Opinion
The Essential Ingredient in School Success – Communication
In today’s social media obsessed world, it has become even more important for schools to tell their story to keep parents, staff and the larger community engaged.
Ravi Santlani on why every school should have a communications officer…
In today’s social media obsessed world, it has become even more important for schools to tell their story to keep parents, staff and the larger community engaged.
Schools are high-profile and impact organizations under constant public scrutiny. Schools are often portrayed adversely in media to spotlight the worst-case scenarios in K-12 education. It would not be an overstatement to say private education is under attack, and unfair or not, public perception is important. Therefore, schools have to tell the story about how they make a positive difference in the lives of students and parents every day, and how schools are succeeding overall in spite of dwindling resources and increasing regulations. Otherwise, people will form their opinions from limited news coverage, biased films, gossip and rumors.
It is important for schools to communicate with and engage all of their stakeholders including students, parents, administrators, legislators and the community-at-large.
Every school leader knows communication is important, but these days, when new ways to spread your message seem to grow faster than you can master them, how to do so effectively?
A dedicated communications officer will help improve community relations and overall stakeholder management. Besides dealing with the stakeholders on a one to one basis, local press and others; it is the job of the communications officer to use electronic communications with parents and the community as they are cheaper, timelier, and easier than ever to use. Used correctly, social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook are the simplest way many stakeholders already receive their information. For instance, on the Facebook group ‘Gurgaon Parents For Better Education’, 17700-plus parents discuss various issues about the schools on a daily basis. Schools can identify the common problems of the parents by reading the posts on this group, as many parents are not comfortable raising issues to the school authorities directly. There are several such city specific groups and schools should actively take part in such groups. If timely and immaculately performed, this can be a good communications and branding strategy.
A communications officer must have strong written and oral abilities. Communication planning, including in-school and community communications, should be used by the communications officer to:
- Inform – to keep you in touch with stakeholders and provide details of upcoming events, news, and information.
- Celebrate – Schools must take every opportunity to share with their stakeholders the wonderful learning experiences and the good work being done by the teachers, leadership and students on a periodic basis.
Results show that trust built slowly but securely will pay off for school leaders. It will help in improving the public's perception of the school. Addressing problems head-on and listening to concerns, even though the topics don't deal with the larger community, obviously gives residents the confidence to support the school’s activities and initiatives.
This story appears in our October 2017 issue.