Learning healthy relationships

Having positive, healthy relationships is one of the pillars of authentic well-being. All of us want to feel connected, valued, and have reliable alliance"”people we can turn to when times are tough and who will also share the good times. Although many are doing well and shared humanity is still on the agenda, modern day society is experiencing a relationship crisis"”family breakdown, high levels of bullying, narcissism, and self-interest, lack of empathy towards those in difficulty and unskilled interactions in many roles both at work and at home. Unless we actively intervene in education, children may learn unhealthy relationships from what they see and hear around them, including in the media. For the well-being of young people now and also for future generations we need to pay attention at a universal level to the two critical pillars of education: 'learning to be' and 'learning to live together'. This chapter outlines a philosophy and effective pedagogy for this learning based in the ASPIRE principles (agency, safety, positivity, inclusion, respect, and equality) alongside practical examples of how these might translate into the classroom for students of all ages. The 'twelve dimensions' of social and emotional learning that are briefly outlined here include the need for a congruent context and what this means within a school