Building Trusting Relationships
Overview
Building positive and trusting relationships with learners allows them to feel safe; a Sense of Belonging; and that their academic, cognitive, and social and emotional needs are supported. These supportive student-teacher relationships are the foundation for fostering classroom learning as well as student engagement and Motivation. This strategy is especially powerful for students who have experienced Adverse Experiences and supports the practice of culturally responsive teaching.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how these teachers prioritize building relationships with their students. Through actions like greeting each student and showing vulnerability and care, students feel safe, supported, and valued. These strong relationships elicit positive emotions, which can lead to more learning.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Learn how Thrively created a strengths-based assessment to illuminate students' strengths and passions. With these student profiles, teachers can give students the autonomy to drive their own passion projects that relate to their interests while also aligning to curricular goals. Entrusting students with this responsibility can demonstrate the confidence teachers have in them, strengthening their relationships.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Teacher Modeling & Support Strategies
Using language that is accessible and appropriately leveled for each student allows all students to feel successful and participate in learning.
Content that is provided in clear, short chunks can support students' Working Memory and ensure students are directing their Attention to the relevant information.
Actively and authentically encouraging all students to seek support, ask questions, and advocate for what they believe in creates a safe space for risk-taking and skill development and supports a Sense of Belonging.
Teaching students how to systematically evaluate sources prepares them to navigate in an increasingly complex, digital world.
Providing constructive feedback supports students' writing development by letting them know how to improve their writing.
+When students are aware that learning involves effort, mistakes, reflection, and refinement of strategies, they are more resilient when they struggle.
Providing feedback that focuses on the process of developing skills conveys the importance of effort and motivates students to persist when learning.
By talking through their thinking at each step of a process, teachers can model what learning looks like.
Maintaining consistent routines, structures, and supports ensures that students are able to trust and predict what will happen next.
Reading aloud to adolescents models Reading Fluency as texts become more complex and disciplinary in nature and therefore, more difficult to understand.
Using texts to discuss complex emotions and perspectives with students can help them see how they influence behavior and draw their own personal connections.
Giving students voice and choice in their learning is critical for making learning meaningful and relevant to them, an important aspect of promoting Sense of Belonging.
Wait time, or think time, of three or more seconds after posing a question increases how many students volunteer and the length and accuracy of their responses.
