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Explain how to adapt communication to meet

different communication needs of adults

Part of the joy of working with people is that everyone is unique. They may have

things that convey a certain homogeneity, but it's in the details where individuality

becomes key. Just like the children under your care, adults and parents will have a

variety of communication needs that may need consideration.

Communication needs.

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Individual communication needs

Being sensitive to adults' needs promotes good feeling, towards you, towards the

school, and towards education in general, and in most cases, as expert

communicators in English, you will most likely adapt without having to think about it.

This may include talking more slowly, using more simple or more complex language,

or even things like when talking to someone who is hearing-impaired, making sure

you always face them directly so that they can see your facial expressions clearly and

to give them the added support of being able to lip-read if necessary.

Sometimes if adults have more unusual communication needs, especially those you

may not have come across before, you may need to reflect on how to better adapt

your communication skills. For example, a child may have a parent who has ASD, or

who is somewhere within the ASD phenotype. This means that they may have some

or all of the known signs of this condition which is primarily considered to be a

communication disorder. An example of the way in which this might affect

communication could be that the parent may not notice more subtle aspects of body

language, such as gestures, pointing things out, or even the nodding or shaking of

the head to indicate yes and no.

Cultural and social differences

Some schools in the UK have a large population of people who belong to a particular

culture. For example, there may be many Muslim parents who speak Urdu as their

primary language. Where this is the case, the local education authority may be able

to advice on the best way to approach communication, and they may also provide

services to help, such as translation and interpretation for meetings that may involve

complex information about their children.

Social differences can also play a part in muddying the communication waters, and

your skills may need to be adapted for these too. An example of social differences

may be that one set of parents would prefer there to be more homework on a regular

basis, because they want their child to excel at school; another set may wish there

was less homework, because they didn't have a good experience of school

themselves. Explaining to the first set of parents that their child has enough homework

for his or her age group may involve different skills from those needed to explain to

the second set of parents that their children get a minimum of homework that is

required by the school's homework policy.

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Did you know?

Disagreements and other conflicts can easily arise at school, and it is easy to look at

them as negative aspects of your work. However, conflict can also be seen as a

positive thing, because by resolving the issues, it is possible to achieve better

understanding between everyone, increased cohesion within the group – whether the

group is a class, parents, a group of friends, or teaching staff – and even better self-

knowledge for the people involved.

Context of communication

The context of the communication with adults is important, because context dictates

'how' as well as 'why'. Standing in the playground with parents who are collecting their

children may be quite an informal situation, and although you must still retain a

professional stance and relationship with everyone, you can be more relaxed as you

talk to them.

At a parent's evening or an open day, however, it may be appropriate to be more

formal.

So, for example, in the playground, you might tell a mother that her child did a

wonderful painting that day, using language that is relaxed and unplanned. At the

open day, you might explain to parents that their child is expected to attain a certain

key stage level in a particular subject area, and give them a couple of ideas of how

to support that attainment.

Again, emails, letters, notices and newsletters should always be written at the level

of understanding that the recipient can manage. Talking over someone, or

patronising them by assuming that their knowledge is poor, can be hugely offensive,

and people do not always mention that they have been offended; they are more likely

to simply disengage, which would be potentially bad for their child's education.