RELATIONSHIPS



Our God is a relational God, therefore are to reflect this relational aspect of our God (Genesis 1:27).  Relationships are important for every part of life and the school life is no different.  There are many different relationships we hold as teachers but the more prominent ones are between the teacher-student, teacher-colleagues, teacher and the school community.  In order to build effective relationships, it takes time and effort.  Relationships are purposeful, therefore having an effective way of teaching will be purposeful and transformative (Norsworthy, 2006).

Ministry of Education (2017) tells us the students learn best when there is a good relationship between themselves and their teacher.  How do we build this relationship though? First we need to know our students, begin by knowing their name so when we see them it isn’t just a ‘hi there’, which can be devaluing the student but remember their name and how to pronounce it correctly.  In referring to students, using the correct pronunciation is crucial, in particular with Pasifika students as there is honour which has been bestowed upon them in relation to their name.  If you mispronounce a name, this can display disrespect and a loss of mana.  The next step to building a relationship with students would be to find out about them, either through conversation with them or getting each student to fill out a class profile that you can look over which will tell you a bit about the student and their background.  If we can view where a student has come from and what they bring with them, we can better understand how to communicate with them.

In building relationships with other staff members, we cannot escape the main tool used for constructing effective relationships, which is having a conversation face to face as this kind of engagement can be more meaningful than an email or text.  Other ways of building positive relationships is by volunteering to help another colleague.  As teachers always have a heavy work load, it is helpful to volunteer your services to help which not only would ease the load for the other teacher but also helps develop a relationship between you and your fellow colleague.  When work is shared it can also be more enjoyable than working alone because you have someone else to encourage and support you.
Using the staffroom is vital for positive interactions.  

There are teachers and departments that hardly ever use the staffroom therefore miss connecting with other colleagues who do.  This is usually the main area where staff congregate so if you are never here, you hardly see what is happening outside of your little office or department.  This can disconnect you with your colleagues and surrounding within the school community.



Our pedagogy should reflect the connected and relational God that we seek to portray in our classrooms and schools.  This belief that we live in a world where our Creator relates to us on a personal level, helps us to remember that we need to also meet our students on a personal level, which can only be done if we make the time and effort to know the learner (Van Bummelen, 2009).


References
Ministry of Education. (02/02/2017). Putting student relationships first. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/NZC-Online-blog/Putting-student-relationships-first

Norsworthy, B. (2006). Pedagogy as person: Relational and transformative teachers. Bethlehem Tertiary Institute, Tauranga, New Zealand.

Van Brummelen, H. (2009). Walking with God in the classroom: Christian approaches to teaching and learning (3rd ed.). Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design.


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