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The Daily OrangeSOE | Parental control: Professor teaches art of dealing with upset parents
By Lisa Kenney
Posted: 10/30/07, 11:49 PM EST Section: News
Young teachers are disappearing from America's classrooms at a steady pace, partially because they are unprepared for the sometimes hostile interactions with parents.
Benjamin Dotger wants to prevent this from happening.
The Syracuse University School of Education professor was recently awarded a $31,100 Spencer Foundation grant to implement a program that would prepare students to interact with a variety of parents. The hope is that it will keep teachers in the profession longer.
"Shell shock is the biggest problem for teacher retention," Dotger said, referring to the main reason why teachers leave the profession after a short tenure.
Dotger said his program, Standardized Parent Conferencing Model (SPCM), is based on a strategy used in medical schools. Actors pretend to have various symptoms, and medical school students diagnose them.
In the education model, actors play parents and are brought in to interact with SOE students to give them real-world experience.
"This program uses simulated parent-teacher conferences to prepare future teachers," Dotger said.
Dotger is heading the program at SU in a semester-long education course focused exclusively on parent-teacher interactions.
"I have six students learning how to conference with parents and communicate effectively," Dotger said.
During the semester, students participate in a range of conferences with actors playing the role of parents. The students aren't told ahead of time what emotions or conflicts will arise, helping them learn how to think on their feet.
The simulated conferences become increasingly complex over time, with gradual steps leading from a first conference with a calm parent to a final conference with a very frustrated and upset parent, Dotger said.
"They are all based on things I went through as a novice teacher," said Dotger, referring to the four years he spent as an English teacher in North Carolina between his undergraduate and graduate years.
Benjamin Dotger wants to prevent this from happening.
The Syracuse University School of Education professor was recently awarded a $31,100 Spencer Foundation grant to implement a program that would prepare students to interact with a variety of parents. The hope is that it will keep teachers in the profession longer.
"Shell shock is the biggest problem for teacher retention," Dotger said, referring to the main reason why teachers leave the profession after a short tenure.
Dotger said his program, Standardized Parent Conferencing Model (SPCM), is based on a strategy used in medical schools. Actors pretend to have various symptoms, and medical school students diagnose them.
In the education model, actors play parents and are brought in to interact with SOE students to give them real-world experience.
"This program uses simulated parent-teacher conferences to prepare future teachers," Dotger said.
Dotger is heading the program at SU in a semester-long education course focused exclusively on parent-teacher interactions.
"I have six students learning how to conference with parents and communicate effectively," Dotger said.
During the semester, students participate in a range of conferences with actors playing the role of parents. The students aren't told ahead of time what emotions or conflicts will arise, helping them learn how to think on their feet.
The simulated conferences become increasingly complex over time, with gradual steps leading from a first conference with a calm parent to a final conference with a very frustrated and upset parent, Dotger said.
"They are all based on things I went through as a novice teacher," said Dotger, referring to the four years he spent as an English teacher in North Carolina between his undergraduate and graduate years.
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