Building Transformational Kindness in Schools: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders

139 Pages·2022·1.449 MB·English

by  Hope E. Wilson

Building Transformational
Kindness in Schools
Being kind in education is about much more than being nice.
This unique book shows how transformational kindness needs
to be an explicit, essential part of classroom and school culture in
order to improve student success.
Author Hope E. Wilson offers practical steps for creating a
culture of transformational kindness through your approach to
classroom management, relationships, assessment, and the con-
tent areas. She also demonstrates how to build kindness toward
colleagues, parents, and families, and what to do in situations
where supervisors are not so supportive. Finally, she describes
how you can show more kindness toward yourself, including by
giving grace.
Throughout this book, you’ll find vignettes about the edu-
cators who have influenced their own communities through
transformational kindness. You’ll come away feeling inspired
and encouraged to imagine a world in which schools are places
where kindness and humanity are felt by all.
Hope E. Wilson is Professor of Education at the University of
North Florida, USA. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed
articles, book chapters, and research reports in the fields of gifted
education and arts education. She is the co-author of the book
Letting Go of Perfect: Empowering Children to Overcome Perfectionism
(Routledge, 2021) with Dr. Jill Adelson.
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Building
Transformational
Kindness in Schools
A Guide for Teachers and Leaders
Hope E. Wilson
Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158, USA
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN, UK
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business.
© 2023 Hope E. Wilson
The right of Hope E. Wilson to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN: 978-1-032-16876-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-15764-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-25073-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003250739
Typeset in Palatino
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Meet the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
1 What Is a Community of Kindness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Nice versus Kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What About People I Don’t Like? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Kindness Towards Colleagues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Working With Your Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Communities of Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 Kindness Through Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Building Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Developing Communities of Kindness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
School Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4 Kindness Towards Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Building Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Classroom Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
5 Kindness in Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Kindness Towards Our Content Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Meeting the Needs of Individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
6 Kindness Towards Your Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Parents and Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Diversity in the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
vi ◆ Contents
7 Kindness Towards Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
The Next Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Giving Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Words of Affirmation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Acknowledgments
I conceived of this book at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pan-
demic in 2020. As I watched the structures of the educational
system strain in ways that we never could have anticipated and
I witnessed the incredible power of teachers and school leaders
to overcome them, I thought about all the caring teachers and
mentors that I have had in my life. This book came out of those
reflections and my hope for a future in which all students can
experience care, compassion, and kindness in their educational
journeys.
This book is dedicated to all the teachers, mentors, and sup-
ports in my life. And although I could not possibly name every
educator who has molded me into the person I am today, I would
like to specifically mention Dr. Diane Yendol-Hoppey and Dr.
Jeffery Cornett at the University of North Florida, Dr. Del Siegle
and Dr. Catherine Little at the University of Connecticut, Dr.
Jane White and Dr. Barbara Sylvester at Austin College, Dr. Mary
Christopher at Hardin-Simmons University, Ms. Linda Cook, Mr.
Bruce MacDonald, Ms. Karen Kraft, and Ms. Kimberly Kass in
my home school district in Coppell, Texas, and Dr. Jill Adelson,
my best friend and emotional support since graduate school. I
also want to thank every amazing teacher who has guided my
own children as they make their way in the world, including
Ms. Laurie Justo, Ms. Carrie McLeod, Ms. Isabella Araujo, Mr.
Matt Peterson, Ms. Mollie Peterson, Ms. Lynsey McAninch, Mr.
Jeff Grove, and Ms. Erica Sheehan. Thank you to everyone in my
journey who has shown kindness, grace, and compassion to help
my family and me reach our goals. This book is written to pass
along your wisdom and kindness to the world.
Meet the Author
Dr. Hope (Bess) Wilson is a Professor of Education at the University
of North Florida, where she oversees the graduate programs for
the Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum Department and teaches
Assessment and Educational Psychology. She has published over
50 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and research reports
in the fields of gifted education and arts education. She is the
co-author of the book Letting Go of Perfect: Empowering Children
to Overcome Perfectionism (Routledge, 2021) with Dr. Jill Adelson.
She is the past chair of the Research Evaluation Network and
the Arts Network of the National Association for Gifted Children
and Vice President for her local chapter of the United Faculty of
Florida. She is the mother of two amazing children and spends
her free time writing letters and making crafts for her friends and
loved ones.
Introduction
At the beginning of each semester, I ask the freshmen in my
Introduction to the Teaching Profession course to write down a
memory of their best teacher during their years of schooling.
I have been doing this activity since I started teaching at the uni-
versity level over 15 years ago, but the results have not changed
over time. Almost without exception, my students mention
relationships—not curriculum, not assessments, not even the
well-crafted lessons that their teachers spent hours creating.
No, what my college-aged students remember about their best
teacher is the relationship that the teacher fostered with them,
the community they built in the classroom, the kindness that was
shown. And that is what this book is about—how we, as the heart
and soul of the schools, can make real change in the lives of our
students, colleagues, and communities by adopting a framework
of kindness. We can change our outlooks, mindsets, and para-
digms to value kindness, to make our world, our communities,
and our schools better places for the people who inhabit them.
Throughout this book, you will find vignettes about the
teachers and school personnel who have influenced their edu-
cational communities through kindness. I encourage you to take
the time as you read this book to remember that special teacher,
mentor, or leader in your own life who made a difference in you.
Reflect on the impact and how you can be that difference-maker
for the people in your sphere of influence.
Throughout this book, I intentionally use “they/them/their”
personal pronouns to acknowledge all people across the gender
spectrum. I also use the more inclusive term “families” rather
than parent or mother/father, to validate the multitude of peo-
ple who come together to raise our children and students in our
schools. I will use the term “educator” to refer to all profession-
als in a school system, from school staff to classroom teachers