Relational Teaching and Learning at Cannon School
As human beings we have a profound need for self-determination. We are at our healthiest “when we
have an appropriate amount of control over the activities we engage in, when we are both challenged
and learning, and when we do all this supported by others who care” (Streight 9). At Cannon we strive to
use the insights provided by self-determination theory in practical ways in how and what we teach and
learn in the classroom.
In Breaking into the Heart of Character, David Streight asserts that both relatedness and competence are
at the heart of a sense of autonomy. We are being successful teachers when, in our classroom, a student
successfully experiences:
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an affective sense of being known and accepted by both the kids and the adult in the
classroom
an intellectual sense that the academic work of the classroom is challenging, but doable
and that the “hard” material can be handled.
the empowering sense of having choice and freedom in the teaching and learning
process that happens in the classroom.
An understanding of relational teaching implies an approach that fosters both autonomy and
competence. The interdependence of these three concepts is emphasized for teachers when we engage
in assessment, curriculum development, and lesson planning and delivery.
The challenge at Cannon of continuing to grow into creating an environment of relational teaching is the
application of autonomy , relatedness, and competence when we engage in the three activities that
make up the how and the what of teaching:
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Assessment
Curriculum development
lesson planning and delivery
In other words, if autonomy, relatedness, and competence do not change and shape the way we grade
learning, the choices we make in content, and the how of planning and delivering lessons, then the
concepts remain sterile buzz words. Our task is to bring these abstract concepts to the reality of
classroom life. With that in mind, let’s take one activity at a time.
The purpose is to provide guidelines to make our teaching relational.
Relational teaching shapes assessment when we:
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remove threats and coercion from the process of evaluating whether a student understands
content and has met the learning goals of the course
allow students a degree of ownership and choice in the assessment process
provide opportunities for a student to reflect on the assessment process after it occurs to
develop self-awareness and metacognition
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create achievable challenges
use a variety of formative assessments that develop a student’s confidence and competence for
summative assessments
support and reward the growth mindset in our grading policies
use assessment to help a student achieve success and understand how success came about (e.g.
effort, patience, grit, perseverance, study habits, organization)
provide opportunities for students to see successful approaches modeled by other students
provide praise based on effort and “growth” rather than talent.
Assess for higher order thinking skills of analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and creating
Relational teaching shapes curriculum when we:
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allow students a certain developmentally-appropriate voice in what is studied as content
develop our curriculum through LS, MS, and US, by respectively giving more autonomy of
curriculum to higher grades in our division
connect what we teach to the events happening in the student’s world (e.g. basketball team,
advisory activity
design curriculum with the intention of fostering students’ creativity, imagination, curiosity,
sense of wonder, perseverance and ability to reflect
challenge ourselves as teachers to weave the habits of adaptive expertise into our curriculum
seek to cover topics that ask students to respond with higher order thinking
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Relational teaching shapes lesson planning and delivery when we:
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partner with students as fellow travelers on the journey towards mastery and adaptive expertise
challenge ourselves as teachers to display the habits of an adaptive experts in delivering content
engage the students with an approach that is both warm and demanding (Marzano), that has
“warmth and responsiveness paired with high demands” (Streight)
build relationships of trust by provident challenging content in a developmentally-appropriate
manner
gives students the opportunity to develop peer relationships and connections
value each student for his or her unique gifts,
understand that not all members of our community come to us with the same skill sets, learning
styles, or personal histories.
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Relational teaching and learning is embodied in the language of Adaptive Expertise that makes up the
core teaching philosophy at Cannon School. Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence are, after all,
grounded in the habits of the adaptive expert:
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Autonomy
Creativity
Curiosity
Mastery
Communication
Flexibility
Empathy
Purpose
Reflection
Meta-cognition
Risk-taking
Synthesis
Include Philo of Teaching (Dunn)
Include Laura’s work
Check through brain-based learning (Tere)
Article on the teacher as a relational listener:
http://www.nais.org/Magazines-Newsletters/ITMagazine/Pages/The-Teacher-as-RelationalListener.aspx
Teaching in an independent school:
http://brynmawrschool.org/document.doc?id=786
Autonomy (Chapter 4)
“In sum, eradicating a few destructive practices (threats, coercion, expected tangible rewards)
can do much to foster autonomy. Diminishing…high pressure evaluations and deadlines,
shoulds and musts can further foster learning and increase basic psychological and social
health—not to mention how motivation is enhanced…the positive actions that nurture a sense of
autonomy: providing choice and freedom to the extent possible and appropriate, providing
meaning and context, offering supportive structure, and striving to feel and to demonstrate
unconditional positive regard.” p. 38
Relatedness (Chapter 5)
“What matters most is not that they (student) are cared for, but that the feel cared for.” p. 42
“If children have not formed relationships of secure attachment with their caretakers…the
resulting insecurity presents obstacles for academic learning…” p. 42
“…teacher is successful in being aware of students’ feelings, when the teacher has a good sense
of what students are thinking and feeling, and of whether they are “with” the rest of the class
emotionally and psychologically.” p. 45
“…appropriately high structure and a similarly high level of support and nurturance.” p. 46
Competence (Chapter 6)
“The classroom teacher can bolster young people’s senses of competence through a combination
of recognizing where students do have skills, validating these skills to the extent possible, and
teaching other skills relevant to their lives.” p. 59
“…educators can best foster its development…with special focus on: a “growth mindset,” praise
and criticism that focuses on effort rather than talent, praise that notes the positive aspects of an
action, learning activities that present optimal challenges, and sculpting mastery experiences
through supportive relationships and the fostering of autonomy.” p. 70
Motivation and Discipline (Chapters7 and 8)
“The stronger the relationship between teacher and student, the more powerful the teacher’s
ability to motivate.” p. 71
“unconditional positive regard (from the teacher) regardless of the students’ motivation,
capabilities, or attitude toward the material.” p. 79
The four principles of developmental discipline:
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Build warm, caring, trusting teacher-student relationships
Support and encourage friendly relationships among students
Use incidents of misbehavior as opportunities for social/moral instruction
Foster autonomy by honoring students’ voices during disciplinary encounters, when
possible p. 92