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Presumably the backpresure of requests does not go away - when parents email for information, they do not stop just because they didn’t get a response. They wil

by e1g 8y ago

Presumably the backpresure of requests does not go away - when parents email for information, they do not stop just because they didn’t get a response. They will reach out through other methods. Do you know how that irreducible workload gets resolved, other than getting passed to colleagues who do put in extra effort/hours?

jpatokal 8y ago
Non-American here: what happens if the teacher just flatly says no/doesn't answer the emails/calls etc? Are lawsuits against teachers over grades an actual thing in the US now? (In Europe or Australia you'd be laughed out of court for even trying.)
- skywhopper 8y ago
  No such lawsuits are not a thing. I’m sure people threaten it. But it doesn’t happen. That said, the teachers do have a responsibility to respond to parents. But they should never give in to helicopter parent special requests for extra credit.
  - grecy 8y ago
    > That said, the teachers do have a responsibility to respond to parents Are you sure about that? In my opinion the teachers have a responsibility to do the best damn job they can teaching their students. Meetings, parent emails and "admin paperwork", etc. are all a distant second. I know my brother pushes back against it, and just says there are not enough hours in the day to respond to the requests of the hundreds of parents of all of his students.
archon 8y ago
> Presumably the backpresure of requests does not go away If a teacher's work email is anything like my email inbox at work, ~90% of emails just go away if ignored. The other ~10% email again if it's actually important. Once your contacts are "trained" not to expect instant feedback to every email they send you, you can often get some actual work done.
- sharadov 8y ago
  I completely agree, this works even in workplace scenarios. Do not create lofty expectations as you will be forced to live up to them. Sometimes it's just your brain seeking those shots of dopamine.
- e1g 8y ago
  This is often the case for internal comms in a large company overran with administrators / coordinators. Yet parents are more like customers than colleagues - and no operation can ignore 90% of external / customer comms and stay alive (to say nothing of effective!)
  - barry-cotter 8y ago
    Parents aren’t customers in a government school. Customers pay money. Parents are stakeholders, along with teachers, the teachers union and local politicians who compete for teachers votes. Children are not stakeholders because they have no power and their opinions are irrelevant. A government school has an enormous advantage over private schools in that it’s free at the point of use. You can be a lot worse than the competition if the competition is expensive and you’re paid for by tax money.
    - thr0w__4w4y 8y ago
      > Children are not stakeholders because they have no power and their opinions are irrelevant I think I see your point of view, but IMO that is too narrow a definition of "stakeholder". One of the more commonly-accepted definitions of "stakeholder", at least from a project-management standpoint, would be: "an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project" Even in my work, I tend to think of stakeholders as those who stand to lose or gain based on the outcome -- literally, those who have a stake in the outcome. Many of them are active participants, but not always. Just my 2 cents... I might be far from typical in this viewpoint.
    - arbie 8y ago
      Parents in competitive school districts also shell out exorbitant sums, both in property taxes and during school fundraisers. It has given rise to a bargaining mentality.
grecy 8y ago
> Presumably the backpresure of requests does not go away It does. If the matter is actually important/urgent he will call a parent to speak to them directly, or the matter can be discussed at the next parent/teacher interview. The unimportant ones go away.

by e1g 8y ago

jpatokal 8y ago

Non-American here: what happens if the teacher just flatly says no/doesn't answer the emails/calls etc? Are lawsuits against teachers over grades an actual thing in the US now? (In Europe or Australia you'd be laughed out of court for even trying.)

skywhopper 8y ago
No such lawsuits are not a thing. I’m sure people threaten it. But it doesn’t happen. That said, the teachers do have a responsibility to respond to parents. But they should never give in to helicopter parent special requests for extra credit.
- grecy 8y ago
  > That said, the teachers do have a responsibility to respond to parents Are you sure about that? In my opinion the teachers have a responsibility to do the best damn job they can teaching their students. Meetings, parent emails and "admin paperwork", etc. are all a distant second. I know my brother pushes back against it, and just says there are not enough hours in the day to respond to the requests of the hundreds of parents of all of his students.

archon 8y ago

> Presumably the backpresure of requests does not go away If a teacher's work email is anything like my email inbox at work, ~90% of emails just go away if ignored. The other ~10% email again if it's actually important. Once your contacts are "trained" not to expect instant feedback to every email they send you, you can often get some actual work done.

sharadov 8y ago
I completely agree, this works even in workplace scenarios. Do not create lofty expectations as you will be forced to live up to them. Sometimes it's just your brain seeking those shots of dopamine.
e1g 8y ago
This is often the case for internal comms in a large company overran with administrators / coordinators. Yet parents are more like customers than colleagues - and no operation can ignore 90% of external / customer comms and stay alive (to say nothing of effective!)
- barry-cotter 8y ago
  Parents aren’t customers in a government school. Customers pay money. Parents are stakeholders, along with teachers, the teachers union and local politicians who compete for teachers votes. Children are not stakeholders because they have no power and their opinions are irrelevant. A government school has an enormous advantage over private schools in that it’s free at the point of use. You can be a lot worse than the competition if the competition is expensive and you’re paid for by tax money.
  - thr0w__4w4y 8y ago
    > Children are not stakeholders because they have no power and their opinions are irrelevant I think I see your point of view, but IMO that is too narrow a definition of "stakeholder". One of the more commonly-accepted definitions of "stakeholder", at least from a project-management standpoint, would be: "an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project" Even in my work, I tend to think of stakeholders as those who stand to lose or gain based on the outcome -- literally, those who have a stake in the outcome. Many of them are active participants, but not always. Just my 2 cents... I might be far from typical in this viewpoint.
  - arbie 8y ago
    Parents in competitive school districts also shell out exorbitant sums, both in property taxes and during school fundraisers. It has given rise to a bargaining mentality.

grecy 8y ago

> Presumably the backpresure of requests does not go away It does. If the matter is actually important/urgent he will call a parent to speak to them directly, or the matter can be discussed at the next parent/teacher interview. The unimportant ones go away.