9 - Pathfinders for Thriving Relationships

Summary

Relationships are central to our daily and long-term thriving. They could therefore be a very central purpose of schools. Some schools are already illustrating what this looks like. Making Caring Common is a movement to prioritise the teaching of kindness in schools. Understanding and practising empathy is more difficult than we might assume. Empathy is patricularly important in sexual relationships, and some schools are taking up the challenge of reinventing sex education for the current age, focusing on ethics and tackling the implications of the widespread availability of pornography. Other schools make empathy a basis for action. Dream a Dream and Design for Change are networks that illustrate how to develop rich curriculum and learning activities starting from a focus on caring and understanding the perspectives of others. Some schools are already showing how formal education can provide a basis for inter-generational relationships, by co-locating with retirement centres or nursing homes.