Relationships: The Fundamental R in Education

Through establishing caring relationships with adolescents, secondary teachers cultivate classroom communities that propagate care and promote academic success. Developing a caring classroom community begins on the first day of school and continues throughout the school year. In such communities, educators establish a safe and academic-focused classroom culture; create shared norms and values; promote open and honest communication; take time to get to know one another; facilitate mutual respect; encourage reciprocal care and mutual responsibility; demand academic excellence from each student; and use student-centered cooperative group structures.