Touch Points: A whole child vision
Dr. Ann Marie Luce
Elevating Citi's risk management culture through high-impact, enterprise-wide training initiatives
At Allendale Columbia, our leadership team gathered the summer before school started to develop a plan to support students beyond academics. We had been living through the stress, trauma, and grief of Covid-19, the political polarization of our country, and societal injustices and inequities towards black, brown, indigenous, and LGBTQ+ communities and individuals. We worked to outline practices to create a community that fosters and nurtures relational trust and a sense of belonging.??
Depaoli et al. (2021) assert that positive and supportive relationships create strong neuro-pathways that buffer adverse experiences, improve school performance and engagement, and create a foundation for restorative practices. "Restorative approaches are a central dimension of a whole child approach to education, which recognizes and attends to the unique strengths, needs, and interests of students" (pg.2). These connections are the core of what we believe and practice at Allendale Columbia. Creating an environment and experience in which students grow, thrive, and can safely express their authentic selves.
Some specific practices support a culture of belonging.
Relationships:?
Connections to students are at the heart of what we do. At AC, we build daily opportunities for students to connect with caring adults. In lower school, students are greeted at the car line or the front door each morning and walk to their classrooms, where their teacher welcomes them at the door. Classes start daily with a morning meeting supporting community development and peer connections. Middle school begins with "Scrum," a student-led morning meeting for the entire middle school, and students are sent off to begin class. They have advisory periods and clubs built into their day throughout the week, led by faculty. Upper schoolers attend advisory, community blocks, clubs, and weekly assemblies led by faculty and students. Students have voice, choice, and agency in the focus and content of these meetings and explore issues of importance that have impacted them throughout the week.
We have also returned to family-style lunches where students and faculty sit together and enjoy conversation, food, and fun. Parents join students for family-style lunch at various times throughout the year. These opportunities provide time and space for educators and students to connect and engage in learning more about their unique strengths, challenges, and experiences outside the classroom (DePaoli et al., 2021). These daily exchanges are opportunities to check students' academic, social-emotional and mental health needs.?
Restorative Practices and Cultural Responsiveness
"Restorative Practices support students' academic, cognitive and social-emotional growth; their physical and mental health and well-being; and promotion of their distinct identities" (DePaoli et al., 2021, pg. 2). These practices support students in understanding themselves and others. They provide the tools required to engage in difficult conversations to repair harm brought about by conflict, misunderstandings, and personal bias. Students and teachers develop scripts and strategies for engaging with one another in a positive, safe and caring way. Restorative practices humanize relationships and move them from transactional to authentic, strengthening connections (Homrich-Knieling, 2022). Students and adults facilitate conversations in a way that allows for different perspectives, respect, and empathy. The work is daily, calling in those who have said or done something that makes others feel less than or offended. Conversations and behavior acknowledge bias and address racist comments and microaggressions.??
Our professional learning this year is focused on Anti-Racist curriculum and pedagogy, restorative practices, and culturally responsive learning and teaching. We ask faculty and staff to examine their beliefs, bias, and experiences and how their classrooms and teaching reflect their identity and their students' identities. We engage in conversations at the leadership level to determine the conditions, policies, and practices that may cause conflict or harm. We formulate strategies to proactively address them to create safe spaces for all students, faculty, staff, and families (Homrich-Knieling, 2022). We acknowledge that the work is messy, uncomfortable, and complicated and know that it is what is needed to repair relationships, create connections and create connections. Teachers and staff understand, value, and build on culture, identity, and the experiences of students and families to create robust supportive, and safe learning environments (Depaoli et al.,2021).?
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Social and Emotional Learning
Social and Emotional programming positively impacts student well-being, academics, behavior, social and mental health (CASEL Org, 2007). A meta-analysis conducted by the CASEL organization( 2007, pg. 3) revealed that there are many benefits of SEL programming for students, including:
At Allendale Columbia, we are committed to intentional and comprehensive SEL programming in our PreK-12th grade classrooms. We have adopted the Responsive Classroom programming in lower school. Students start each day with a Morning Meeting in which they connect with staff and peers to build community, solve problems, and tackle conflicts as they arise. Students are active participants in the meetings and have voice and agency. In middle school, students gather as a whole school community and lead "scrum," their version of the morning meeting. Middle and Highschool students have active and intentional SEL programming designed by our student support team in advisory and through health curriculum. This curriculum explicitly explores mental health, wellness, conflict, and positive relationship building.???
Student Support Team
Beyond programming and resources, Allendale Columbia has hired key personnel to ensure that we have a safe and healthy school community that fosters a sense of belonging. My position as Director of Curriculum and Instruction, although not student facing supports the development and implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy and resources that embody the diversity of our community. The student support team comprises various positions: our Deans of Students, School Counsellor, Learning Advocate, and Director of Equity and Community Engagement. This team meets weekly to review student needs and develop support plans for success. Parents and students are partners in the development of support plans in order to ensure we are wrapping around students and providing a safe space to grow and develop.
At Allendale Columbia, our responsibility extends beyond academics. If we create intentional touchstones for our students, we can give them the tools and skills they need for success in all areas of their lives. Our goal is to create well-rounded students that can bring their authentic selves to school and feel a sense of safety and belonging. We want to instill courage and confidence in students to speak up and call out those situations, conflicts, and challenges that fracture relationships within our community. We will support them in working to repair and rebuild relationships and our community. We believe that with relationships and connections at the core of what we do, we can confidently send our students out into the world to tackle the challenges and conflicts they will endure.
?References
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2007. Social and emotional learning (SEL) and student benefits: Implications for the safe schools/healthy students core elements. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (NJ1). Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED505369?
Depaoli, J. L., Herandez, L. E., Furger, R. C., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2022, May 5). A restorative approach for equitable education. Learning Policy Institute. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/wce-restorative-approach-equitable-education-brief?
George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2017). Morning Meetings: Building Community in the Classroom. Edutopia. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/video/morning-meetings-building-community-classroom.?
Homrich-Knieling, M. (2022, July 20). Using restorative justice to transform school culture. Edutopia. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-restorative-justice-transform-school-culture
These look like excellent practices for faculty well-being as well!