16/11/2015

1

SOCIALCAPITALANDTHEVALUEOFHIGHQUALITYCONNECTIONS

A/PROFESSORSUEROFFEY

KNOWLEDGE OR WISDOM

© Sue Roffey 2015

¡  Muchofwhathasbeendiscoveredordevelopedinthelastcenturywouldinthepasthaveoncebeenconsideredintherealmsofmagicormiracles

¡  thegenomeproject

¡  theinternet

¡  spacetravel

¡  medicalresearchandintervenMon

¡  Wehavenot,howevermadesomuchprogressinmaPersofwisdom.

¡  familyconflictandbreakdown

¡  narcissismandgreed

¡  burgeoningmentalhealthissues

¡  communityviolence

¡  inhumanitytoothers

THEQUALITYOFOURRELATIONSHIPS

¡  Makesallthedifferencetooursenseofwellbeing

¡  WhenrelaMonshipsflourishtheybringuscomfortandsupportinadversityandsharedjoyinthegoodMmes

¡  Theyprovideuswithreliablealliance–loyalandloving

¡  WhenrelaMonshipsfallapartweoVenstruggletomaintainaposiMvesenseofself.

¡  OurchildrendonotneedtobefriendswitheveryonebuttheyneedtolearnhowtoestablishposiMverelaMonshipswiththosetheymeet,buildstrongerrelaMonshipswiththoseintheirworldandbeabletohandledifficulMeswithintegritywhenrelaMonshipspresentchallenges

¡  SocialandemoMonallearningisoneofthepathwaystowellbeingineducaMon

© Sue Roffey 2015

NOTANEXTRA…

¡  RelaMonshipsandemoMonsexistalldayeverydayinschools

¡  ThereisasymbioMcinteracMonbetweenhowpeoplefeelinthelearningenvironmentandthequalityoftherelaMonshipstheyexperience

¡  WithoutbothawarenessandacMonnegaMvitycaninfluencethelearningenvironmentanditseffecMveness

© Sue Roffey 2012

TEACHERS TURN LIVES AROUND

¡  Teachers are often judged by student academic outcomes

¡  Few acknowledge just how much difference teachers often make in the lives of their students

¡  Whatever a young person brings with them is either modified or exacerbated by what happens at school

© Sue Roffey 2012

IN-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS

¡  Teacher-student ¡  Teacher-class ¡  Peer relationships ¡  Home-school ¡  Leadership team and staff ¡  Collegial relationships

© Sue Roffey 2015

16/11/2015

2

THEECOLOGYOFWELLBEING

¡  SchoolcultureisnotstaMc–itisaliveandecological

¡  WhathappensinonepartoftheschoolimpactsonwhathappenselsewhereinaninteracMve,nestedandchronologicalmodel

¡  ConversaMonscreateculture

¡  HowpeopletalkaboutstudentsandfamiliesinthestaffroomaffectsperspecMves,beliefsandacMons

¡  HowschoolleadersoperateiscriMcaltotherelaMonalenergyandmoMvaMonofstaff

¡  Thewayteachersinteractimpactsonhowpeersrelate

¡  ItmakessensetoacMvelypromotetheposiMve© Sue Roffey 2015

A TEACHER RETURNING…

¡  The teachers here really feel supported, cared about, looked after and valued, and that translates over into the classroom … I'm just blown away by how kind the teachers are to students here … that's just a follow-on of the whole culture … everyone on the same side - the staff are supportive of each other, and that carries across into the classroom … I used to hate doing yard duty, because … there would really be open antipathy … So this year - when I'm out there I smile, well, usually, you never got a smile back, always now, I get a smile back.

© Sue Roffey 2015

ATOXICENVIRONMENT

¡  Ignoringthecultureofyourschoolislikele]ngthewaterinyouraquariumgetdirty!

¡  Creaturesmightthrashaboutbutnothingreallythrives

© Sue Roffey 2015

WHATHAPPENSINATOXICENVIRONMENT

¡  DominantnegaMvevoices

¡  Bothsubtleandovertbullyingbehaviours–inMmidaMon

¡  Silence–lackofacknowledgement

¡  Silentcollusion

¡  Badmouthing

¡  Cliques–in-crowdsandlosers

¡  BlameandscapegoaMng

¡  SelecMvecommunicaMons

¡  FocusonrulesratherthanrelaMonships

¡ 

© Sue Roffey 2015

THEOPPOSITEOFATOXICENVIRONMENTISONEWITHHIGH

SOCIALCAPITAL

¡  OnedefiniMonofhighsocialcapitalisthequalityofrelaMonships-canbewithinanorganisaMon,community,familyorschool

¡  ThisdoesnotexistinpolicydocumentsbutinthethousandsofinteracMonsthattakeplaceeachandeveryday

¡  Asmile,agreeMng,construcMveconversaMon,showinginterest,offeringsupport,sharingachievements,awordofempathy

¡ 

© Sue Roffey 2015

MICRO-MOMENTS

¡  PosiMvepsychologistJaneDuPonreferstohighqualityconnecMons–relaMonalmicro-moments

¡  Thesehaveastrangedualimpactofallowingpeopletobebothmorevulnerableandmoreresilient

¡  Theyleavepeoplefeelingmoreenergisedandrelaxed

¡  TheyenablepeopletobemoreemoMonallyexpressiveandcommunicatemoreopenly

¡  TheyenableresoluMonofdifferenceandaremoreflexibleandresponsive

© Sue Roffey 2015

16/11/2015

3

SOHOWDOYOUBUILDHIGHSOCIAL

CAPITAL?

¡  Thisrequires:

¡  Visionofschoolleadersofhowtheywouldliketheirschooltobe

¡  ClearcommunicaMonofthatvision

¡  ConvincingteachersthatposiMverelaMonshipsareintheirinterestandintheinterestofstudents

¡  EncouragingconversaMonandprofessionallearningaboutwhatthisinvolves

¡  Reviewandmonitoring

© Sue Roffey 2015

BELIEFSUNDERPINACTION

¡  Wedonotusuallydothingsonthebasisofevidence–weactonthebasisofbelief

¡  IntermsofrelaMonshipsitiswhatwebelieveabouttheotherpeopleinourlives

¡  HealthyrelaMonshipsrequirean‘I-you’orientaMon–thatthispersonsharesmyworldandwehavethingsincommon

¡  An‘I-it’relaMonshipdeniesoursharedhumanityandcanturnpeopleintoobjectswhocanbetreatedassuch

¡  Wealsoneedtobelieveinthebestofpeople

© Sue Roffey 2015

CHANGINGBELIEF

¡  Werarelydothingsonthebasisofevidence–weactonthebasisofwhatwebelieveaboutourselves,theworldandotherpeople

¡  BeliefsdevelopbecauseofwhatwehaveexperiencedbutalsoontheconversaMonsaroundusthatdetermineculture–whatisimportant,valuedandseentobe‘true’.

¡  BeliefsonlychangewhenwehavemulMplemediatedexperiencesand/orwhentheconversaMonsarounduschallengehowweseethings.

¡  WordsmaPermorethanyouthink

© Sue Roffey 2015

CONVERSATIONSCREATECULTURE

¡  Whatwesaytoeachother

¡  Whatwesayabouteachother

¡  WhatiscommunicatedtofamiliesabouteducaMngthewholechild

¡  Howwemodelvaluestostudents

© Sue Roffey 2015

ASPIREPRINCIPLESFORBUILDINGSOCIALCAPITAL

¡  AGENCY

¡  SAFETY

¡  POSITIVITY

¡  INCLUSION

¡  RESPECT

¡  EQUALITY

© Sue Roffey 2015

CONNECTION, CONNECTION…

¡  Feeling you belong, you are accepted and you matter is one of the strongest factors for wellbeing

¡  Resilience research ¡  Behaviour research ¡  Prevention of violence research

© Sue Roffey 2015

16/11/2015

4

EXCLUSIVEBELONGING

¡  EXCLUSIVE

¡  bonding social capital (Superglue)

¡  Only those like me

¡  May be intolerant of difference

¡  Can promote racism, homophobia etc

¡  An ‘I-it’ orientation

© Sue Roffey 2015

TEENKILLERSDON’TCOMEFROMSCHOOLSTHATFOSTERASENSEOF

BELONGING

¡  WikeandFraser2009(2009).SchoolshooMngs:Makingsenseofthesenseless.AggressionandViolentBehavior,14(3),162-169.

¡  Schoolsthatpromoteasenseofbelongingforeveryone–notjustthosewhoarethestars–everyonemaPers,everyonecanparMcipate,everyoneisvaluedforwhotheyare

¡  Thataddressbullyingissuesnotjustbycrackingdownonunacceptablebehaviourbyfocusingonfriendshipandinclusion

¡  Thatpromoteunderstandingandvalue

© Sue Roffey 2015

INCLUSIVE BELONGING

¡  INCLUSIVE

¡  Bridging social capital (WD40)

¡  Open to all

¡  Accepting of difference

¡  Promotes equality

¡  An ‘I-you’ orientation

¡  Promotes our shared humanity

© Sue Roffey 2015

ASPIREPRINCIPLESFORBUILDINGSOCIALCAPITAL

¡  AGENCY

¡  SAFETY

¡  POSITIVITY

¡  INCLUSION

¡  RESPECT

¡  EQUALITY

© Sue Roffey 2015

PROMOTINGPOSITIVITY

¡  NegaMveemoMonsinhibitlearning

¡  PosiMveemoMonspromotecreaMvity,problem-solving,collaboraMon.learningandmoMvaMon

¡  Laughter

¡  FeelingyoumaPer

¡  Acknowledgedandvalued

¡  GraMtude

¡  Randomactsofkindness

¡  WorkingconstrucMvelytogether

¡ 

© Sue Roffey 2015

FROM A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT TO HIGH SOCIAL CAPITAL

¡  From feeling unacknowledged to feeling valued ¡  From feeling rejected to feeling included ¡  From feeling ignored to being heard ¡  From feeling disempowered and helpless to having some

control ¡  From feeling intimated to feeling confident / safe ¡  From feeling anxious/fearful to being comfortable ¡  From feeling a failure to feeling successful ¡  From feeling miserable and negative to feeling positive/

optimistic

© Sue Roffey 2015

16/11/2015

5

POSITIVE EMOTIONS BUILD SOCIAL CAPITAL

¡  A feeling of being valued enhances cooperation ¡  A feeling of being cared for enhances understanding and compassion

¡  A feeling of being respected promotes respect for others and willingness to listen to them

¡  A feeling of being included enhances commitment and motivation

¡  A feeling of fun relieves stress and fosters belonging ¡  A feeling of belonging enhances resilience

¡  Feeling good improves creative problem-solving abilities

All of this promotes well being and caring communities

© Sue Roffey 2015

MOREINFORMATION

CircleSoluMonsandtheASPIREprinciples

www.circlesoluMonsnetwork.com

WellbeingAustralia

www.wellbeingaustralia.com.au/wba

GrowingGreatSchools

www.growinggreatschools.com

Aboutthepresenter,herworkandpublicaMons

www.sueroffey.com

© Sue Roffey 2015