Building Relationship

More and more teachers are discussing the importance of developing relationships with students and involving whanau (extended family) to ensure everyone is on the same page. This approach is well established in some countries where teachers have the same class for multiple years.

Ten years ago, I had the opportunity, more out of necessity than design, to teach a range of year levels. I started by teaching Year 1 and 2 students in a school. The year following, they needed a teacher for a Year 2/3 class, so I moved up a level and continued teaching the same students. The year after that, I taught a Year 4 class, and eventually, I became the Senior Teacher for Years 5 and 6. As a result, I had the privilege of teaching half of the students for multiple years.

Each year, I would begin by calling the parents to discuss how their children were settling into school after the break and to address any concerns they might have had. As I had taught some of these students for 3 or 4 years, parents were more comfortable engaging with me and discussing their concerns. However, it took time to establish these connections.

More recently, I moved to a different area and level of teaching. To build relationships with the parents and students I was now responsible for, I started by calling them to introduce myself before engaging in more challenging conversations. Unfortunately, this was the same year that we faced the challenges of COVID-19, and students rarely attended school on a regular schedule. This made it more difficult to establish connections with students and their whanau.

As a school, we read 'When the Adults Change, Everything Changes' check out my posts to see what changes I make as a teacher and mentor.