Build Trusting Relationships
RATIONALE
The trauma and isolation experienced during COVID-19 necessitate a focus on the development of strong and trusting relationships in the school setting. Prior to the start of the school year and within the first few days, districts and schools need to actively and warmly integrate students, families, and teachers into the social school environment and work deliberately to facilitate the (re)building of trust and relationships including those between students, between teachers, between teachers and their students, and also between teachers and families. In promoting strong relationships, schools can become communities supportive of its members’ well-being and its students’ academic growth.
CONCRETE STRATEGIES
DISTRICT-LEVEL
RECOMMENDATION
1. Conduct Schoolwide Assessments to Evaluate Relationships
In order to strengthen relationships, have all schools complete the 5Essentials Survey Assessment (UChicago) during the first part of the year and learn from their results on the measures of Student-Teacher Trust, Teacher-Teacher Trust, and Teacher-Parent Trust.
Administrators and teachers at schools that have high results on the assessment should then mentor other schools in the district to support their areas of growth.
CAMPUS-LEVEL
RECOMMENDATION
1. Utilize Home Visiting for Relationship Building
Have classroom teachers conduct a home visit prior to the start of school as a strategy for developing strong parent-teacher relationships.
Focus the visit on teachers getting to know their students and their families.
Clarify that the singular purpose of the home visit is to build relationships and not to discuss expectations at school or be evaluative.
Have teachers ask parents: “What would you like for me to know about your child?”
During the visit ask the child where their favorite place is in their home and take a picture of the family in that spot and put the picture up in the classroom.
TEACHER-LEVEL
RECOMMENDATION
1. Provide Direct Instruction on Friendship
Plan and teach a unit on Friendship within the first few weeks of school so that students gain a vocabulary around friendship and can work to build positive peer-to-peer relationships.
RESOURCES
Watch TEA's video from the Texas Project Restore on Building Secure Relationships and Building Strong Partnerships with Students' Families
Review Turnaround for Children’s blog post, Design Principles for Schools: Five Tools to Help You Build Trusting Relationships with Your Students
Conscious Discipline's offers relevant Professional Development Trainings and E-Learning on a variety of topics
Watch this Webinar on Leadership for Equity Through Positive Relationships, which "focus[es] on how school and district leaders can encourage and foster positive relationships amongst teachers, students, and the community... [and] examine[s] the relationship between equity and social and emotional learning."
Read School Stories from the 5Essentials in Practice:
Explore resources from Communities in Schools, a program dedicated to helping students thrive by surrounding them with a network of trust