In
the educational field, the importance of a developed relationship
between parents and teachers has been growing. For the best student
results, it is believed that the channels of communication need to be
open between these two groups. And while there are several
parent-teacher conferences throughout each school year, this type of
interaction is too infrequent to make a difference in the everyday
life of a student. Therefore, it is important for teachers to
immediately establish contact with parents, and set up several
channels of communication, including email, telephone, and personal
letters. Many teachers believe that sending a letter home with
students on the first day of class, addressed to parents, is the best
way to establish this immediate contact.
If a teacher
chooses to write a letter to the parents of their students, they have
multiple considerations to make. Their goal should be to come across
as both professional and approachable, while also writing in a
readable, yet intelligent manner. Striking this balance in writing
can be extremely difficult, and failing to meet these expectations,
especially for new teachers, can start off a school year on the wrong
foot. And it’s not only teachers who must consider this balance
while approaching a writing task, in many writing situations,
including fields such as business, personnel management, and health,
you are dealing with readers of varied skill who are expecting your
writing to come across in this manner. In these cases, certain
measures must be taken to ensure that your writing is accessible and
clear. Generally speaking, writing in what is known as the plain
style is one way to create this writing persona. Despite running the
risk of sounding simple, it often seems that using certain elements
of the plain style correctly enables a writer to find this balance
between accessibility and professionalism.
However,
if a beginning teacher is struggling with these types of situations,
they have resources that they can rely on to assist them. For
example, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) website
includes a “sample letter to parents” that teachers can use as a
template. There were several different versions of this letter on
WEAC’s page, and each one uses similar techniques and writing
styles, and could be adapted to multiple different classrooms.
Focusing on one example, we see the way these sample letters utilize
the plain style to maintain readability, while also maintaining a
level of intelligence and professionalism, make them an effective
tool for new teachers to draw from for their own use.
Studying this
letter shows where three different levels of community in the
educational system are interacting. On one side, we have an
interaction between veteran teachers and new teachers, and on the
other is an interaction between parents and teachers. These are both
highly important relationships in an educational context. WEAC’s
website is the artifact that creates the interaction between
teachers, as it is a resource designed by veteran teachers for the
use of other teachers, and they are pooling resources that are shared
across the community. The sample letter itself is where we see the
interaction between teacher and parent, as now the artifact that has
been created is being used for its intended purpose, communication
across two separate communities.
When studying the interaction of the veteran and new teachers, we
gain a sense of collaboration and shared purpose. The letter is
posted on the new teacher resources page on WEAC’s website, which
demonstrates the way veteran teachers are collaborating with new
teachers; they are making their experience-proven tools available for
use by others. On the WEAC website there is a large amount of
resources that a new teacher can access, including ideas for sample
lesson plans, classroom management, and classroom organization. When
a new teacher chooses to use these resources, they are aligning their
goals and purpose with those of the veteran teachers. The fact they
would be approaching their role in education in the same manner,
through using other teachers’ techniques, implies this mindset of
shared goals.
Turning from the
context behind the letter, and focusing on the artifact itself, we
see that the way that teachers and parents interact in an educational
setting is tough to explain, because each parent and teacher interact
differently based on multiple factors. It can be assumed that the
socio-economic class of the family, the educational history of the
parents, the past relationships with teachers, and the student’s
performance can shape each interaction in a different way.
Considering this, we can never predict the relationship between a
teacher and parent prior to the first actual contact, and each
relationship will be different. Despite the nature of a
parent-teacher relationship, every single parent has the right to be
as active in their child’s education as they wish to be. To allow
for that, it is important that any communication between the teacher
and parent is done in a clear, professional manner. As we can not
assume the educational level of any parent, a complexly written,
jargon-filled letter would be of no use, as it would be denying some
parents access to a role in their child’s education. The way the
“sample letter to parents” uses techniques of the plain style,
like active voice, concise sentence structure, and parallel sentence
structure demonstrates how to write a letter that would meet the
needs of all parents and students, and is an example of writing that
would be clear and effective.
Looking at the
“sample letter to parents,” the first thing that is noticeable is
the constant use of the active voice throughout. For example, examine
the style the second paragraph is written in:
Psychology
is a very demanding course. We will cover 19 chapters in 18 weeks.
There will be homework assignments almost daily. Each student will
need a single subject notebook, a pocket folder, blue or black pens
and pencils. These materials should be brought to class every day. We
cover a lot of material in one class period so locker passes will not
be issued.
Each sentence
utilizes only active voice, keeping the verb of the sentence directly
to the right of the subject. By keeping the subject near the action
of the sentence, the reader is easily able to interpret what goal the
sentence has. In other words, the reader will know who is doing what
in each sentence, and there is no ambiguity in the interpretation of
the sentences. The paragraph avoids using techniques like
appositives, participial phrases, and absolute phrases, which are
ways to delay a sentence start, and add complexity and ambiguity to
writing. By keeping the sentence structure simple, and active, there
is no chance of losing the meaning in the sentence. Considering the
parents who may be reading this letter, it would be a wise choice for
a teacher to write in such a manner, because this creates a better
opportunity for those with lower literacy levels to interpret the
intended message of the letter.
A second important
aspect of this paragraph is the clear, concise sentences that it
employs. The writer of the letter sticks to one idea per sentence,
and one verb per sentence. One of the easiest ways to confuse a
reader is to include multiple ideas subordinated and embedded in a
sentence, which only confuses the meaning and purpose of the
sentence. A standard method of embedding these ideas is through the
usage of multiple verbs, either all relating to the same subject, or
relating to a newly introduced subject. While these techniques can be
used effectively, in a letter like the “sample letter to parents,”
it makes more sense to keep your sentences simple, so that each point
being made is done so in a clear way. Writing these concise sentences
also helps keep the letter moving as the reader goes, and doesn’t
force a reader to pause while reading to decode meaning in a
sentence. In doing this, the writer is ensuring that all levels of
readers are able to access the text. In the various writing
situations an educator may be faced with in their career, being able
to communicate clearly to all readers is the most important
consideration, and using techniques that keep their writing in a more
plain style makes this possible.
The
letter also demonstrates effective use of parallel structure, as
these techniques of the plain style hold throughout the entire
letter, and only one sentence deviates away from standard
subject-verb-object construction. The beginning of one paragraph uses
a sentential adverb, “hopefully,” to begin a sentence, however it
immediately introduces the subject after the sentential adverb. While
perhaps the letter may seem overly plain due to its repetitive
sentence patterns, by maintaining a similar structure, the writer
again could be comfortable assuming that the message carried in each
sentence is being expressed clearly. And in this instance, a clear
and concise message would be valued over stylistic flair, especially
considering the varied reading levels of the parents reading the
letter.
However, while the
writing style is in the plain style, the letter maintains a certain
level of professionalism. The writer’s obvious grasp over what they
hope to say, and the explicit, clear manner it is laid out provides
the sense of an author who has an understanding of their task. Based
on these qualities, this “sample letter to parents” is a tool
that new teachers would be wise to take advantage of as a framework
to build their own letter. While I wouldn’t suggest simply cutting
and pasting the information for your class into this template, I
would suggest utilizing similar prose strategies in writing a letter
such as this. As a writer, I would consider the ways in which all
writers can use styles of plain language to make their message more
clear and accessible that are presented in this letter, and consider
how to adopt those strategies for my own needs. In writing situations
that ask you to establish a connection with an audience of varied
reading levels, higher precedence should be given to the clarity of
your message, rather than creating technical, stylistic writing.
However, by simply replicating what is on this sample letter, a
teacher may fail to develop a letter that appropriately captures
their intentions and that presents their persona as an educator
correctly. And yet, for a teacher, keeping a letter in a plain,
concise style, as demonstrated by this letter, will ensure that all
parents reading their correspondence will be able to access the
information and use it as they see fit.
By: Brandon N.
Works
Cited
