Sending a WhatsApp to the teacher in the evening? The new rules that may put an end to it
For the first time, rules regulating the relationship between parents and teaching staff will be anchored in a director-general circular. Kindergarten teachers will be able to choose how and when parents contact them, and schools will publish a code of conduct determining through which platforms and hours parents can ask questions, consult, or complain. Education Minister Kisch: "We are strengthening the teacher's status and their professional judgment."
If you are used to sending a kindergarten teacher or a teacher a message at any hour, even at 22:00 at night, it is possible that this is about to end. After years in which the relationship between teachers and parents was not defined, a new director-general circular issued under the leadership of Education Minister Yoav Kisch is expected to limit the hours for sending messages to educators.
The goal is to strengthen the status of teachers, and the circular regulates for the first time the relationship system between parents and teaching staff. Educators and kindergarten managers will be able to determine when and at what hours parents can send them a message, complaint, or question, in what manner, and what is a reasonable response time — depending on the subject. Schools, in consultation with teachers, will publish a code of conduct at the beginning of the year and may decide, for example, that contacting teachers will be done only via email or feedback systems, and not on WhatsApp. Alternatively, schools will be able to limit communication on WhatsApp and set days and hours when it is possible to text the teacher's private phone. For example, they will be able to determine that messages are not sent after 17:00 or that the response will be only during "stay hours" — hours when the teacher is working but not teaching in the classroom frontally.
The circular shows that every kindergarten or school will have a code of conduct that will regulate the manner of parental contact. The document does not have a precise breakdown of hours, days, or methods of communication, such as phone calls, email, or feedback systems, which are allowed or forbidden. The flexibility stems from the difference between various populations. It is the schools that will define the communication channels in accordance with the school's perception, taking into account the cultural sensitivity of the community, the age of the students, and the educational context.
Changing nature of connection
For example, in Haredi education and in part of the state-religious education (Chamad), parents use "kosher phones", unlike what is customary in state-Hebrew or Arab education. Alongside this, in some places, teachers are not willing to receive voice messages. Another example concerns kindergartens: there are smaller and more intimate kindergartens, for example, in kibbutzim, where the manager is part of the community, as opposed to crowded kindergartens with 35 children in big cities, where the teacher has to provide an answer to dozens of parents and therefore the nature of the connection is different.
As mentioned, the contact times will be determined by the educational institution in dialogue with the teaching staff member. The circular states: "Communication channels must be built that allow for a dialogue based on mutual respect, coordination of expectations, maintaining boundaries, and distinguishing between the personal and professional space."
According to Education Minister Yoav Kisch: "In recent years, the connection between parents and educational staff has become a complex and sensitive issue. The new circular comprehensively regulates the relationship system. We are strengthening the teacher's status and their professional judgment, and at the same time establishing a correct, respectful, and healthy connection with parents. Strengthening the teacher's status and creating a healthy relationship system between home and school is a condition for a better and stronger education system, for the benefit of Israel's students."
Leading a firm line on the subject is Yaffa Ben-David, Secretary-General of the Teachers' Union. Already half a year ago, she claimed in an article published in "Israel Hayom" that "private and group messages on WhatsApp are complete madness. They break the boundaries of the teaching staff's private space, they contact them on Saturdays and holidays, they expect them to be available 24 hours a day". She claimed that this must stop: "The teacher's mobile phone is personal, it is not an open and unlimited line."
Communication only via emails?
Now, Ben-David may encourage teaching staff to move all communication with parents to email, or through the "feedback" system. In her view, the response time should be up to three days, and teaching staff will not be required to be part of class WhatsApp groups in which there are parents. In general, parents will not be able to enter the school grounds and talk to the teacher without prior arrangement and set hours. Each teaching staff member will present at the beginning of the year the contact times and the method of contacting them.
In the last decade, communication has moved from the notebook to the smartphone. Class WhatsApp groups and the demand for real-time updates have created an expectation for total availability. Many teachers feel overwhelmed by messages, to the point that it interferes with their private lives.
An elementary school teacher described: "I received a message on Friday at 20:00, during the Kiddush — 'Hi, what was the homework today?'. Of course, I didn't answer, this is something that is really not legitimate. This is part of the reason why young teachers are abandoning the system. They arrive with great desire and then very quickly they 'get' a slap, when they are required to be available even on weekends, sometimes messages even after midnight. This must be stopped."
