Developing Positive Relationships Among Students

Find strategies to develop connection and collaboration between students so everyone in the classroom can contribute to an inclusive environment.

Developing Positive Relationships Among Students
  • Planning
  • Teaching
  • Liberated Learning Environments

Developing Positive Relationships Among Students

Try

Encourage the behavior you are looking for by positively reinforcing strong artistic choices, leadership initiative, and students who positively support and collaborate with their classmates.

Try

Build in opportunities for students to interact with new people, as explained in Round-Robin and Find a New Place in the Room below.

A Note on Developing Positive Relationships

It is important to remember that students’ capacity to build relationships is shaped by many things: mental health, classroom dynamics, culture and identity, etc. It is also important to note that our definition of what constitutes a positive relationship may be different than someone else’s; we must understand and manage our own assumptions so that we continue to foster a community free of stigma, which does not assume that students are behaving in a way that is challenging or disruptive if they do not automatically embrace the structures we try to implement. 

Equally essential to remember is that students’ interactions with others may develop from experiences that make it challenging to build trust and fully engage in community. Students may, for example, have experienced or be experiencing trauma. It is, therefore, critical to get to know your students and support their individual needs.

Remote Teaching and Learning Tip:

Building community requires strong tenets, both in physical and remote classrooms. If you are planning a remote residency or workshop, check out our resource for Getting Started With Remote Learning, which covers building rapport in a remote classroom.

External Resources