Pupil Voice – Effective communication with students/learners:
Feedback from pupils with regards to teachers can be hard to come across without biased, so where should you start?
We have gathered some evidence-based feedback on what students and pupils have identified that they look for in great teachers:
- They are informative but entertaining (Scheidecker, David, and William Freeman., 2015.)[RC1]
- They enable learning free from the feeling of ridicule or failure Scheidecker, (David, and William Freeman., 2015.)
- They are patient and consider their individual needs and requirements (Vitto, John M., 2003).
- They start smaller with new concepts, introducing learning gradually (Cheminais, Rita., 2013).
- They try to connect and interact with the class (Marsh, H., 2012).
Here are some helpful guidance documents from the EEF:
Teacher feedback to improve pupil learning
“Lay the foundations for effective feedback
Before providing feedback, teachers should provide high quality instruction, including the use of formative assessment strategies. High quality initial instruction will reduce the work that feedback needs to do; formative assessment strategies are required to set learning intentions (which feedback will aim towards) and to assess learning gaps (which feedback will address). From Education Endowment Foundation (2025)
References/Further reading:
- Vitto, John M. Relationship-driven classroom management: Strategies that promote student motivation. Corwin Press, 2003.
- Marsh, H. (2012). Relationships for learning: using pupil voice to define teacher−pupil relationships that enhance pupil engagement. Management in Education, 26(3), 161-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020612445702
- Scheidecker, David, and William Freeman. Bringing out the best in students: How legendary teachers motivate kids. Simon and Schuster, 2015.
- Cheminais, Rita. Engaging pupil voice to ensure that every child matters: a practical guide. David Fulton Publishers, 2013.
- Lewis, Ann, and Jill Porter. “Research and pupil voice.” (2007): 222-232.
- Noyes, Andrew. “Pupil Voice: Purpose, Power and the Possibilities for Democratic Schooling.” British Educational Research Journal, vol. 31, no. 4, 2005, pp. 533–40. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032582.
- McIntyre, D., Pedder *, D., & Rudduck, J. (2005). Pupil voice: comfortable and uncomfortable learnings for teachers. Research Papers in Education, 20(2), 149–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671520500077970
- Flutter, J. (2007). Teacher development and pupil voice. The Curriculum Journal, 18(3), 343–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585170701589983
AMHIE Pupil Voice Toolkit: https://community.amhie.com/pupil-voice-toolkit/
Parents, Carers and Community – Communicating within the wider community
“School communication with parents is likely to be more effective if it is personalised, linked to learning, framed positively, and promotes parent efficacy and partnership with the school.” © 2025, Education Endowment Foundation
Here’s some things to help improve communication:
- Go back to basics and think about who you are communicating with; tailor the way you reach out to individuals and smaller groups so you don’t exclude anyone based on their individual requirements.
- Think about impact and time frames – when do you need them to engage and how? For example, a phone call will get to them faster then an email if it’s something urgent.
- Make sure you are accurate and factually correct with information. E.g. “Simon picked up a stone and threw it into the river, there was a duck nearby”.
- Practise active listening; engage in conversations and make sure you allow time for them to respond and process.
- Think of how you would feel in their shoes, how would this sound? Would you like what you were hearing? This might help you to gauge their reactions and manage your own.
- Ask for feedback from parents about what sort of updates they want regarding their child and the school, this will help you to tailor future communication to their individual requirements.
Here are some helpful guidance documents from the EEF:
Working with Parents to support Children’s Learning
References/Further reading:
Graham-Clay, Susan. “Communicating with parents: Strategies for teachers.” School Community Journal 15.1 (2005): 117-129. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ794819
Cunha, Nina, et al. “What is it about communicating with parents.” Unpublished manuscript]. Stanford University (2017). https://cepa.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/cunha_cover_paper1.pdf
KLEIN, STANLEY D. PH.D.. The Challenge of Communicating with Parents. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics 14(3):p 184-191, June 1993. https://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/citation/1993/06010/the_challenge_of_communicating_with_parents.10.aspx
Chatzinikola, M. (2022). Communication Management of Parent Participation in Education Process: Practices of Communication between Teachers and Parents. European Journal of Education and Pedagogy, 3(3), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejedu.2022.3.3.312
Ozmen, F., Akuzum, C., Zıncırlı, M., Selcuk, G. (2016). The Communication Barriers between Teachers and Parents in Primary Schools. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 16(66), 27-46. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ejer/issue/42424/510769?fbclid=IwAR0nkdnWuvqe-nJ7slsmPiYvZuknHESn82AcKf65cqze5z6I1x1qItZhplE
Irena Loudová, Jana Marie Havigerová, Jiří Haviger, The Communication between Schools and Families from the Perspective of Parents of High School Students, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 174, 2015, Pages 1242-1246, ISSN 1877-0428, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.743
Staff Support and Development – Communicating within your team
As with Pupil’s and Parents, the reasons why you are reaching out will dictate the tone, the way you listen and your body language. In a management conversation you would give instructions or take actions, whereas in a one to one or supportive conversation you would be listening and seeking to understand the other person and support them.
Through effective communication, you can increase staff involvement and commitment to the main objectives in your strategy. Mukoro. SA, 2013
Things to consider to help you improve your communication:
- Speak plainly – avoid using jargon and get to the point with what you have to say.
- Don’t avoid touchy subjects – if something is uncomfortable, don’t avoid it just be gentle in how you approach it
- Don’t worry about offending people to the detriment of effective communication
- Be less formal and relax – avoid using complicated language and stick to facts and statements
- Be specific – don’t generalise or be vague about what you are saying
- Help people to find their own answers and solutions – don’t tell people what they know, let them find out for themselves
- Spell and Grammar check your own work – don’t get caught out with errors!
- Keep it short and sweet – don’t waffle or overcomplicate things
- Communicate with others how you like to be communicated with – mimic communication you respond to
- Give real reasons for the things you do – not just policy actions
- Remove physical and psychological barriers to your audience – body language and things like being behind a desk
- Help people evaluate their own work and values towards self-improvement
References/Further Reading:
Mukoroi, Akpoyovwaire Samuel. “Improving industrial harmony and staff performance in a school organization through effective communication.” International Journal of Scientific Research in Education 6.3 (2013): 263-270. https://www.ijsre.com.ng/assets/vol.%2C-6_3_-mukoro.pdf
Gudkova, S.A., Yakusheva, T.S., Sherstobitova, A.A., Burenina, V.I. (2019). Modeling of Scientific Intercultural Communication of the Teaching Staff at Smart University. In: Uskov, V., Howlett, R., Jain, L. (eds) Smart Education and e-Learning 2019. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 144. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8260-4_48
Ramsey, Robert D. How to say the right thing every time: Communicating well with students, staff, parents, and the public. Corwin Press, 2009.
McAfee, Oralie. “Improving home-school relations: Implications for staff development.” Education and Urban Society 19.2 (1987): 185-199. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013124587019002006
Bubb, S., & Earley, P. (2009). Leading staff development for school improvement. School Leadership & Management, 29(1), 23–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632430802646370
Gall, Meredith D., and Ronald S. Renchler. Effective Staff Development for Teachers: A Research-Based Model. Publication Sales, ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, Center for Advanced Technology in Education, University of Oregon, 1787 Agate Street, Eugene, OR 97403, 1985.
Abadiano, Helen R., and Jesse Turner. “Professional staff development: What works.” The NERA journal 40.2 (2004): 87-91. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/78617355
Allen, Bobbie M. “A case study in planning staff development: what do teachers really need?.” American annals of the deaf 139.5 (1994): 493-499. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/18/article/542004/summary
We hope this Toolkit has helped give you some extra reading and information about communication in the workplace.
Got a suggestion for something you want us to include? Need some additional help? We can give you and your team the training and support they need to improve, just contact us to see what we can offer to help you now.
Get in touch with our team and have a chat about your needs info@rootofit.com 02381 120010.