Running head: SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIPS 1

Successful Relationships

Christine McCormick

The University of Central Florida

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Education is a marvelous tool. Being knowledgeable of any subject can profoundly

change the views of societies and guide nations. Those who provide education, however, are at

the foothills of battle. It is like a war-zone out there, for which few are willing to go to battle for.

But for those of us who do, the experience is beyond rewarding; shaping, creating and influenc-

ing lives is just a few of the overall outcomes educators will do. Personally, I love getting to

know my students. Not only is it a rewarding experience to see them progress and grow, but it

helps create a rapport which can be immeasurable.

Recently this young student enrolled in one of my classes, and unfortunately her attitude

made me question my judgment about how she would be perceived as a student. She enrolled

with the attitude of “I am going to fail this class because I have no talent, but it was the only

class left available” syndrome. Today I sat down next to her, because I wanted to show her I care

about her success and that she does have the strength and willpower to be successful. However,

her demeanor and attitude was not the same today which made today an eye opening experience.

In the ten minutes I spent with this student, I learned information about her that I would have

never guessed. From the loss of her brother last week, to working 3rd shift to support herself due

to being kicked out of her mother's home at 12 years old. Tears ran down both our eyes as we

talked about her today. She explained to me that her other teachers never take the time to speak

to her and that her grades are all suffering. In addition to potential failing, she is dealing with the

loss of her brother who made it his dying wish for her to be the first person in their family to

graduate with their high school diploma.

Learning all of this information today reminded me about a reading in chapter 4 of Excel-

lence through Equity by Blankstein and Noguera, 2015. The author describes how she was

whiteness to doctors working tirelessly to give her brother the utmost care, in order to recover
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from a life threatening injury. Not once did they reflect on his socioeconomic background or

prior history, nor did they made any remarks about his ethnicity or home address. The author re-

lated his experience with the doctors and his brother directly to that of an educator. Doctors and

educators are a lot alike. We are both faced with unknown dilemmas and circumstances that can

guide us to make one decision or another which can severely help or hinder an individual. “All

students should receive the best educational care to address and target their specific needs” re-

gardless of who they are or where they come from. (Blankstein & Noguera, 2015, p. 78)

It is important to note, that not knowing any of this information about my student did not

hinder the way I provided an education to her. But this simple conversation reminded me about

the socioemotional needs of my students. She is dealing with hardships I did not think students in

our community faced. Unfortunately my fellow peers likely do not share the same relationship

with her as I do, and therefore are potentially neglecting their due diligence as her educator. “If

we ever hope to close the achievement gap, we must address the opportunity gap”, meaning this

hard working child is not seeing any success because she is being hindered by her home life and

feels no connection to her teachers. (p. 71) She cannot validate that what is being taught is rele-

vant to her due to her unique life experienced. But having a rapport with her, she has entrusted

me with her goals. She will be the first to graduate and prove to her family that she can be suc-

cessful. “By virtue of its hidden influence, individuals are induced to want what scholastic and

occupational status society allows them to attain”. (Benadusi, 2002, p.29) Having an educator

there, for a lack of better words, as her cheer-leader, I believe can strengthen the motivation

within her to be successful.

As an educator we all have a moral purpose, and that is to fill our world with critical

thinkers and explorers, to shape the minds and hearts of our society. But too often we are quick
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to judge a student for their background, or ability to provide their own materials and supplies.

Which interferes with our ultimate goal, and that is the public service to educate our youth. The

impact of decisions we make on a daily basis can make or break a student's success. But by cre-

ating strong student-teacher relationships, recognizing that engagement with people creates

power, we set the right path for any individual, to create long term success.

References
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Blankstein, A. M., & Noguera, P. (2015). Excellence through equity: Five principles of coura-

geous leadership to guide achievement for every student. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin

Press.

Benadusi L. (2002) Equity and Education. In: Hutmacher W., Cochrane D., Bottani N. (eds) In

Pursuit of Equity in Education. Springer, Dordrecht