Bar et al., ALL TOGETHER – Building Harmonious Relationships for a Successful School Environment. Small Methodological Guide. Erasmus + Strategic Partnership [Parteneriat Strategic Erasmus +], 2022, Aureo Publishing House, Oradea, Romania.
Book Review
Bar et al., ALL TOGETHER – Building Harmonious Relationships for a Successful School Environment. Small Methodological Guide. Erasmus + Strategic Partnership [Parteneriat Strategic Erasmus +], 2022, Aureo Publishing House, Oradea, Romania.
The ALL TOGETHER – Building harmonious relationships for a successful school environment brochure presents some examples of activities experienced by the partners involved in the strategic partnership Erasmus +, All together being a source of inspiration for other educational institutions that want to improve the relationships in the school environment. This will offer them an institutional framework conducive to ensure a quality educational act. Moreover, the named methodological guide represents the final product of the Erasmus + project of the same name carried out during 2019-2022 by five educational institutions in Europe: Cristal Inclusive Education School Center, Oradea, Romania; Heinrich Böll School, Frechen, Germany; Dales School, Blyth, UK; Janusz Korczak School, Ibbenburen, Germany and Lyuben Karavelov School, Sofia, Bulgaria. The central objective of the mentioned project was the development of five types of relationships in the school educational environment, namely: teacher-student relationships, student-student relationships, teacher-parent relationships, employee relationships and strengthening the school community.
The small methodical guide ALL TOGETHER – Building harmonious relationships for a successful school environment presents to those who wish to consult it some examples of activities experienced by the partners involved in the mentioned strategic partnership. Thus, specialists from the five partner countries in the project, namely: Annette Groß (Heinrich Böll Schule, Frechen, Germany), Astrid Oelgemöller (Janusz-Korczak Schule, Ibbenburen, Germany), Emöke Bar (Cristal Inclusive Education Center Oradea, Romania), Lioara Bianca Buboiu (Cristal School Center for Inclusive Education Oradea, Romania), Donka Hristova (136th PS Luben Karavelov, Sofia, Bulgaria), Galina Sahieva (136th PS Luben Karavelov, Sofia, Bulgaria), Monica Florica Kövėr (School Center for Inclusive Education Cristal Oradea, Romania), Samantha Lawson (Dales School, Blyth, UK), and Maria Ramona Vesa (Cristal Inclusive Education Center Oradea, Romania) contributed to the editing of this guide intended to be a source of inspiration for all the factors involved in educating children.
I continue to mention the themes addressed by the authors in this mini-guide: the school environment and its impact on the educational act, types of relationships in school, examples of activities with an emphasis on the student-student relationship, examples of activities with an emphasis on the teacher-student relationship , examples of activities focusing on the teacher-parent relationship, examples of activities focusing on the teacher-teacher relationship and examples of activities highlighting the role of the school community in school life.
The first section of the guide entitled ALL TOGETHER – Building harmonious relationships for a successful school environment brings into the foreground the concepts of the school environment and emphasizes the impact of the project on the five types of relationships that develop in the school educational environment, namely: the teacher- student relationship, student-student relationship, teacher-parent relationship, employee relationships and strengthening the school community.
The school environment and its impact on the educational act is the subject addressed in the second section of the guide. Perfecting the school environment that encourages cooperation, respect, tolerance, and freedom in the learning activity, and that forms students skills, social skills is a priority in education. Attitudes of the teacher such as understanding the student, trust in the positive potential of the teacher-student relationship and the availability of real, deep, and sincere involvement in this relationship are prerequisites that ensure full, cognitive, and affective communication. Such attitudes develop the student’s self-confidence, widen the openness and availability of communication, and stimulate the student’s desire to be involved in the development of a positive relationship with the teaching staff.
The third section presents the types of relationships in school. The school environment and the relationships established within it represent factors that contribute to the provision of a quality educational service. The influences exerted on the educable in this context contribute to the development of a harmonious personality, by pursuing the pedagogical goals proposed and accepted from a social point of view. Furthermore, sections 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 present the specifics of the relationships developed in the educational environment.
Pupil-pupil relations are the relations established between the members of a group, a psycho-social formation made up at school level and which has a common, clearly defined pedagogical goal. These relationships develop in the student class, in the school institution and can be: collaboration / cooperation, competition / rivalry as well as conflict relationships. Collaborative / cooperative relationships between students lead to an increase in group cohesion, to the formation of character, to the development of a sense of belonging. Teamwork determines the acquisition of socially accepted norms, rules, the development of functional relationships that will facilitate the future socio-professional insertion of the learner. Competitive relations develop the feeling of competitiveness, the desire to achieve individual goals. Conflict relationships are relationships that are based on opposing attitudes and are characterized by the mutual opposition of the partners.
Teacher-student relations are the relations that are established between the actors of the instructive-educational process and whose quality depends on the achievement of educational objectives, the formation of appropriate, socially accepted behaviours. These relationships develop and improve continuously, based on mutual respect, interactive communication, active and responsible involvement of educational partners, cooperation, and empathy. The more harmonious the teacher-student relationship, the greater the chances of school success.
Teacher-parent relations are the first educational environment and socializing instance of any child is the family. In the bosom of the family, the youngest comes into contact with models of conduct, learns a series of norms and rules. The educational activity initiated by the family continues later in the institutionalized environment of the kindergarten and then the school. In order for the educational influences exerted on the child to be optimal, beneficial and of high quality, an active partnership between the child’s family and the teaching staff is required. The quality of teacher-parent relationships influences the quality of the educational act and its purpose. The more a parent is involved in school life, shows interest in the child’s educational problems, maintains a close relationship with the teaching staff, the greater the child’s chances of success.
Teacher-teacher relationships are those social relationships that are established at a professional level between individuals who fulfil similar statuses and professional roles and whose objective is to achieve the goals of education through specific activities. Effective collaboration between the school staff allows for adequate knowledge of each individual child, the adoption of didactic methods and means that allow the efficiency of the didactic act, quality interventions. At the same time, the informational exchange between teaching staff leads to continuous improvement, to the creation of a stimulating school environment, capable of shaping harmonious personalities.
Personally, I consider this mini-guide an example of good practices that reflects the way of organizing and developing the five types of relationships within the school educational environment, making it available to students, teachers, parents, but also to representatives of the local community (students, members of various foundations, associations or other interested persons) models of activities aimed at contributing to the strengthening of collaborative relationships between all partners involved in the educational act for the harmonious development of children.
About the Author
Elena Maria Erdeli
Faculty of Political Science of the University of Bucharest, Romania
References
Gallery
