Skip To Main Content

Trusting & Caring Relationships

Instructional Framework - Heart Tree Icon

Educators listen to students’ needs and interests, and understand students on a personal level. Educators model kindness, patience, and respect, and value risk-taking and students’ linguistic and cultural funds of knowledge.  The classroom is a safe learning environment that attends to students' emotional, social, and academic needs.  Educators understand both the assets and challenges of fostering trusting and caring relationships in the context of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and multiple ability levels.

Dimension: Environment

Descriptor What it Could Look Like & CSTP Connections
Creating emotionally safe learning environments 
  • Modeling vulnerability and sharing positionality as it relates to identity (e.g. sharing a personal narrative) (CSTPs: 1A, 1B, 2A, 3B)
  • Using an inviting, positive tone of voice and encouraging words (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 2B, 5D)
  • Fostering community by upholding mutually respectful classroom norms (CSTPs: 1A, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2D)
  • Creating trust through individual check-ins/communication (CSTPs: 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 2D)
  • Praising of positive interactions and collaboration among students (CSTPs: 1A, 1B, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2D)
  • Sharing stories of personal growth and “failing forward” to model that it is OK to make mistakes (CSTPs: 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B)
  • Celebrating and encouraging persistence, especially during challenging tasks (CSTPs: 1A, 1B, 1D, 2A, 2D, 5D)
  • Providing structured opportunities for students to take risks, make mistakes, and ask questions (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 2B, 2D, 4A)
Building a student centered classroom community
  • Teachers model, teach, and reinforce positive behavior with high expectations and consistent routines (CSTPs: 1A, 1D, 2A, 2B)
  • Validating different ways of making contributions (e.g. allowing multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement using UDL principles) (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3C, 4A, 5A)
  • Valuing and leveraging the diversity of cultural perspectives by centering BIPOC and other historically oppressed groups’ perspectives (CSTPs: 1A, 1D, 2D, 3E, 4A)
  • Facilitating opportunities for students to exercise their agency and take leadership roles (e.g. when organizing how to accomplish a task) (CSTPs: 1A, 2B, 2D, 3C, 4A)
  • Incorporating flexible learning spaces to foster trust, comfort, inclusivity, and support positive relationships (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 2C, 2D, 3C)

 

Dimension: Curriculum

Descriptor What it could look like & CSTP Connections
Fostering student interest and agency
  • Providing students choices, such as in project topics, what texts to analyze, what problem sets to do, what tasks to be assessed on, etc. (CSTPs: 1A, 3A, 4A, 4B, 5A)
  • Providing leveled tasks so that students can decide where they are ready to work (CSTPs: 1B, 2D, 3C, 4A, 5B)
  • Providing supplemental resources for students who need to address gaps in learning (CSTPs: 1A, 2D, 3C, 3E, 4D, 5C)
Creating opportunities for students to build critical consciousness
  • Providing opportunities for cross-curricular connections and collaborations (CSTPs: 1A, 3D, 4B)
  • Using modeling tasks in math/science that require students to consider the needs and perspectives of a theoretical client (CSTPs: 2A, 3B, 3D, 4B)
  • Having students examine multiple sources with differing perspectives (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3A, 3D, 3E)
  • Providing opportunities for students to build empathy and understanding of local and global issues through learning about the experiences of others (CSTPs: 1B, 1D, 2A, 3D, 4A)

 

Dimension: Instruction

Descriptor What it could look like & CSTP Connections
Developing collaborative learning structures
  • Developing autonomy of and interdependence within groups of students by delegating academic authority through the use of norms, roles, reflection activities, and teacher interventions (CSTPs: 1A, 2B, 2C, 2D)
  • Attending to and intervening in status issues that negatively impact participation in group work, especially among BIPOC and other historically oppressed groups (CSTPs: 1D, 2B, 2D, 3C)
  • Encouraging students to value each other’s successes, not just their own (CSTPs: 2B, 2D, 3C, 4A, 5A)
  • Using restorative practices to support students in resolving any conflicts that arise (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 2B, 2D)
  • Students consulting each other about and valuing each other’s problem solving approaches (CSTPs: 2B, 2D, 3D, 4C, 5A)
Centering student experiences in task design
  • Giving students time to think/process before asking for a response (CSTPs: 2A, 2D, 3A, 4C, 5A)
  • Encouraging students to consider alternative points of view or to examine each other’s differing perspectives (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 2D, 3D, 4B)
  • Practicing active listening by asking students to rephrase, respond to, or build on other students’ ideas (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 2D, 3A, 3D)
  • Employing techniques that attribute ideas to students, with the intent of building student ownership and identity (CSTPs: 1A, 2D, 3A, 4A, 5A)
  • Providing opportunities for students to reflect on (and check in about) their interests, values, goals, and learning (CSTPs: 1B, 2A, 2D, 4A, 5A)
  • Providing time and opportunities for structured student processing (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 2D 3A, 4B)
  • Designing lesson materials that remove barriers for multilingual learners (e.g. Constructing Meaning strategies) (CSTPs: 1B, 1D, 2D, 3C, 3E,  4C)
  • Drawing on students’ funds of knowledge and positioning them as experts (e.g. determining students’ strengths and interests beyond the classroom, and then incorporating those into task design) (CSTPs: 1B, 1C, 2D, 3C, 4A,  5A)
  • Designing tasks that help students connect the content with relevant/authentic situations in their lives (CSTPs: 1A, 1B, 1C, 2D, 3B, 3D, 4A)
  • Supporting students’ use of discipline-specific content and skills to understand, critique, and change an equity or social justice issue that they find important (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3B, 3D, 4A)
  • Utilizing quickwrites, exit tickets, or reflections about how the content resonates with students (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 4B, 5B)

 

Dimension: Feedback and Appraisal

Descriptor What it Looks Like & CSTP Connections
Facilitating collaborative peer feedback structures 
  • Providing modeling and structures for students to give feedback to one another, using language that values mistake-making and growth (e.g. “My Favorite Mistake”) (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 4A, 5C)
  • Modeling appropriate questioning strategies for self assessment, self reflection, peer assessment, and peer reflection (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 4A, 5A, 5B)
  • Creating opportunities for students to validate and celebrate the growth and achievement of their peers (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 2B, 4C, 5D)
Providing consistent, valuable, and growth-oriented feedback
  • Encouraging and praising students based on authentic and specific achievements, successes, or areas of growth (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 2B, 5A, 5D)
  • Clearly communicating learning goals and success criteria through rubrics, assignment expectations, standard  progressions, or similar tools. These are communicated through multiple modalities, with checks for understanding (CSTPs: 2A, 4B, 4C, 5A, 5B)
  • Providing timely feedback so that students trust they will receive direction in areas of growth and improvement before being formally assessed (CSTPs: 2A, 4B, 4C, 5B, 5C)
  • Asking students to reflect on how they worked as a group, as well as giving them feedback (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 2B, 5B)
Creating conditions for progress
  • Providing flexibility for due dates, especially during periods of emotional, social, or academic challenge (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 2D, 4D, 5A)
  • Supporting students who have missed school with clear and accessible ways to engage with missed learning (CSTPs: 1D, 2C, 3C, 4A, 5C)
  • Exploring alternative assessments with students to help them demonstrate understanding by meeting them where they are (CSTPs: 1C, 3C, 4D, 5A, 5C)
  • Recognizing and celebrating student growth and achievement to build trust and strengthen student-teacher relationships (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 2B, 4A, 5D)