Explore the Framework
Developmental Relationships
Human beings are relational, and from this recognition emerges two essential developmental understandings. The first is that strong relationships build strong brain architecture, providing critical avenues to learning and growth. Relationships are our strongest example of a positive context and are central to how children learn new skills, develop identities and seek out pursuits, activities and vocations. The second is that relationships provide a protective buffer to the negative impact of chronic stress. The hormone oxytocin is released through trusting relationships, and it protects children, at the cellular level, from the damaging effects of cortisol.
When we talk about relationships with children, it is about more than just being “nice”; it is about creating the type of support that can fundamentally change the way a child develops. Positive developmental relationships are the “active ingredient” in any effective child-serving system or intervention (Li & Julian, 2012). Characterized by emotional attachment, joint reciprocal interactions, progressive complexity and balance of power, these relationships directly facilitate social, emotional and cognitive growth and empower students as active agents, rather than passive recipients.
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In classrooms that exemplify these characteristics, the integrated nature of learning is demonstrated through careful attention to the relational aspects of experiences and attunement to unique developmental pathways. This means that the educational setting is personalized so that students can be well known by adults and their individual needs can be met. This can look like learning experiences that recognize student competence and agency with ample opportunities for choice, voice, collaboration, appropriately scaffolded support and increasing autonomy. In these classrooms, adults intentionally create opportunities to develop personalized understandings of individuals, rather than relying on assumptions or stereotypes, and plan for both shared and individualized learning experiences (e.g., class meeting/advisory, student conferencing, restorative conversations, goal-setting).
Given the understanding that all children develop in context, a school setting that centers relationships intentionally prioritizes and integrates not only relationships between educators and students, but also with families/caregivers, community members and among students as an integral part of its culture. Historically, the design of school systems has perpetuated deep structural racism, continued depersonalized settings where implicit bias goes unchecked and preserved uneven power dynamics, which continues to marginalize systematically oppressed groups (e.g., Black, Indigenous and students of Color, students with learning differences, English learners and other groups). Meaningfully engaging all stakeholders in the school community, valuing their assets and expertise and seeking understanding across lines of difference can support schools in redesigning for equity.
Relationships are the Foundation
The Building Blocks for Learning is a framework for healthy student development that names the skills and mindsets critical for success at school and beyond. All of the “blocks” develop in an interdependent and integrated way, with lower-order blocks being foundational.
Relationships play a key role in student skill and mindset development, beginning with the most foundational blocks of attachment, stress management and self-regulation, and all of the skills and mindsets above them. Early in life, an infant’s relationship with primary caregivers is a critical foundation. Relationships in infancy begin to build brain architecture through reciprocal interactions, called “serve and return” interactions.
In these interactions, a baby “serves” a sound or a gesture to an adult, to which they typically “return” an action like a smile, hug, or vocalization. Through these back-and-forth interactions, neural connections are built and strengthened to support the development of communication and social skills. When a caring adult is sensitive and responsive to a child’s signals and needs, it lays the foundation of both healthy brain architecture and a secure attachment that provides the child with a “safe base” from which to learn and explore, as well as return to for comfort and reassurance in times of anxiety and stress.
On the other hand, an insecure attachment can be created by interactions with unresponsive or hostile adults, unpredictability, adult mental illness, or situations of abuse or trauma. Children with insecure attachments may show clinginess, attention seeking, avoidance of caretakers in times of stress, or difficulty showing warmth and affection. The absence of a responsive relationship limits the sensory input and integration that builds interconnected brain architecture and also activates a stress response that can negatively impact the development of Building Blocks skills and mindsets.
While teachers and other adults will not form these same levels of attachment with individual students, the characteristics of supportive early interactions are mirrored in positive developmental relationships, such as those between educators and students. Positive developmental relationships are characterized by (1) an enduring emotional attachment, (2) shared, joint activity, (3) progressive complexity and (4) balance of power that shifts from the adult to the child. The promise of the Building Blocks framework is that it articulates malleable skills – they can be taught and developed in all learners, with the right supports. Through a trusting relationship with an attuned and responsive adult as the cornerstone of all development, caring adults can support students from any starting point.
Stress, Trust, and the Learning Brain
Chronic, unbuffered levels of the stress hormone cortisol (toxic stress) change the structure and function of key brain areas for learning over time. These structures become primed to be on high alert for danger, and to react quickly, which can affect the ability to regulate emotion, attention and behavior, and to learn and remember – all key components of academic success.
In the classroom, this might look like a student who is easily triggered and quickly escalated, has trouble paying attention or maintaining concentration, has difficulty waiting or taking turns, or has trouble adjusting to changes in a routine.
The brain’s malleability can be a vulnerability in a negative context, but also an opportunity. Positive relationships can buffer the impact of stress on the developing brain. The hormone oxytocin, sometimes called the “love hormone,” offsets the damaging effects of cortisol and produces resilience to future stress.
Relationships aren’t just a “nice-to-have,” they protect children, at the cellular level, and create the type of support that can fundamentally change the way a child develops.
The Power of Relationships in Schools
How are strong relationships central to the learning process? How can we create learning environments that support enduring relationships?
[Video credit: Edutopia]
Key Takeaways:
Developmental relationships are NOT:
- Just being friendly to children and families
- Successful simply because we have good intentions
- Built on assumptions about groups and defined by those historically in positions of power
- Transactional and directive
Developmental relationships ARE:
- The responsibility of all educators and worthy of time and space within the school day
- Created on a foundation of trust
- Built through repeated, reciprocal interactions
- Bi-directional and ever-changing based on needs and growth
- A way to center traditionally marginalized groups in decision-making, culture building, and creation of an identity-affirming environment
- A priority for all students, especially those who have experienced chronic stress/trauma