Rachel Paling holds BA Hons Law/Spanish distinction in spoken Spanish, MA Human Rights, MA Applied Neuroscience, MA Neuroeducation and Neuropsychology, is a qualified UK Lawyer, has over 38 yrs teaching experience. She is an International Coach Federation credentialed PCC Coach and ICF Coach Mentor and Coach Supervisor. At present she is in a Doctorate/PhD Programme at Case Western Reserve and a Doctorate Fellow of the Coaching Research Laboratory. She is the creator of Neurolanguage Coaching® and the Neuroheart Education Foundation. Email: rachel@efficientlanguagecoaching.com

 

Editorial

This text originally appeared in Teaching Times for English Teaching Professionals in France. TESOL France no 107, Autumn 2024, ISSN: 1266-7552

 

The book

I am reading the book called “Helping people change” by Richard Boyatzis, Melvin Smith and Ellen Van Oosten, 2019, Harvard Business Review Press. This book together with Boyatzis’ “Intentional Change Theory”, really focus on coaching with compassion with the aim of assisting people to bring in “real and sustainable desired changes” to their lives. And, so much of this can in fact be embodied by educators in a learning environment to achieve the results that we wish to achieve in this day and age. Because let us be honest, our learners and we, the educators, have changed and our brains are no longer accepting the old ways of teaching. (I am currently researching the question of how teachers and teaching have changed post pandemic!).

From that book, I would like to draw attention and open our minds to the idea of “high quality connections” (HQCs), which, in fact, pertains to research by Jane Dutton and Emily Heaphy, in relation to “positive, dynamic, short-term interactions with people that leave you feeling alive, uplifted, energetic and genuinely cared for”. This work was later expanded on by John Paul Stephens from Weatherhead School of Management.  (See Research citations below). Obviously, they talk about high quality connections in the corporate/business environment, but what if we brought this concept into teaching and how teachers “connect” with their learners?

 

Inspiration

If we look at how high quality connections cause impact, we see that they improve individual functioning (e.g., cognitive processing speed, memory, and immune system); they assist an individual to recover from challenges and to adapt to change ; they really foster a person’s development and growth also creating moments of learning and mutual inquiry. Importantly, they foster psychological safety and trust, which has a knock on effect increasing cooperation and trustworthiness across the board.

From the research we see that there are “three basic pathways on which HQCs are built and strengthened:

1.      Cognitive mechanisms

·       Conscious and unconscious thought processes

·       Other-awareness

·       Impressions of others

·       Perspective-taking

2.     Emotional mechanisms

·       Positive emotions

·       Emotional contagion

·       Empathy

3.     Behavioral mechanisms

·       Respectful engagement

·       Task enabling

·       Play”

 

High quality connections

How amazing if we could help teachers in schools to foster a positive and supportive educational environment by becoming “high quality connections” for their learners.

How would that look?

1. Cultivating Respectful Engagement

Firstly, teachers could really embrace and fully understand the practice of active listening with students, showing genuine interest in their thoughts and feelings helping them feel more valued and understood. By changing their use of language, they could come into more respectful and affirming language, avoiding dismissive or negative remarks to build an even stronger foundation of trust and respect. More consciousness about how we communicate with positive body language could enhance the relationship with learners.

2. Building Trust

Demonstrating more consistency and reliability with consistent actions and follow through on promises so learners feel that constant support. In addition, transparency about intentions and decisions, helping students understand the reasons behind rules and actions. This fosters a sense of fairness and transparency.

3. Developing Task Enabling

Knowing how to really bring out “learner autonomy” by consistent encouragement and support for learners to reach their goals, helping them to celebrate their successes and help them learn from failures. Also, empowering students by giving them responsibilities and opportunities to lead in various activities, fostering a sense of ownership and competence.

4. Creating Playful Interactions

Fun, fun, fun to learn. Generating curiosity and making learning joyful again by integrating playful elements and humor into the learning process and lots of lots of positive reinforcement to acknowledge effort and progress, creating an environment where students feel motivated and engaged.

5. Promoting Social Identity and Inclusion

Fostering an inclusive environment so that every learner feels they belong regardless  and promoting “team” learning, where the team come together to help and support each other, promoting a sense of community among students.

6. Encouraging Mutual Respect and Empathy

Deeply understand how to embody empathy and compassion and the difference between these and know how to teach and model effective conflict resolution strategies, helping students navigate disagreements respectfully and constructively.

7. Fostering Personal Growth and Development

Although teachers work mostly with groups, they should understand how to also bring in individual attention to students, recognizing and nurturing their unique strengths and interests, bringing in expert coaching conversations when necessary or stepping into the shoes of the mentor. Clearly understanding the differences between teaching, coaching and mentoring is key for the educator of today.

8. Creating a Positive Organizational Culture

Bringing in more collaboration among teachers themselves would create a more supportive and connected teaching staff who are then modelling positive relationships for students.
 

Final words

In this new age of AI that is dawning, we are increasingly going to need to step up on our humanness as educators, parents, coaches, mentors or whatever social and professional relationships we may encounter. By focusing on being “high quality connections”, we can bring in more consciousness as to the impact that we do, indeed, wish to have on our counterparts. On a personal note, I have met and am still meeting and working with many, many educators who are indeed consciously becoming and embodying this new persona of the “HQC educator” who have that deep desire to become an HQC educator par excellence!

 

References

Boyatzis, R. E., Smith, M. L., & Van Oosten, E. B. (2019). Helping people change: Coaching with compassion for lifelong learning and growth. Harvard Business Review Press.

Dutton, Jane & Heaphy, Emily. (2003). The Power of High Quality Connections. In book: Positive Organizational Scholarship (pp.263-278) Publisher: Berrett-Koehler PublishersEditors: Kim Cameron, Jane E Dutton, Robert Quinn

White Paper - High-Quality Connections  John Paul Stephens  Weatherhead School of Management  Case Western Reserve University  Emily Heaphy  School of Management Boston University  Jane E. Dutton  Stephen M. Ross School of Business  University of Michigan

 

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