Tonight I watched a session from the Elon Teaching and Learning Conference entitled “Teaching Re-Imagined: Reigniting Passion for Teaching and Learning by Implementing Relationship Based Teaching” presented by Ashley St. Martin, Course Instructor, Western Governors University and Muhsin Michael Orsini, Evaluation Scientist, Independent Consultant. They presented together and discussed the relationship based education research by stating that:
- Relationship-based education enhances emotional wellbeing by increasing empathy for self and others and improves sense of relatedness and belonging.
- Relationship-based education improves communication skills, interprofessional relationships and mentoring relationships.
- Relationship-based education improves educational outcomes.
Orsini mentioned that relationship-based pedagogy includes individualized instruction, culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, trauma-informed teaching, restorative justice, and engaged learning. Their first activity was intended to raise awareness of the present moment: what are we aware of in this present moment? They used a GoogleForm to collect responses to two questions. St. Martin spoke about using nonviolent communication to reach students. The principles of non-violent communication that St. Martin shared were new to me and included: all actions are an attempt to meet needs, everyone’s needs matter equally, feelings results from needs being met or unmet, we have a conflict at the level of strategies not needs, and empathy is listening for feelings and needs. Requests for connection and empathy must be addressed. They played a video and encouraged us to differentiate needs and requests… and active listening. Our words are so impactful: St. Martin talked about learning how students “hear” or “receive”our messages. In breakout rooms, participants analyzed the video clip to identify areas of improvement for the instructor. In a second video, the instructor listens and connects with the student using phrases like “would you share more?,” “I hear you” and acknowledging the needs and feelings of students. While they encountered some technical difficulties, the duo worked well together and brought up important considerations. The videos were really useful to compare and contrast different ways of practicing non-violent communication. Their takeaways were personal and encouraging: we have the opportunity to truly connect with others through teaching.
