Why am I passionate about this?
My formative immersion in nature during eleven summers at a girls’ camp in the Hocking Hills of southeastern Ohio showed me that everything in the physical world, including humans, is dynamically interrelated at subtle levels. As an adult, I’ve followed post-mechanistic sciences that explore this invisible truth, a theme that runs through several books I have written. Since the early 2000s, a new wave of discoveries, this time in human biology, reveals that we are composed entirely of dynamic interrelationships, in and around us, which affect us continuously from conception to our last breath. These discoveries are quickly being applied in many areas. I call this new awareness the Relational Shift.
Charlene's book list on dynamic interrelatedness among people and with nature
Why did Charlene love this book?
As in other areas of modern life, the role of relationships in education has been considered of minor consequence. However, the Relational Schools Foundation in the UK has found, after years of research, that a focus on improving the quality of relationships in schools improves a broad range of educational and social outcomes and can overcome disadvantages as well. The book the Foundation has published, The Relational Teacher and the accompanying film, begins with some framing by social scientists, but the body of the book consists of six case studies and the insightful reflections of the teacher involved with each study. The relational dynamics in a classroom—particularly the motivational relationship created by the teacher—are closely related to a student’s effort in learning and developing.
1 author picked The Relational Teacher as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Relational Schools works to put relationships at the core of school life, on the principle that supportive relationships between all members of a school are pivotal. Strong, secure, relationships can, they say, surmount social inequality. Weak or fragile relationships reinforce educational disadvantage. It is only in a secure relationships that the most difficult learning can take place and such relationships can have a powerful and positive influence on children’s wellbeing, mental health and academic progress.
What’s shocking is how far we have allowed our focus to move from these basic premises. This book, and the film that accompanies it, focus…
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