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This Critical Metric is Missing From Education
There is a day towards the end of the primary or elementary school year when your students for the following year join you as a group for the first time. It is a special occasion.
Everyone scans the room for connections and friendships, hope and anticipation all balled into a collective excitement about being another year older.
These sessions were never long, and we would often play some games or do some fun whole-class activities.
I constantly challenged myself in the short session to learn everyone’s name. At the end of the session, I would address each student by their first name.
Reflecting on it now, it was a bit of a highwire trick; you try remembering 30 names! But I knew the effort demonstrated my connection and commitment to each person — a way of showing that I see them and I am ready to help them learn.
A Contradiction in Values
Visit any school or college, and people talk about the importance of relationships.
“Relationships are central to what we do here.” “Everything revolves around relationships.” “You just can’t overestimate the importance of relationships in education.”
It’s one of those things that everyone knows is important. We intrinsically know…
