By: Morgan Macklin
Relationship skills are a vital competency to learn when it comes to creating a resilient connection with others that can withstand adversity. This is a key pillar that upholds social-emotional learning (SEL) which is proven to enhance student performance, strengthen relationships with peers and superiors, reduce risky behaviour, and overall develop a greater sense of well-being. With the collection of positive outcomes associated with SEL, educators must take the opportunity to learn each competency to provide long-term benefits to their students. Therefore, this blog will define relationship skills and provide practices to be used to teach it in the classroom.
what are relationship skills, and why Do they matter?
Relationship skills are the ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships that uphold values of strong communication, problem-solving, teamwork, support, cooperation, and advocacy for each other. Furthermore, it provides a skill set for all collaborative situations by building a framework to navigate settings with diverse individuals. It is the capacity to be a leader, resist societal pressure, and the ability to reach out for help. Essentially, relationship skills encompass everything regarding how an individual behaves, converses, interacts, and treats others.
Relationship skills are fundamental to success in school, work, and life in general. Building healthy relationship skills is the key to maintaining a welcoming, equitable, and caring learning environment for students to flourish. This, in turn, develops a culture that will carry into a student's professional life, one of which places importance on the well-being of others by creating a sense of belonging for all.
In addition to the importance of teaching students relationship skills, teachers with a strong grasp of this concept improve their ability to be successful educators. A recent study shows that a teacher's capacity to form relationships in the classroom creates a positive impact on students’ ability to learn math, literacy, and develop self-concept in reading. This ripple effect links to the students feeling of security and competence which inspires them to strive for academic success.
relationship skill building exercises to use in the classroom
active listening
One of the largest components of relationships is strong communication. While verbal cues are a key indicator of communication, the other equally important part of a conversation, listening, is oftentimes a weak link for many. Active listening is being engaged as a listener, not just hearing words. Meaningful conversations that build relationship skills focus on showing interest and empathy, demonstrating understanding, and avoiding evaluation of the speaker.
To encourage active listening, try the listening with your whole body exercise. In this practice, students are encouraged to make two lists, one that describes poor listening behaviour, and one that exemplifies what makes a strong listener. Students can then reflect on these points with their own behaviour and better understand the nonverbal cues that make an impact on relationships. Moving forward, this creates an opportunity for more constructive conversations that allow for greater listener understanding and enhanced value for the speaker.
conflict resolution
When it comes to developing healthy relationships, one of the most critical skills to learn is conflict resolution. It is important to teach students that regardless of how strong a relationship is, conflict is bound to occur on occasion. Therefore, it is helpful to equip students with the skills needed to mitigate the impacts of conflict within their day-to-day lives.
One practice for conflict resolution is for students to memorize a 5 step resolution: Stop, think, say, choose, and respect.
Stop when a discrepancy arises, take a step back and practice self-management before tackling the issue at hand.
Think. Analyze the situation and think about your options, as well as the alternatives.
Say what comes to mind regarding your viewpoints in a respectful way and actively listen to the alternatives
Choose a positive option that both sides agree upon
Respect the opinions of others even if it differs from your own.
If this doesn’t provide an agreed-upon solution, recommend reaching out to others for input as this is another important skill of relationships.
teamwork
Cooperative learning exercises are proven to increase students' prosocial behaviour towards their classmates. Furthermore, students who worked in groups more often developed positive behaviour towards group work as opposed to students who preferred competition. Students who were not exposed to teamwork were reported to be more likely to act out against other students. Therefore teamwork is the best way to implement experiential learning for youth to gain relationship-building skills.
Team building activities like obstacle courses are a good way for students to work collaboratively. These excursions beyond the classroom allow individuals to fully open up in a new environment for everyone. By doing so, team building generates trust, mitigates conflict, prompts communication, and inspires collaboration. This creates a greater connection in the classroom by providing a bonding experience through group problem-solving.
closing
Overall, relationship skills are one of the most vital skills to learn in order to thrive in life. From school life to professional life, this helps navigate all interactions in a way that builds healthy, sustainable relationships that strive for respect and cooperation.
take the guesswork out of sel
Impact Society offers its very own SEL program that allows students to develop interpersonal skills through experiential learning. It builds on the competency of relationship skills by teaching youth about friendship, character, integrity, and life skills that are critical in developing long, withstanding, relationships. Learn more about the difference between basement friends and balcony friends by implementing the Heroes program in your classroom today.