promoting positive relationships

Promoting Positive Relationships

Teacher Professional

Development

Building Resilience in Children and

Young People


Positive relationships promote student wellbeing and engagement in learning

Effective approaches to building resilience include an emphasis on fostering positive teacher-student and peer relationships

Relational aspects of this approach include:• Positive approaches to managing student behaviour• Positive and supportive teacher-student relationships• Positive and supportive student-student relationships• Strategies to identify and address bullying• High but achievable expectations for student learning and

behaviour


Positive teacher-student relationships promote learningTeacher interpersonal behavior has a powerful effect on levels of student engagement

Research shows that positive teacher-student relationships are significantly associated with increased:

• Behavioural engagement: participation, punctuality, concentration and effort applied to tasks

• Emotional engagement: students are enthusiastic and keen to learn• Cognitive engagement: students are able to formulate their own

learning goals, and believe in the importance of their academic achievements


Positive teacher-student relationships are especially important for students ‘at risk’

• A meta-analysis of 99 research studies found that positive teacher-student relationships were linked to increased student engagement and achievement, and negative teacher-student relationships were linked to poorer student engagement and achievement

• Students labeled as ‘at risk’ were more strongly influenced by the quality of the teacher-student relationship than those labeled ‘normative’

• The motivating effect of positive teacher-student relationships is even greater for high school students than for younger children

Roorda et al., 2011


Teacher interpersonal style and engagement

• Students’ perceptions of teachers’ interpersonal behaviour are strongly associated with student engagement

• Two critical factors influence high engagement including the perception by students that :

the teacher has positive authority and influence over the class and

the teacher trusts, respects and has positive regard for the students

• Students appreciate it when their teachers are firm in their class management, whilst also demonstrating a friendly, fair and respectful manner

Van Uden et al. 2014


The ‘little things’ that teachers do that make a difference to student resilience• Johnson’s longitudinal research with students in South Australia

highlights the importance of everyday interactions between students and teachers

• Students said it is ‘little things’ that teachers do that make a big difference, such as:

listening to students

explaining things when asked and helping them with school work

maintaining hope and encouragement for progress in the student’s learning

treating students with respect

• Encouragement, assistance and formative feedback helps keep students on track Johnson 2008


Students say it’s good when teachers:• treat you with respect• still speak to you when they don’t teach you anymore• smile and say hello• take an interest in you• notice when you try• notice when you’re down• encourage you• make work interesting• let you make mistakes• know your name • talk to everyone• trust you• like you• celebrate sometimes• set practical activities• have fun

Cahill et al., 2004


Students say it is bad when teachers:• yell • blame you when it was someone else• refuse to believe you• talk on and on• make sarcastic jokes• tell you you’re a bad class• have favorites• hold up your mistakes• embarrass you in front of the class• put you down• tease you• compare you to your brothers or sisters

Cahill et al., 2004


Building Positive Relationships

One way in which the activities in the Building Resilience SEL lesson materials encourage students and teachers to strengthen their relationships is through working to increase the awareness of the strengths of every person in the classroom

The activity in the next slide provides an example:


Group Activity: Qualities that I admire

Example:•Think about a person that you admire, or respect in some way. This must be someone who you have actually met in person. They might be someone close to you, such as a relative, friend or colleague

•Draw a stick figure. In the space around the person, brainstorm the ‘qualities’ or ‘strengths’ or things that you admire about this person

•Share the qualities you chose with a person sitting nearby

This activity has been adapted from the Level 7-8 Building Resilience learning materials (Topic 2: Personal Strengths, Activity 1)


Positive peer relationships

•The quality of peer relationships significantly influences students’ overall experience of school

•Positive peer relationships (friendship, support and inclusion) are a protective factor linked to positive educational outcomes, reduced risk taking and mitigation of other existing risk factors

•Negative peer relationships, such as those related to bullying, have a significant negative impact on student wellbeing

Holfve-Sabel, 2014


Group Activity: Sharing Acts of Kindness

What practices do teachers in this school use to show kindness to each other and to their students, and to encourage students to show kindness to each other?

1.Close your eyes and remember a time when you were friendly to another adult or to someone in your family. What were you doing?

2.Share the memory with the person next to you. Share some ideas with the group

3.Choose one friendship act which you have completed at some time, and draw a picture of this

4.Add a caption or short story to go with your picture

5.Arrange a ‘gallery showing’ and explanation of the pictures

This activity comes from the Level 1-2 Building Resilience learning materials (Topic 1: Emotional Literacy, Activity 4)

*Students develop awareness of their

strengths by sharing stories of

themselves initiating kind

actions. This sharing builds a sense of

pride and recognition of the

importance of caring in friendship

and families


Bullying in Australian Schools

Bullying is one of the top 5 issues of concern for young people aged 11-14 and a common

concern for children aged 5-14 calling kidshelpline

1 in 10Australian young people

experiencecyberbullying

every few weeks or more often

More than1 in 4

Year 4-9 studentsExperience bullying


Group Reflection

•Where is bullying happening in your school?•Which students are most affected by bullying?

• What bullying prevention and response strategies are in place in your school?

• Are there patterns of racist or homophobic bulling which need strategic attention?• How is the school helping students to form positive relationships across divides of age, culture, gender, ethnicity, religion or interests?


Bullying and Mental Health

Both bulliers and victims are more likely to suffer from mental health problems

Dake et al. (2003) found that:

• Bulliers are over 4 times more likely to suffer depression and over 3 times more likely to suffer anxiety. They are also more likely to suffer poor physical health, fight, cheat, use drugs, vandalise, truant, carry a weapon, get in trouble with the police, date earlier and be more aggressive to dating partners

• Victims of bullying are 4 times more likely to suffer depression and to experience physical health symptoms, loneliness and negative self-esteem

• Those who are bulliers and victims are over 6 times more likely to suffer from depression and over 8 times more likely to suffer from anxiety

Dake et al., 2003


Promoting Positive Peer Relationships- What does the Research Say?• A meta-analysis of 44 bullying prevention evaluations found the

following program elements to be associated with a decrease in bullying and victimisation:

Intensive programs (e.g. number of hours)Programs with longer durationPrograms including parent meetingsFirm disciplinary methodsImproved playground supervision

• Other research highlights the importance of a systematic whole-school approach to prevent and manage bullying

Ttofi and Farrington 2011


Components of a whole school approach to bullying prevention/response

• teacher training• improved playground supervision• positive disciplinary methods• cooperative group work between professionals• school assemblies• information for parents• parent training or meetings• classroom rules and classroom management• whole-school anti-bullying policy• supportive school culture• proactive policies, procedures and practices• shared school community key understandings and competencies• protective school environment• school–family–community partnerships

Farrington and Ttofi (2011)


Group Activity: Help-seeking Scenarios

This activity comes from the Level 3-4 Building Resilience SEL learning materials (Topic 6: Help-seeking, Activity 2)

What are the possible helping or help-seeking actions students could take. For each scenario, discuss:

• What could other students do to help?• What could s/he do?• Who could s/he ask to help?

Scenario 1: Hamish is often ignored by the other students and is sometimes teased and laughed at. The teacher does not know that this is happening as no-one teases him in front of the teacher

Scenario 2: A teacher is concerned about a colleague who is showing signs of stress and burnout, but is not sure whether to say something to this colleague or to the school leadership

What could the teacher do to help?

How should they respond to a help-seeking student?How should they respond to a distressed colleague?


Group Activity: Using Strengths in Ethical Dilemmas

• What could Annabelle do? Identify the positives and negatives of each choice, then propose a piece of advice

• Identify which strengths you think that someone would need to call on to carry out the advice (e.g. perspective, bravery, persistence, integrity)

• Check your advice: Is it safe? Could anyone come to harm? Is it legal? Is it fair? How will it affect others? How will you feel about it afterwards?

• Collect responses from the group

Example scenario: WORRIEDAnnabelle is worried about a friend who is down. She has not bounced back since her relationship broke up six months ago. The friend has confided in her that she has suicidal thoughts, but she asked her to promise not to tell anyone, especially not her mother. But now Annabelle is really worried about whether she should keep this promise.

This activity has been adapted from the Level 9-10 Building Resilience SEL materials (Topic 2: Personal Strengths, Activity 2)


Group Activity: Active Listening and Peer Support

1. Work in pairs to try out the active listening technique

2. Person A will be the speaker, and Person B the active listener

3. Person A should think of something they want to complain about. Person B should ask them how they are, then Person A begins their complaint, and Person B tries out the active listening technique

4. Role swap, then ask for feedback on how it felt for the speaker and for the active listener

Active listening involves the listener in feeding back what they hear to the speaker, putting what they have heard in a summary in their own words. This allows the speaker to correct them if they have misunderstood or shows the speaker that they were understood. It can also help the speaker to clarify what they are thinking or trying to communicate. Active listening can also involve picking up on the person's body language and emotion and feeding back on that. It is a way of showing that you understand what the speaker is saying or feeling.

This activity has been adapted from the Years 11-12 Building Resilience SEL materials (Topic 3: Positive self-talk: Dealing with performance challenges, Activity 3)


Group Activity: Explaining How You Feel

• Put the group into pairs and ask them to help each other to design and practice an ‘Assertive I statement’ that is relevant in their life.

• Ask some volunteer pairs to perform one of their ‘I’ statements and then ask the group to give feedback: Was the character being assertive? What did they do well? What could they have done differently?

Making Assertive ‘I’ statements:Feeling first: I feel (say how you feel) when (state the action), so (make your request here)Situation first: When (state the action),I feel (say how you feel), so (make your request here).

This activity is adapted from the Years 11-12 Building Resilience SEL materials (Topic 5: Safer Socialising, Activity 2)


REFLECT

•What do you do to get to know the students in your classes?

•What do you do to help them to get to know each other?

•How do you transmit the fact that you care about their wellbeing and learning?

•What do you do when you observe instances of bullying?


Useful Links

• Bully Stoppers (DEECD) aims to strengthen bullying prevention and empower everyone to make a stand and become a bully stopper, reducing incidences of bullying in Victorian schools: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/default.aspx

• Student Inclusion and Engagement Guidance provides advice, resources and strategies for schools on developing a Student Engagement Policy, promoting positive student behaviour and responding to challenging behaviour: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/participation/Pages/studentengagementguidance.aspx

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/default.aspx



http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/participation/Pages/studentengagementguidance.aspx




Reference

• Anderson, Amy R., Christenson, Sandra L., Sinclair, Mary F., & Lehr, Camilla A. (2004). Check & Connect: The importance of relationships for promoting engagement with school. Journal of School Psychology, 42(2), 95-113

• Cahill, Helen, Shaw, Gary, Wyn, Johanna, & Smith, Graeme. (2004). Translating Caring Into Action: an Evaluation of the Victorian Catholic Education Student Welfare Professional Development Initiative. Research Report Series. Melbourne: Youth Research Centre, The University of Melbourne.

• Dake, Joseph A., Price, James H., & Telljohann, Susan K. (2003). The Nature and Extent of Bullying at School. Journal of School Health, 73(5), 173.

• Fredricks, Jennifer. A., Blumenfeld, Phyllis. C., & Paris, Alison. H. (2004). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59-109

• Johnson, B. (2008). Teacher-student relationships which promote resilience at school: a micro-level analysis of students’ views. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 36(4), 385-398.

• Roorda, Debora L., Koomen, Helma M. Y., Spilt, Jantine L., & Oort, Frans J. (2011). The Influence of Affective Teacher-Student Relationships on Students' School Engagement and Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Approach. Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 493-529.

• Ttofi, M.M., & Farrington, D.P. (2011). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: a systematic and meta-analytic review. J Exp Criminol, 7, 27-56.

• van Uden, J.M., Ritzen, H., & Pieters, J.M. . (2014). Engaging students: The role of teacher beliefs and interpersonal teacher behavior in fostering student engagement in vocational education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 37, 21-32.

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