Parent meetings and interviews are exceptionally challenging at best of times. It is very difficult for a parent to hear that their child is encountering difficulty at school, either scholastically, behaviourally or socially. Parents often arrive at these meetings defensive, argumentative and on occasions un-cooperative. At School of Merit we utilise a Solution Focused Strategy to work differently with our parents and create buy-in. All our parent / teacher conversations are based on a 4 step process introduced by Chris Iveson. During this workshop I will illustrate how we have adapted Chris’ 4 room metaphor as a template for our parental feedback conversations. I will share how we discuss the parent and the schools best hopes for the child, unpack the child’s resources and strengths, create a collaborative preferrred future and end our conversations with a positive gift.
