3rd Edition

Dealing with Difficult Parents (Teacher Edition) How to Get Parents Off Your Back and On Your Side

By Todd Whitaker, Douglas J. Fiore Copyright 2026
170 Pages
by Eye On Education

170 Pages
by Eye On Education

170 Pages
by Eye On Education

Communicating with parents is one of the most challenging and potentially stressful tasks that educators face daily. Whether trying to resolve a heated argument or delivering bad news, it is essential to know how to handle difficult situations and establish positive relationships with your students’ parents. In this updated third edition of the bestselling book Dealing with Difficult Parents ,... Read more

1. Dealing with Difficult Parents: An Overview  Part 1: Understanding Today’s Parents  2. Who Are These Guys? Understanding Parents’ Circumstances  3. Why Aren’t They On Our Side?  Understanding Parents’ Perceptions  Part 2: How to Get Parents Off Our Backs and Onto Our Sides  4. Building Credibility: Everyone Wants to Associate with a Winner  5. Taking Your Classroom Social: Good News Builds Trust  6. Positive Communication with Parents: An Ounce of Prevention  7. The Power of Consistent, Proactive Parental Communication  Part 3: Dealing with Difficult Parents: And Knowing When to Look Inward, Too  8. Initiating Contact with Parents  9. Calm Is Good  10. The Best Way to Get in the Last Word…  11. What If the Parent Is Right?  12. Do You Feel Defensive? If So, Something Is Wrong  13. The Blame Frame  Part 4: Dealing with Difficult Situations: The Nicer the Parent, the Harder It Can Be  14. Delivering Bad News  15. But Do Parents Feel They Got a Good Deal?  16. What If They Use the “F” Word—Fair?  17. Focus on the Future  18. Universal Strategies for Challenging Situations: And Ways to Keep Things From Being Escalated  19. Parting Thoughts

Biography

Todd Whitaker (@toddwhitaker) is a leading presenter in the field of education and has written 65 books, including the bestseller What Great Teachers Do Differently. He is a former teacher, coach, principal, and is currently a Research Professor at the University of Missouri.

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Douglas J. Fiore is Dean of the College of Education at the University of Central Missouri and is author of numerous books, including the popular textbook School-Community Relations, Sixth Edition.