Many schools make the mistake of trying to transform their culture in isolation, without engaging parents or aligning approaches across different settings.
In my experience, this creates disconnects, where students get mixed messages and where improvements in one area just don’t translate to others.
Having a plan to catalyse your community’s positive participation in your school culture is what makes the culture self-sustaining.
The first element of that plan is earning trust. It’s possible – actually, it’s critical – to engage parents for their unique contribution, but not to meet them as friends.
We want parents to trust your expertise as the lever for their trust in you.
Parents want to know that you’ve got this, that you’re experienced, confident and that large prestigious universities bestowed degrees upon you after years of learning about what makes young people tick… and learn.
They want to know that you know stuff about kids that they couldn’t possibly comprehend.
So, I implore teachers and school leaders reading this not to ‘dumb down’ their communication with parents.
Even if they don’t know exactly what you mean when you use terms like pedagogy, differentiation, social psychology, metacognition or formative assessment… they’ll be impressed that you do.
Keep fighting that good fight,
P.S. I’ll be running an online workshop on this topic soon. It’s all about Winning Over Angry Parents: How to handle furious emails, car park showdowns, and social media rants – calmly, clearly and confidently.
Date: Tuesday 19 August 2025
Time: 2pm–3pm AEST
You’ll get the secrets to building trust with the parents at your school, so future conflicts are less frequent, less intense, and easier to manage.
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