Abstract
Positive relationships in schools are central to the well-being of both students and teachers and underpin an effective learning environment. There is now a wealth of research on the importance of connectedness in schools and on the specific qualities of in-school relationships that promote effective education. This chapter demonstrates that these are based in an ecological framework throughout the school system. What happens in one part of the school impacts on what happens elsewhere. This chapter explores what schools might do to increase the level of social capital and positive relationships within the school community.
Sue Roffey is an educational psychologist, Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Education, University of Western Sydney and an Honorary Lecturer at University College, London. She is a prolific author on behavioural and relational issues, works internationally as an educational consultant, and is a founder member of the Wellbeing Australia network. Sue is on the editorial board of Educational and Child Psychology and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, P. S., & Kwon, S. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management Review, 27, 17–40.
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the roots of positive leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338.
Baker, W., & Dutton, J. E. (2007). Enabling positive social capital in organisations. In J. E. Dutton & B. R. Ragins (Eds.), Exploring positive relationships at work: Developing a theoretical and research foundation. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Blum, R. W., & Libbey, H. P. (2004). Executive summary, issue on school connectedness: Strengthening health and education outcomes for teenagers. Journal of School Health, 74(7), 231–232.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA/London: Harvard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (2004). Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on. human development. London/Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Catholic Education Commission Victoria (CECV). (1994). CECV policy 1.14: Pastoral care of students in catholic schools. Melbourne: CECV.
Channer, P., & Hope, T. (2001). Emotional impact: Passionate leaders and corporate transformation. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Cornelius-White, J. (2007). Learner-centred teacher–student relationships are effective: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 113–143.
de Jong, T. (2003). A framework of principles and best practice for managing student behaviour in the Australian education context. School Psychology International, 26(3), 353.
Department for Education and Skills. (2005a). The Steer report: Learning behaviour: The report of the practitioners group on school behaviour and discipline. London: DfES.
Department for Education and Skills. (2005b). Social and emotional aspects of learning. London: DfES.
Department of Education and Science. (1989). Discipline in schools report of the committee of enquiry, chairman Lord Elton. London: HMSO.
Doppler, L. (2008). Restorative practices at Rozelle public school. Available on http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/studentsupport/behaviourpgrms/antibullying/casestudies/
Felner, R. (2006). Poverty in childhood and adolescence: A transactional-ecological approach to understanding and enhancing resilience in contexts of disadvantage and developmental risk. In S. Goldstein & R. Brooks (Eds.), Handbook of resilience in children (pp. 125–47). New York: Springer.
Fredrickson, B. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking research to release your inner optimist and thrive. Oxford: OneWorld Publications.
Friesthler, B., Merritt, D. H., & LaScala, E. A. (2006). Understanding the ecology of child Âmaltreatment. A review of the literature and directions for new research. Child Maltreatment, 11, 263–280.
Fullan, M. (2003). The moral imperative of school leadership. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press Inc/Sage Publications.
Galton, M., & McBeath, J. (2008). Teachers under pressure. London: Sage Publications.
Haddon, A., Goodman, H., Park, J., & Deakin Crick, R. (2005). Evaluating emotional literacy in schools: The development of the school emotional environment for learning survey. Pastoral Care in Education, 23(4), 5–16.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning, a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge.
Hearn, L., Campbell-Pope, R., House, J., & Cross, D. (2006). Pastoral care in education. Perth: Child Health Promotion Research Unit, Edith Cowan University.
Hoover-Dempsey, K., Walker, M., Sandler, H., Whetsel, D., Green, C., Wilkins, A., & Closson, K. (2005). Why do parents become involved? Research findings and implications. The Elementary School Journal, 2(106), 105–30.
Howard, S., & Johnson, B. (2002). Resilient teachers: Resisting stress and burnout. In Proceedings of the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Problematic Futures: Education Research in an Era of Uncertainty, Brisbane, 1–5. Available from http://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/how02342.htm
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The pro-social classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525.
Keyes, C. L. M., & Haidt, J. (Eds.). (2003). Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well lived. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D., & Steinbach, R. (1999). Changing leadership for changing times. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Martin, A. J., & Dowson, M. (2009). Interpersonal relationships, motivation, engagement, and achievement: Yields for theory, current issues, and educational practice. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 327–365.
McCarthy, F. (2009). Circle time solutions: Creating caring school communities. Sydney: Report for the NSW Department of Education.
McGrath, H., & Noble, T. (2010). Supporting positive pupil relationships: Research to practice. Educational and Child Psychology, 27(1), 79–90.
Moore, S., & Kuol, N. (2007). Matters of the heart: Exploring the emotional dimensions of educational experience in recollected accounts of excellent teaching. International Journal for Academic Development, 12(2), 87–98.
Murray-Harvey, R. (2010). Relationship influences on students’ academic achievement, psychological health and wellbeing at school. Educational and Child Psychology, 27(1), 104–115.
Noble, T., McGrath, H., Roffey, S., & Rowling, L. (2008). A scoping study on student wellbeing. Canberra: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).
Noddings, N. (1988). Schools face crisis in caring. Education Week, 8(14), 32.
NSW Commission for Children and Young People. (2009). Ask the children: Children speak about being at school. Available from http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au/kids/resources/publications/askchildren
OECD. (2009). Doing better for children. Accessed August 9, 2010, from www.oecd.org/els/social/childwellbeing
Onyx, J., & Bullen, P. (2000). Measuring social capital in five communities. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 36(1), 23–42.
Owens, O. P., & Ennis, C. D. (2005). The ethic of care in teaching: An overview of supportive literature. Quest, 2005(57), 392–425.
Payton, J., Weissberg, R. P., Durlak, J. A., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., Schellinger, K. B., & Pachan, M. (2008). The positive impact of social and emotional learning for kindergarten to eighth-grade students. Findings from Three scientific reviews. Available at http://www.casel.org/sel/meta.php
Phongsavan, P., Chey, T., Bauman, A., Brooks, R., & Silove, D. (2006). Social capital, socio-economic status and psychological distress among Australian adults. Social Science & Medicine, 63, 2546–2561.
Pianta, R. C., & Walsh, D. J. (1996). High risk children in schools: Constructing sustaining relationships. New York: Routledge.
Pillay, H., Goddard, R., & Wilss, L. (2005). Wellbeing, burnout and competence implications for teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 30(2), 21–31.
Pullinger, N. (2008). Evaluation of the Sheffield SEAL program. Sheffield: Sheffield Education Services.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Robertson, J. (2006). ‘If you know our names it helps!’ Student perspectives on good teaching. Qualitative Enquiry, 12(4), 756–768.
Roffey, S. (2002). School behaviour and families: Frameworks for working together. London: David Fulton.
Roffey, S. (2004). The home-school interface for behaviour. A conceptual framework for co-constructing reality. Educational and Child Psychology, 21(4), 95–107.
Roffey, S. (2006). Circle time for emotional literacy. London: Sage Publications.
Roffey, S. (2007). Transformation and emotional literacy: The role of school leaders in developing a caring community. Leading and Managing, 13(1), 16–30.
Roffey, S. (2008). Emotional literacy and the ecology of school wellbeing. Educational and Child Psychology, 25(2).
Roffey, S. (2010). Content and context for learning relationships: A cohesive framework for individual and whole school development. Educational and Child Psychology, 27(1), 156–167.
Roffey, S. (2011a). Changing behaviour in schools: Promoting positive relationships and wellbeing. London: Sage Publications.
Roffey, S. (2011b). The new teacher’s survival guide to behaviour (2nd ed.). Sage Publications: London.
Rose, R. (Ed.). (2010). Overcoming international obstacles to inclusion. London: Routledge.
Scott, G. (2003). Learning principals: Leadership capability and learning research. Sydney: New South Wales Department of Education and Training, Professional Support and Curriculum Directorate.
Scott, G. (2005). Leadership for a child friendly community. In Visions of a child-friendly community. Sydney: National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect and University of Western Sydney.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfilment. New York: Free Press.
Singh, K., & Billingsley, B. S. (1996). Intent to stay in teaching. Remedial and Special Education, 17(1), 37–48.
Spratt, J., Shucksmith, J., Philip, K., & Watson, C. (2006, September). ‘Part of who we are as a school should include responsibility for wellbeing’: Links between the school environment, mental health and behaviour. Pastoral Care, 24(3), 14–21.
St. Leger, L. (2005). Protocols and guidelines for health-promoting schools. Promotion and Education, 12, 145–147.
Sun, J., & Stewart, D. (2007). How effective is the health-promoting school approach in building social capital in primary schools? Health Education, 107(6), 556–574.
Tew, M. (2010). Emotional connections: An exploration of the relational dynamics between staff and students in schools. Educational and Child Psychology, 27(1), 133–146.
Wingspread Declaration. (2003). Published in a special issue on School Connectedness for the Journal of School Health (2004), 74(7), 233–234.
World Health Organisation. (1995). WHO global health initiative: Helping schools to become ‘health promoting schools’. Geneva: WHO.
Wyn, J., Cahill, H., Holdsworth, R., Rowling, L., & Carson, S. (2000). MindMatters, a whole-school approach promoting mental health and wellbeing. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34(4), 594–601.
Yardley, A. (2009). Children as experts in their own lives. Child Indicators Research, Special Issue, International ISCI Conference, Sydney.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Netherlands
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Roffey, S. (2012). Developing Positive Relationships in Schools. In: Roffey, S. (eds) Positive Relationships. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2147-0_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2147-0_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2146-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2147-0
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)