Real-time communication in education is as important as pedagogy

Most discussions concerning the state of our education system tend to centre on the main actors involved—students, teachers, parents, the school management and the government—but neglect the linkages between these actors.

Most discussions concerning the state of our education system tend to centre on the main actors involved—students, teachers, parents, the school management and the government—but neglect the linkages between these actors. However, for any ‘system’ to work well, the linkages and coordination mechanisms are of paramount importance. Take, for instance, the parent teacher meeting (PTM).

A PTM is an opportunity to share a child’s academic progress and growth, based on classroom observations, testing data, assessments, portfolios and assignments. PTMs also ensure teachers learn from parents or guardians so they can be better informed about students’ strengths, needs, behaviours and learning styles. Fruitful discussions lead to exploring enrichment or intervention strategies to support students’ learning and helping sort out issues that may be interfering with students’ learning and growth.

Yet, in a recent survey we conducted across 30 schools and four cities in north India, we found the turnout of parents for PTMs is just 15-20%, even when students have been informed much in advance. The small turnout can be attributed to loopholes at various levels of communication, leading to ineffective conveying of the importance, schedule, regularity of PTMs.

Irrespective of where they may attend a school—tier-1, tier-2, tier-3 cities or a village—all students in day boarding spend about one-third of their day at the school and the rest at home. A robust communication channel is a must for connectivity between these two institutional pillars of a child’s development.

So far, PTMs and emails have been the dominant means of communications. However, the frequency of PTMs is inadequate and email access and use is restricted to a small section of the society. Printed circulars solve the problem to an extent, but they are cumbersome. There is also the possibility of a note never reaching the parents. Recently, with the proliferation of cellphones and a realisation in school managements of the promise of technology, SMS systems have gained in prominence.

Taking a step back, irrespective of their economic background, parents need simple yet effective modes of communication with the school. In fact, the goal is common: To help a child take the right step, with the right guidance, but there seems to be a dichotomy in needs. Upper middle class and above (or the educated elite, so to say) want to be apprised in real-time and want more control over their child’s education and, by extension, the communication channels. And others, in contrast, simply want solutions that integrate well with their daily routine.

Traditional communication channels are simply not up to the task. Even the most robust broadcast medium will suffer from the lack of feedback channels. In order to ensure effective communication, it is important to close the information loop. That could simply mean helping verify whether a message has been delivered and read. But it also encompasses the kind of deep discussions that a PTM enables but at a much greater frequency. Fortunately, technological advance holds promise in helping ameliorate the situation.

Mobile internet usage has grown tremendously. This opens new opportunities for building platforms where students, school management and parents can remain connected throughout. Also, with the availability of education focused communication platforms, their needs are being addressed more systematically.

A system can be greater than or lesser than the sum of its parts depending on whether those parts work in synergy or in disharmony. We hope that with greater attention to the communication channels, better results can be achieved with the same amount of resources.

Source | Financial Express | 5 October 2015