Education is a highly polarized and political area. But here’s one thing no one can deny the importance of in education: relationships.
 
The importance of human connection is firmly rooted in scientific evidence in explaining how well children do socially, emotionally, and academically.
 
A few examples have popped up recently.
 
Nathan Mikaere-Wallis of the Brainwave Trust recently explained in the media that the most important thing for learning in the early childhood education is a primary attachment with one adult provider in the care setting.
 
There is entire body of research that shows how predictive safe, secure attachment relationships with parents (or other caring adults) are for later life outcomes.  In one study, researchers predicted with 77 per cent accuracy whether or not children would graduate from high school, by looking at their attachment patterns with a parent or guardian at 3 ½ years of age.
 
Relationships are also of critical importance in the teenage years. Alwyn Poole, who has started up one of the Partnership schools in Auckland this year undertook a five-year longitudinal study with a year 9 cohort at a secondary school. He identified one key factor that explained the success of the students who did well by year 13:  they could name one person who would not let them fail.
 
The one key person is perhaps critical. Teacher Rebecca Dow last year did research on pastoral care and found that a child with a case file open at Child, Youth and Family not only has a counsellor and connections to other agencies, but a whole raft of people at school working with them: teachers, deans, guidance counsellors and behavioural support people. However, the lack of communication between them all can lead to poorer care overall.  A case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.
 
Clearly it is important that every child has a primary caring adult charged with their pastoral care, within the wider context of a supportive educational environment.
 
Indeed the Education Review Office recently looked at seven successful decile 1-5 schools that had better outcomes for their students than other schools serving a similar profile of students. A synthesis of what these schools had in common included a focus on “students’ wellbeing and on building deeply caring relationships”.
 
Ensuring caring relationships is difficult at a policy level. Schools can (and some do) design policies to ensure each child has one adult in the school looking after their pastoral care. But the quality of those relationships is down to people.