Educators strive to cultivate nurturing and inclusive classroom environments in which all children feel welcome every day. We foster social connections and encourage positive social interactions because we recognize the importance of relationships for children’s development, their learning dispositions, their sense of self, and their understanding of the world around them. And yet…

Many teachers express feelings of overwhelm and uncertainty about what we can do to support every child’s social development and ability to build and maintain friendships. We may be inclined to look ‘out there’ for solutions - using an SEL hashtag, a carefully worded search question, or a well-curated fyp.  It’s easier than ever for teachers to access quick-fix ideas and one-off activities which can help us feel like we’re doing something.

Instead of searching ‘out there’ for answers, remedies and repair work can often be closer at hand. When teachers bring our wisdom and curiosity, our ability to observe and document, and our own experiences with friendship (the good, the bad and everything in between), we are better positioned to create environments and invitations tailored to the children and communities we serve. After all, the specific needs of any particular classroom are unique and call for culturally sustaining, community-relevant, customized, on-going efforts.

Please join us as we investigate the idea and practice of friendship through an inquiry lens. We’ll look at fresh research on friendship, explore literature, excavate our own stories, interact with materials, and crowd-source ways to help children build meaningful relationships and durable friendships. 

Our Exploration:

The course will be released weekly in four parts on May 2, 9, 16, and 23. For each part, I’ll provide a variety of texts to explore, including articles, essays, podcasts, videos, poetry, songs, and more that are meant to illuminate connections, provoke epiphanies, and inspire new directions for you to use in your own classrooms and for your own personal landscapes. I’ll provide some ideas you might try, as well as invitations for ways you might respond and things you might create. 

Because this is offered with an inquiry frame and mindset, each of the four parts are built around some guiding questions:

May 2: One is Silver and The Other is Gold: Making and Maintaining Friendships

How do our own experiences of making and maintaining friends inform our understanding of what it means to be a friend? What are the connections between friendship and wellness? How do children’s ideas of friendship change along with their developmental stages?

May 9:  The Friendship Chronicles: The Long and Winding (and Bumpy) Road

How do we honor the variety of friendships we have? What stories arise from the struggles within friendships? What do friendships need to grow? How do we help children navigate social difficulties and challenges? 

May 16:Adventures in Friendship, Part 1: Stories Rooted in Practice

What might a friendship inquiry look like? What might a year-long friendship study go? How can we use literature to illuminate friendship skills? 

May 23: Adventures in Friendship, Part 2: Stories Emerging From Practice 

What opportunities, experiences, and provocations might expand and deepen children’s relations with each other? What might cross-racial and intercultural friendships need to thrive? How can we help children understand their own roles and agency in making and maintaining friendships? 

Out of consideration for your time, bandwidth, and varied teaching contexts, each part will be asynchronous, characterized with a spirit of choose-your-own adventure and go-at-your-own pace. Please note that access to all course materials will be available to participants until June 13th. 

Our Connection:

While the four parts will be asynchronous, we will have opportunities to interact personally:

• Play-Space - We will have a designated area on our course platform in which we can ‘meet’ each other, and share our thinking, creations, and questions while also responding to the posts of others.

• Individual Meet-Up - Each participant is invited to sign up for a remote 30-minute meet-up with me at a mutually convenient time. Information about scheduling will be provided on May 2nd.

• Live Session - There will be an optional live session on May 30th at 8:00-9:00 pm EDT to process, reflect, share, and more! 

Our Learning:

This course is designed as a shared inquiry, and as such, the outcomes and take-aways for each participant will be specific to their needs and curiosities, as well as their engagement with course resources and materials. It is my intention that each participant will have opportunities to:

• Explore contemporary research to expand understandings about friendship development and detours 

• Project draft plans and possibilities for a Friendship Inquiry

• Reflect on friendship histories to excavate stories and empathic responses 

• Respond to course content through a variety of modalities (writing, speaking, art-making, sketching, role playing, etc.) 

• Revisit and revise classroom practices to try out new ideas

• Share ideas and experiences - and crowd-source additional possibilities

• Participate with an open heart and open mind