Key Concepts
Background Information
Effective Communication
Learning Activities
Communication Quilt
Communication Environment
My Communication with Parents
The Communication Climate
Systems for Sharing
Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

Key Concepts

• Effective communication with parents is a two-way process that is positive and appealing.
  
  
• Effective communication with parents requires that staff listen, speak, and write in a way that is respectful of person and culture.
  
  
• Effective communication requires conscious planning at both a personal and program level.
  
  
• Both the climate and the structure of a Head Start program are key to effective communication with parents.
  

Background Information

Communication is something that can take place without conscious thought or planning. Effective communication, however, requires both. In the Head Start setting, staff and parents are constantly interacting with each other. Whether or not these interactions help to build partnerships depends on the degree to which the parties to the communication apply the listening, observation, speaking, and writing skills that communicate respect and create a positive space for sharing.

There are two ways that programs can support effective communication between staff and parents. The first is by developing a climate for effective communication, and the second is by creating the structures that support information sharing.

"Climate" refers to the accepted ways of working and behaving that affect how communications are carried out. This can include such elements as the pace of the workday, the casualness or formality of the workplace, or the number of opportunities each day that staff and parents have for coming into contact with each other.

"Structures" include such things as bulletin boards, newsletters, calendars, phone trees, or logs — consistent and thoughtful methods of sharing basic information that enable both staff and parents to have access and give input.

Since family involvement is so crucial to all Head Start programs, it is to be expected that all programs will have some sort of climate and some structures in place that support staff-parent communication. However, all programs can benefit from occasional examination to determine whether any modifications or improvements to the overall communication environment can be made.

Communication Quilt Purpose: Participants will analyze their program's overall communication patterns by creating a visual representation in the form of a quilt.

Materials
Four-inch squares of construction paper in three colors (enough for at least 2-4 squares in each color per participant), chart paper, markers, tape. If you will be doing the optional extension to the workshop, you will need squares in three additional colors.

Process
Previous activities have examined how individuals interact or communicate with each other. This activity focuses on communication patterns at a program level. These questions will be considered: What are the types of messages that are conveyed within this Head Start program? Who are the intended receivers of these messages? What are the different ways that messages are sent?

Explain to participants that in this activity, they will have an opportunity to create a visual representation of their communication practices in the form of a communication quilt. This is a way of taking an inventory of current practices in order to identify what is working and what areas might need improvement or change.

Distribute the colored squares to participants. Give them instructions for each color of square, as follows:

1. For the first color: Write words or draw pictures that depict the messages that Head Start would like to send to every parent. For example: parents are their child's first teacher; Head Start supports the family's own agenda.

2. For the second color: Write words or draw pictures that depict characteristics of the parents who are the intended receivers of Head Start messages. For example: teen parents, fathers, working parents with little time, or families whose primary language is Spanish.

3. For the third color: Write words or draw pictures that depict the strategies used to convey messages. For example: body language, newsletters, home visits, modeling.

To demonstrate the instructions, you may wish to prepare a few quilt pieces in front of the group, using words or pictures that participants suggest. Allow 5-10 minutes for participants to complete this task. Participants may wish to work alone or in small groups.

Place several pieces of chart paper together on the wall. Have participants tape the quilt blocks in random order on the chart paper. When the quilt blocks have been taped up, suggest that participants take a few minutes to review the quilt and the ideas represented on the different squares of colored paper.

Debriefing

Once participants have had an opportunity to review the finished quilt, lead them in a discussion using the following questions:

• What impressions do you have about the type of messages that the program conveys?
  
  
• What impressions do you have about the range of characteristics that parents have?
  
  
• What impressions do you have about the range of strategies used to convey messages?

If through this discussion participants think of other messages, parent characteristics or communication strategies, write them on appropriately colored quilt blocks and add those squares to the quilt.

Optional Extension

Hold up in front of the group the squares you have prepared in three additional colors. Note that these squares represent additional elements to Head Start communication that make it a two-way process:

• Messages parents send to staff (Color #4)
  
  
• Staff characteristics (Color #5)
  
  
• Strategies parents use to convey messages (Color #6)

Tape the blank squares, in alternating colors, around the border of the communication quilt. Have participants suggest words or pictures that describe "messages parents send to staff and write their suggestions on the appropriately colored squares. Fill in the other squares in the same manner for "staff characteristics" and "strategies parents use to convey messages."

Ask these questions:

• How are some of the messages that parents send to staff similar to or different from the messages staff send to parents?
  
  
• How are staff characteristics similar to or different from parents?
  
  
• How are the strategies that parents use to communicate to staff the same as or different from the ones staff use to communicate to parents?

If [the Communication Quilt] Activity ... is being followed by [The Communication Climate] Activity ... leave the quilt on the wall so participants can refer to it.

Communication Environment Purpose: Participants will complete an observation task in order to reflect on how their program's physical environment supports communication with parents.

Materials
Handout 14 [PDF, 64.2KB]

Process
Ask participants to name the different parts of their program environment (i.e., the outside of the building, the entry way, the playground, etc.). Distribute Handout 14 [PDF, 64.2KB], Communication Environment, and ask participants to decide on two different parts of the environment that they would like to observe.

Talk briefly about how things in our environment communicate messages. For example, by placing magazines, books, and flyers in the entry area we may communicate that we have important information to share or that we value reading. Families sitting, laughing, and talking outside may communicate that this is a place to gather and feel at home.

Emphasize that the examples given are interpretations. In reality the messages from our environment will mean different things to different people. For example, a family may not choose to read or get information from the materials in the entry way. They may value having a lively discussion as a way of exchanging information and getting to know more about the program.

Explain that the task for the participants in this activity will be to interview a parent to find out how he or she interprets the Head Start environment.

Remind the participants that as staff persons, they already are aware of the information that the program wants noticed. Their goal in this activity is to find out how messages are being received by parents.

Have participants follow the instructions on the Handout for interviewing parents.

Debriefing

Ask participants the following questions:

• Which messages stood out to the parents you interviewed? Why do you think they picked up on that message so clearly?
  
  
• Are there messages in our program that are important that weren't being clearly understood by the parents?

My Communications with Parents Purpose: Participants will examine how they prefer to receive and give out information. They will use this information to reflect on how communication can best proceed between two people who may or may not share a preferred communication style.

Materials
Handout 15 [PDF, 111KB]

Process
Assign participants into pairs. Give each participant a copy of Handout 15 [PDF, 111KB], Communication Styles. Direct the participants to complete page 1 by themselves. They should then work with their partners on page 2, which guides them in interpreting their responses and also presents discussion questions.

Debriefing

Begin by asking participants what the exercise taught them about their preferred communication style. Did it confirm something they already knew?

Some participants may say that the results were not conclusive (for example, if they circled items from two or more quadrants). It could be that they are equally comfortable with more than one style of communication. It also could be that this brief exercise simply doesn't work for them. Ask these participants if they have a sense of their preferred communication style despite having no "answer" from this activity.

In your discussion, cover the following points:

• Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are four of the different ways we communicate. None is "better" than the other. They are all useful, and they are all used by nearly everyone. Which style is most appropriate for a given situation depends on the preferences of the people involved and the circumstances.
  
  
• A person's preference for communicating is simply that — a preference. It is not tied to intelligence or ability. Some people may believe (or may have been taught in school) that communicating by speaking and listening is not as "smart" as communicating by writing and reading. That is not true. Intelligence is in the content of a message, not in the particular style that is used to communicate it.
  
  
• At Head Start, all four modes of communication are used. Staff need to be sensitive to the fact that just as they have communication preferences, so do individual parents. Staff can make their communications with parents more effective by being aware of both their own and others' preferences.

Finally, ask participants to consider the following scenarios:

• What if someone whose preferred style is writing needs to communicate with someone whose preferred style is listening?
  
  
• What if someone whose preferred style is speaking needs to communicate with someone whose preferred style is reading?

The Communication Climate Purpose: Participants will work in teams to analyze how their program's overall environment supports strong staff-parent communication.

Materials
Handout 16 [PDF, 63.2KB], pens

Process
Begin by stating that Head Start staff and parents exchange a lot of information in a variety of ways — in brief chats and long conversations, in face-to-face meetings and over the telephone, in group meetings and in one-on-one conferences, to name a few. The program environment can contribute to the effectiveness of these exchanges. This activity looks at ways the program supports this ongoing process.

Break participants into groups of three. Give each group a copy of Handout 16 [PDF, 63.2KB], Creating a Climate for Communication. Have each group complete the handout together.

Debriefing

When all of the small groups have completed the handout, reconvene the large group. Ask one of the small groups to describe the idea it explored for promoting effective communication, as well as the options they brainstormed. Then encourage the other participants to contribute feedback.

Repeat this process for each of the small groups.

Trainer Preparation Notes:

Encourage participants to reflect on their list of ways that programs already are promoting effective communication (from Part 1 of this exercise). Some of these successes may be useful examples to share with other programs exploring similar strategies.

Systems for Sharing Purpose: Participants will look at their program's formal structures for information sharing to determine how effectively they are reaching all parents.

Materials
Handout 17 [PDf 71.7KB], pens

Process
Divide participants into groups of 5-8.

Trainer Preparation Notes:

If possible, include parents in this activity. Also, if participants come from different centers, group participants together by center.

 

Begin the workshop by stating that all Head Start programs have information-sharing systems in place. These systems may include logs, phone trees, calendars, bulletin boards, newsletters, or other ways that communications are centrally conveyed. These systems ensure that basic information is shared in a consistent and thoughtful way that enables both staff and parents to have access and give input.

The goal behind these systems is to ensure that all critical information reaches all affected parents and staff. But do they do this consistently? That is what will be examined in this activity.

Give each participant Handout 17 [PDF 71.7KB], Systems for Sharing. Walk through the questions on page 1 of this handout so that the groups are comfortable with the process for filling out the form.

Direct each group to work together to complete a form for the information sharing systems in place at their programs. Let them know that each group will need to select a recorder and someone who will report out on their process.

After participants have had approximately 20 minutes to complete page 1 of the handout, reconvene the large group. Record the responses of each group on chart paper as they report on the following:

• Which system did your group examine?
  
  
• What are your recommendations for improving that information sharing system in your programs?
  
  
• Who was not being reached through that system and how will those improvements ensure that they receive information?
  
  
• Who will need to be involved if these improvements are to take hold? Then direct participants to page 2 of their handout. Ask them to draw from the ideas presented in the large group discussion to develop a work plan to implement changes in their communication structures.

Debriefing

Note that there is nothing wrong with having overlapping, redundant ways of sharing information. The problem occurs when there are holes in the communication-sharing system — where some parents or staff are not involved in the information-sharing. This activity, which involved evaluating and planning for more effective information-sharing, is something that staff need to engage in periodically to ensure that essential information is shared with all families. This same process can be repeated with parents to gain their input into the communication planning process.

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

• Establish a communication work group of staff and parents. This committee could discuss and examine communication issues from a variety of perspectives in order to make recommendations for improving communication within the program. The work group could use Handouts 15 [PDF, 111KB], 16 [PDF, 63.2KB], or 17 [PDF, 71.7KB] as a way to open discussion.
  
  
• Think about a persistent "hurdle" or concern in your program and the underlying communication issues that are a part of it. Seek out views from several different sources - staff, parents, and professionals in the community. Look to see the values behind the differing viewpoints. Plan how to address the concern more effectively the next time it comes up.