have to be simple and memorable, like taking a deep breath
and counting to four when mad.
Books can also be a helpful way to talk about emotions when a child isnt in the thick of
feeling his own. Little kids can point out the emotions they see characters experience
and talk about how he or she might have dealt with the situation. And, little kids arent
too young to develop a mindfulness practice, which has been shown to improve selfregulation. For example, parent and child could take a listening walk around the
block, focusing on the sounds in the present moment.
The way parents interact with their young children does more than build the emotional
foundation for later success. It can also help kids build the specific pre-academic skills
that will ease transition into school. The 30 million-word gap has become cliche now,
but understanding the science behind good talk for infants and toddlers is an
important way parents can contribute to their success.
Studies have shown that parents are more open to this message when they realize that
how they interact with their child at a very young age affects the architecture of their
brain. The messages imparted are as important, if not more so, than the act of talking
itself. Kids need to be encouraged and praised for the processes they are engaged in ,
not just how cute or smart they are. And, even if a baby cant yet talk, parents can
create a sense of back and forth by responding to gurgles or smiles. Educators play a
big role in making sure the parents they interact with know the science of talk and

some of the simple strategies to make sure kids are developing a healthy capacity for
language before starting school.
TEENAGE YEARS
Theres a lot of emphasis on what parents can and should do with their very young
children because thats a moment in development when a childs brain is growing and
changing in fundamental ways. But as every parent knows, getting through the first
four years is just the start, and there are often parenting bumps along the road. One
common rough patch comes when kids become teenagers, with all the hormones and
tricky social dynamics that accompany it. Many parents feel lost at this stage, unable to
interact with their child in the ways they used to, and unsure of how to best offer
support to a prickly teen.
The good news is that teenagers need parenting just as much as younger kids, even if
they dont show their appreciation for it. Adolescence experts say parents are best
off honoring their teens autonomy, while providing structure and support. Its easy to
see an adolescent not taking responsibility for something like homework and
immediately jumping in to help. But its far better to set clear expectations and perhaps
even schedules and routines that support strong study habits, without micromanaging
the process.
Similarly, teens need space to try new things with the knowledge that theres a safety
net if they fail. This includes talking through choices and potential outcomes and then
allowing the teen to make his own informed decisions. That doesnt mean parents cant
jump in and provide extra support at times, but if a teenager never learns to be
independent, hell have trouble later in life. And throughout it all, parents should
continue to show warmth and love toward their teens. They may not seem to like it, but
they still need it.
Cultivating supported autonomy will pay off once that teenager becomes a college
student. University professors and deans increasingly report that their students dont
show the type of self-efficacy required to succeed. Instead, many students turn to their
parents to fix even small problems that arise. Many parents look at an increasingly
competitive world and see it as their parental duty to make sure their child has every
possible opportunity. But actions that stem from love might actually be handicapping
young adults.
NEW TEACHING STRATEGIES
While the discussion of overparenting struck a nerve with MindShift readers, the
instinct to ward off any potentially damaging failures in a childs life doesnt come out
of nowhere. Parents are feeling the pressure to make sure their kids get on the right
track out of fear that any mistake will ruin a chance at a productive life. But where did
that fear of failure come from? Its a pervasive part of society and may even be learned
in school.
Many educators feel they must move through curriculum at a breakneck speed to cover
everything, leaving very little space for students to experience struggle, failure,
renewed attempts and ultimately success in a safe environment. Increasingly, however,

educators are having productive conversations about encouraging a growth mindset,

which focuses on how making mistakes grows the brain and provides fertile
opportunities to learn.
This discussion of mistakes has led to some confusion. For example, not all mistakes
lead to learning. The best kinds of mistakes for learning happen when a student is
stretching outside her comfort zone. When trying something new most people will
make mistakes, but with reflection and strategies to address the error, much can be
learned. At other times a student might have an aha mistake when she completed
the task correctly, but realized she should have done it differently because of new
information. Both these types of mistakes grow the brain and require self-reflection and
renewed effort. But learning from mistakes doesnt happen automatically.
Another trend capturing the attention of MindShift readers is how the body and its
movements connect to learning. In formal education the expectation has long been
that students sit quietly and receive information from teachers. But
increasingly neuroscience research is showing how intrinsically learning is tied to body
movement.
We can start leveraging the power of our bodies to help us learn, think and perform at
our best, said Sian Beilock, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. This
wisdom has long been embedded in progressive teaching philosophies like Montessori,
but has been largely eliminated from traditional public schools. But studies are showing
that even small gestures can help students grasp confusing math concepts, understand
physics and generally feel more connected to what they are learning.
The idea of connecting learning to students lives has been a pervasive theme in
education circles, but it can be hard to do so when working with mandated content that
doesnt necessarily excite students. A few teachers tried something very different last
year when the hit public radio podcast Serial was becoming extremely popular.
Teachers who were themselves engrossed in the story unfolding each week on the
podcast decided to bring their students into the fun, improving their listening and
analytical skills in the process.
They enjoy it so much that they dont realize theyre learning at the highest level,
said former 10th-grade English teacher Alexa Schlechter. She and her students debated
different takes on the murder mystery tale, using Google Maps to recreate crucial
scenes, analyzing the transcript for facts to support their arguments and bringing their
own adolescent perspectives to a story about high school. The success of podcast
projects like this one has sparked other teachers to think more about how audio can be
used effectively in the classroom. Podcasts arent the only real-world phenomena
making their way into classrooms. Educators are fascinated by how commercial video
games can be used for learning. Often games specifically designed for learning can feel
out of step and out of touch with whats going on in the commercial game world. They
often cant compete in terms of graphics, motivation and intensity. But some educators
are finding ways to use commercial games that students are already hooked on like
World of Warcraft, Minecraft and Never Alone to teach important skills in all
content areas.
DYSLEXIA

This year MindShift contributor Holly Korbey took a deep dive into how educators
identify and teach students with dyslexia. Her articles struck a chord with many readers
who not only understood why this topic is so important to kids in school today, but also
strongly identified as adults with many of the stereotypes and issues raised.
While every child is required to learn to read in school, reading is anything but a simple
activity. It requires the brain to fashion new circuits between parts of the brain
designed for other things. Together these combined circuits create a new specialized
reading circuit that must work at lightning speed. Given the complexity of reading, its
no surprise that not all childrens brains work in the same way. The brains of people
with dyslexia are organized in a different way, making it difficult for them to know how
sounds correspond with letters and numbers, to gain reading fluency and to
comprehend what they are reading.
Dyslexia can make school incredibly frustrating for students, parents and teachers,
especially because many educators arent trained to identify its signs in students. And,
even if they could identify it or a parent does many districts dont make it easy or
cheap for students to get the necessary testing that opens up doors to specialized
interventions.
Thats infuriating to many parents, who know that with targeted resources their often
very bright children could easily catch up and avoid the psychic pain. Perhaps the worst
part of this cycle is how students come to believe they are dumb and will never be able
to read or excel in school. Very rarely are children with dyslexia celebrated for the other
strengths they bring because reading remains a primary concern in school.