Relationships have always posed a challenge for me. I live overseas among an expatriate, globally mobile community. As an expat myself, my other expat friends have become my sisters and family as we have helped each other negotiate the joys and challenges of learning how to live in an among a different culture. Over the years, my children and I have developed some very strong relationships with different families only to have them either suddenly move or at least give us a few months warning. It rips our hearts out every time. We have learned to anchor our relationships first and foremost in each other and gently cast out our relationship “hooks” to lightly land on the new wonderful, but certainly temporary new friends that show up every year.
The older I get, the more and more hesitant I become in even venturing to cast the net. Nonetheless, I know relationships are the food upon which our souls survive.
As an experienced educator and administrator, I counsel all teachers that the number one, first and foremost rule is to build a relationship- with colleagues, with supervisors, with parents, and most of all, with students. This is paramount. When a relationship is established with positive communication lines, when trouble comes, and it will, a lovely layer of grace has been laid down and communication can be more honest, more truthful, more healing. Without relationship with my staff, parents, colleagues, and students, I would not have been able to address serious issues with them and come out together with a healthy solution.
No comments:
Post a Comment