Intentionally Designed Relationships
Relationships develop naturally over time, but it’s possible to intentionally design relationships with learners. The Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships framework is an intentional approach to extending relationships to learners that go beyond nice (positive, civil) to necessary (those that build resilence in learners.) Developmental Relationships are made up of five elements: expressing care, challenging growth, providing support, sharing power and expanding possibilities. In addition to building resilience in learners, meaningful connections are perhaps our best way of combatting learner apathy.
When I was in the classroom, I was a relationship teacher — I really loved being with kids. If you find yourself in the same boat, you might be looking at the Developmental Relationships framework and saying to yourself, “I already do that.” After all, expressing care and challenging growth sound like part of a teacher’s job description. As we acknowledge the elements that we come to intuitively, we can leverage them as a starting place to extend our intentionality — to ask ourselves “What about each of the elements?” OR “What about all of my learners?” After all, it’s easy to build relationships and connections with learners in our ingroup — those with whom we share identity traits, beliefs, and values. Extending Developmental Relationships to all learners requires us to acknowledge and confront our implicit biases (our unconscious attitudes that drive our understanding, actions, and behavior) and the assumptions we make about learners.
We all carry implicit biases, and while they cause us to favor some learners, they also cause us to exclude or treat others unfairly. These biases are sometimes referred to as unconscious biases because they are driven by shortcuts in the brain — snap decisions not composed of rational thought. The problem is these shortcuts are often faulty. Implicit biases show themselves in obvious ways that call attention to disparities in how students are referred for disciplinary action, special education and AP and honors programs, but they also show themselves in more subtle ways with our learners like frequency of eye contact, body language that excludes or includes, proximity to certain learners or groups in the learning environment, allowances for hall/bathroom passes, deadine extensions, enforcement of school and classroom policies, and frequency of engaging/contacting parents and families.
Check out the latest one-pager from DTour here! This professional learning resource illuminates the Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships framework, the nice-to-necessary relationship continuum, and how implicit bias affects our connections with learners. Download it and share it freely with your colleagues & PLCs!
Connect with DTour professional learning at jonidegner@gmail.com or drrevdean@gmail.com for follow up conversations and professional support!
