BYJU’S AVP of Student Experience on the importance of parent-teacher partnerships in students’ learning development | #MyBYJUSstory

November marks the completion of my four years with BYJU’S, a journey of growth and personal and professional development. During my BYJU’S journey, I helped establish the mentoring team, with whom I still work very closely today, while leading the tutoring team. The journey has been nothing short of  intrapreneurial, where I have had the freedom to make decisions and the opportunity to learn.  

BYJU’S provides the finest content and an immersive learning experience with the help of best-in-class technology. And over the years, we have tried to not only deliver a seamless experience to the students but also ensure that teachers were given the tools to ensure successful delivery of lessons. Our initially-manual processes are completely automated, increasing productivity several fold. Technology has also been used to scale our learning products and simultaneously identify students who need more focus and attention to help enhance their experience. 

How parents can impact a child’s education

Besides the use of best-in-class technology and learning content, what BYJU’S also encourages is active participation from parents. This enhances a child’s learning experience and is very effective in motivating and driving them to be diligent and adhere to the rigour that is needed. 

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In their formative years, students experience rapid development of cognitive, physical, and social skills. It is essential that they have the right guidance, support, and assurance. Positive reinforcement from parents acts as a moral boost. When parents give enough freedom to their children to make choices that interest them, it helps to build their personality and can lead to a favourable long-term impact on a child’s learning and development. 

Building effective parent-teacher partnerships

Parents’ participation should also extend to building a strong partnership with the teachers. This is essential for the child’s learning journey, which is why the teachers at BYJU’S are actively involved with parents and students every step of the way. 

A strong teacher-parent relationship involves understanding and acknowledging the student’s personality and creating the right ambience. Effective parent-teacher partnerships will ensure that the transition from home to school to BYJU’S classes is seamless for the child. It can reduce the friction between a more relaxed environment at home versus a more structured environment in learning set-ups.

Once the partnership establishes this foundation, a regular exchange of information and the child’s progress can help both parents and teachers to add more value to the child’s growth and development. 

To this end, we have launched Parent Orientation sessions — where parents’ expectations are understood and constraints addressed. We are also set to launch Parent-Teacher Meetings, where teachers will connect with students and parents  regularly, to apprise the parents about the child’s progress, strengths, and limitations. Such initiatives have helped build a healthy connection between the parents and teachers and has ensured better academic outcomes for the students.   

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We believe that such alliances also help bridge the opportunity gaps for students who may not be able to get the necessary support from parents due to various factors. This is more relevant and productive in situations where both parents are working. Parents can help by enabling the routine, while teachers can help parents by being understanding about their situation. 

How successful partnerships help manage expectations

Effective collaborations between parents and teachers also help in setting and fulfilling expectations. Usually, parents have high regard and expectations towards marks, grades, and academic outcome, while students are more excited about learning new things and developing new skills through practical means. 

With the help of the mentoring and tutoring team working in tandem, we ensure that both parents’ and students’ expectations are met. Students’ progress and performance is tracked through different topics and tests, providing a personalised learning journey. We also have sessions in different languages, including English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.

While at the beginning of the year there is a greater emphasis on understanding the concept and strengthening the fundamental knowledge, the end of the year is focused on exams. Scoring well in exams is given priority, by providing additional doubt-clearing and exam orientation sessions. 

We are also constantly trying to innovate to keep the students excited, while ensuring that the learning objectives are met. This is done through three strong pillars — Media, Content, and Technology. We use Technology and Media to create content that is personalised and engaging with the help of multiple teachers, video lessons, and interactive games.

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Being innovative, trying out new ideas, and not being afraid of failure are some of the things I’ve learned at BYJU’S over the last four years. There’s immense support from the senior leadership, who encourage and empower BYJUites to keep learning and creating. BYJUites are the very embodiment of creativity; I have witnessed their insatiable urge to keep innovating. Plus, skills like agility and the need to pivot (when needed), which are often overlooked, are an integral part of our culture.

(By Jyothi Kasinath, Assistant Vice President, Academics K4-10)

#MyByjusStory is our new series where senior leaders of BYJU’S talk about their growth and intrapreneurial journeys that inspire and motivate individuals at BYJU’S and beyond. 

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