We believe that effective communication is the key to a successful classroom!
Project RESPECT is a three-year research study through which we hope to develop a full curriculum to help teachers communicate more effectively with their students. This curriculum is centered on enhancing teachers’ social and emotional competence through how they speak with their students and manage classroom conflicts. Through three phases of the research, we plan to develop our program, test out innovative supplemental components, such as virtual roleplay tools using artificial intelligence technology, and determine how well this curriculum works.
We invite teachers to visit our ‘For Teachers’ page for more detailed information about the project and how to participate. Your participation and input is key for this process.
Students are crucial for our research—they interact with our participating teachers on a daily basis and can give us great insight into teachers’ daily practice. We take all of our study participants’ privacy and time commitment very seriously. We invite parents to visit our ‘For Parents’ page for more detailed information about what participating in our study means for students.
The development communication and conflict management skills is critical to the success of professionals in a variety of settings. These skills are particularly important for teachers, who must learn to successfully interact with a diverse array of students, colleagues, and parents on a daily basis. The manner in which teachers communicate with students and negotiate conflict is foundational in shaping the social and behavioral context for academic learning. Teachers with well-developed interpersonal skills are better prepared to manage student behavior effectively, de-escalate conflict situations, and build more positive relationships with students, parents, and colleagues (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Hamre et al., 2013). Although the features of effective interpersonal communication and conflict management are well-known (Becvar & Becvar,1998; Deetz & Stevenson, 1986; Rosenberg, 2003; Walton, 1987), the field of education lacks a feasible and effective program to support the development of these skills among in-service teachers.