Relationships and the new oil
Relationships are the oil that makes the machinery of schools run smoothly. In schools, to put it very crudely, our input is human (little people), almost all processing is human (the various permutations of teacher / student interactions) and the outcome is human (graduates). It is the most human of endeavors: this makes relationships paramount.
To paraphrase educational change guru Michael Fullan (who has the extremely rare distinction of being an internationally renowned intellectual and Canadian at the same time!), any change initiative within schools that does not improve relationships will not be successful in the long term. I have also read recently that researchers have found a correlation between the health / quality of professional relationships on staff and student learning. If true—and I must admit these two statements seem pretty obvious when you think about it—our schools should do everything possible to support the development of high quality professional relationships. International schools bring unique challenges in this regard as it is not uncommon to have over a dozen different nationalities of teachers on staff: all with their own unique experiences, styles and paradigms. Making relationships work in this context can be hard work; but it is essential.
Which brings me around to another reflection on the topic of relationships: email and blogging. Email is a great tool, but my experience has been that as a work tool it is generally relationship neutral (at best). Rarely do I see email interactions within a school improving relationships. Normally they just maintain them. However, I have seen a quite a few occasions where misinterpretation of an email damages relationships. Face-to-face communication on the other hand is often the best way I know of to improve relationships. And if the improvement of relationships is a goal unto itself, then we should be always looking for ways to improve relationships and getting away from our computer screens more often may be a partial answer.
But then there is blogging. I have been impressed to see that some people have actually been reading my blog. I have also received some very nice and interesting comments from people from around the world. This demonstrates first hand the power of Web 2.0 technologies. Through this technology I have been able to do something I could not have done before—connect with other interested professionals around the world and develop a relationship of sorts. This is very ‘cool’ and shows me a very new type of oil.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:27 am
You said,
I couldn’t agree with you more, but I am starting to realize that like any institution that deals with large groups of people with varying ideas, opinions, and styles of communication, a school can quickly become political machine, and building and marinating relationships can become complicated.
You also said,
While this may be true to an extent, I am realizing that I often have deeper more meaningful exchanges with people I communicate with online in blog comment boxes than during face-to-face talks. Realistically how many reflective conversations do we have with our peers on a daily basis, especially in the midst of the storm that any school year could become? Admin and teachers alike often become bogged down in keeping up with curriculum to the point where we don’t have the type of face-to-face conversations I think to which you are referring.
I like to think that open honest communication in the form of blogging is a great way for people within an institution to get to know their peers on a deeper more substantial level. It is one thing to talk about superficial matters at the lunch table, or more meaningful pedagogy in meetings, but nothing like a deeply reflective post could give people insight into the intricacies that make education such a fulfilling career.
Don’t get me wrong; I agree that face-to-face talks are a crucial part of maintaining a healthy well “oiled” machine, but I think they often revert to small talk and chatter, which is a necessary component of relationships. But if a school wants to truly understand how everyone thinks, why not use the very tools we are teaching the students to use. Imagine a school where teachers reflect and share their ideas, their successes and failures in a dynamic multi-media, text rich environment, for all to see, read, and comment on.
Ultimately, I think we teach students to write for these very reasons- the ability to write honestly, openly, and communicatively is the purpose of writing.
I also agree with you when you say,
I think you are realizing that the Web 2.0 is a great tool for
I hope you can see that it can be that same tool within a school community. Sorry I got a bit carried away.