Parent/Teacher Boundaries

06/23/2008

We often look so long and so regretfully at the door that closes, we don’t see the door that is opening for us.
Thomas Edison

In their Exchange article, "Crossing Lines in Parent Relationships," Anne Stonehouse and Janet Gonzalez-Mena offer these observations about relationships between parents and teachers...

"It is easy to go overboard with a liked parent who is perceived as needy. The desire to help is typically strong in early childhood professionals, and it is only natural to extend kindness and support. One of the great challenges for early childhood professionals is working within the boundaries of professional expertise and roles — that is, being open and accepting, inviting communication, and at the same time being very clear about the boundaries of the responsibilities. As an example, when a parent asks you for advice about her young teenager because she knows you know a lot about children and you’ve been the parent of a teenager, and she says she feels desperate to talk to someone, it’s easy to be sucked into giving advice that goes way outside your role as an early childhood professional. Should you agree to talk to her if you have time? What if it starts to feel like you’re playing a therapist role or talking to this parent takes up time outside work hours or when you should be with the children? Where should you draw the line? How should you draw the line in order to maintain your good relationship with that parent?"

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