Communication skills for teachers…
- Things Education
- Oct 31
- 5 min read
...and the role they play.
Hello all. Welcome to the 138th edition of TEPS Weekly!
When we think of teaching, we think of a teacher standing in front of a classroom and explaining concepts to students. But is that all there is to teaching? Let’s take a look at what all a teacher is actually required to do on a daily basis. A main part of their job is going into classrooms, explaining concepts to students, facilitating active learning, engaging them and building relationships with them. Outside of the classroom, teachers also have to collaborate and build relationships with their colleagues and are answerable to parents and the school leadership. At the core of all of these roles that a teacher plays is communication. Communication is not just an additional soft skill that is good for teachers to have, but it is central to the very idea of teaching!
Let's take a look at the impact of communication skills on learning outcomes, behaviour and wellness:
Student-Teacher Relationships
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in their own ability to succeed at a certain task or handle different situations. A student with high self-efficacy is motivated to succeed in tasks, even when they’re difficult, and does not give up even in the face of setbacks. So, this means that a student who has high self-efficacy is more likely to learn something new by pushing through challenges than a student with low self-efficacy.
A study shows that the more a student thinks their teacher believes in them, the more confident they are in their abilities (self-efficacy). And how do students pick up on this belief? Through how teachers communicate! A teacher can communicate trust in their students by giving them space to think/act on their own – while also giving clear, structured instruction and feedback. Students stop operating because of external pressure, and are instead driven by internal motivation and a confidence in their own abilities.
The way teachers communicate in the classroom (verbally and non-verbally) affects how teacher-student relationships are formed. When a student feels respected and understood by their teacher, they form a stronger relationship with the teacher and are less likely to act out or disrupt the class. So teacher-student communication relates to student motivation and behaviour (but is not the only thing that affects the relationship between a teacher and a student).
Parent-Teacher Relationships
Studies show that there is a strong relation between parental involvement in students’ schooling and the quality of teacher-student relationships. A teacher has to step in and correct students’ behaviour or refocus their attention 25% less often if the parents are involved with students' schooling than otherwise. So to ensure good learning behaviour and practices from students, teachers not only have to communicate well with students, but also with their parents.
In India, through anecdotal experiences, we know that parents can range from indifferent to rude to downright hostile towards teachers. But for the sake of the students, it is important that teachers are able to effectively communicate their students’ progress, any concerns and plan of action to the parents. This makes it crucial for teachers to develop communication skills that need to get parents more involved in their child’s education on one hand, and to be able to defuse parents’ hostility with effective non-violent communication on the other. That is quite a range of communication skills expected of teachers.
In fact, teacher support alone accounts for over 13% of a student’s academic motivation – rising to nearly 17% when parents are also involved. Effective and regular communication with families has been shown to increase class participation by 15% and homework completion by 40%. Therefore, both teacher-student relationships and teacher-parent relationships are needed to lead to more consistent learning, stronger understanding of concepts and ultimately, better performance in assessments and academic outcomes.
Parent-teacher communication is shown to be directly related to higher academic performance and scores in standardised tests. In the study that looked at the factors affecting test scores, parental involvement stood out as one of the strongest factors. Children whose parents were more involved in their schooling scored noticeably higher on the test. So parent-teacher communication is crucial not only for students’ classroom behaviour, but also for students’ achievement.
Student Dropout Rates
There are many reasons that lead to a student dropping out of school, ranging from external socio-economic issues to internal classroom factors. Some of these internal reasons are academic struggles, lack of motivation, behavioural issues and lack of confidence. It is possible that these can be addressed early through effective and consistent communication.
While the school dropout rates in India have been declining, it’s still a matter of concern. According to the UDISE+ data for 2021-22, the dropout rates for the primary, upper primary and secondary levels are 1.5%, 3% and 12.6% respectively. For states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, it even goes upto 31% and 29% respectively in the secondary level. If some of the reasons for this are poverty, lack of access to quality education, and lack of support from family and community, then a couple of ways by which we can reduce the dropout rate is by providing supportive learning environments through strong teacher-student and teacher-parent relationships – both of which can be tied to effective communication by teachers.
Teacher Wellness
Just like effective communication skills of teachers impact student learning and behaviour, they also impact teachers themselves. Teachers who communicate with their colleagues about teaching strategies and student needs or design lesson plans together also improve their instructional practices. Better instructional practices can lead to better professional growth which, in turn, can lead to job satisfaction, and it’s possible that this can ultimately result in higher retention of teachers in their jobs.
Teaching is stressful, and teachers are reported to burn out easily. Studies have shown that reasons for burnout are related to feeling ineffective in the professional space and emotional exhaustion. These reasons can be linked to poor communication skills of teachers. A close communicative relationship between teachers and their students could mean that there is less conflict between them and therefore, less emotional exhaustion (a key component of burnout).
In one of our recent newsletters, we mentioned that one of the major reasons why a majority of teachers in India take up teaching is because they like working with children. Then, when teachers are unable to build strong relationships with students – often due to poor communication – their main motivation starts to disappear. This disconnect can lead to low job satisfaction and can lead to teachers leaving the profession.
To conclude, teachers communicate to teach, connect, support and grow. Therefore, effective communication skills of teachers are necessary for a sustainable classroom and a school. It ultimately contributes to not only retaining both students and teachers in school but also gives students the best chance to learn.
If you want to learn to communicate better with students or parents, try out our online course right now! And if you register on or before 31 October 2025, you can use the DIWALI20 code to get a 20% discount.
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Edition: 4.45
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