Parents Voice in Government School Education

Relationship based Education

What is Relationship based Education?

Relationship based Education is a philosophy of education that puts relationships at the centre.

It is a tool for long-term culture change and for addressing challenges.

The key messages are:

  • Relationships that form in the educational environment are the bedrock for everything else that happens.
  • The fundamentals of a positive relationship (Trust, Forgiveness, Integrity, Hope, Compassion) apply to all relationships, including those in the educational environment.

Parents Victoria has 97 years’ experience when it comes to listening to parents and educators. We know that things don’t always run smoothly; misunderstandings and conflicts occur between teachers and students, between school and home, and we’ve helped to resolve many of them. We believe that quality relationships are the key to quality education for our children. These pages provide empirical evidence, a philosophical background, practical advice and examples to support our belief that relationships are central to learning.

The resources on these pages are intended for educators and parents.

Explore Relationship based Education

Contact us

rbe@parentsvictoria.asn.au

RbE in two pages

Want a brief summary of Relationship based Education to share with colleagues and friends?

Download our 2-page flyer with a basic rundown of the program and philosophy behind it, success stories from school leaders and contact details.

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RbE booklet

If you want a little more detail, this collection of articles by John Hendry OAM and David Moore explore the issues of a kind/resilient culture, the ‘me first/we first’ distinction, and restorative practices.

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Videos

Our 2022 Annual Conference focused on RbE, and all the presentations are available on video. We looked at the What and Why of RbE with John Hendry OAM (originator of RbE) and Kristin Reimer PhD from Monash University. We also learned a lot about the How from two schools that have implemented RbE: Ocean Grove Primary School and Prahran High School. Their stories are inspiring!

Watch the videos

Articles on this topic

Endorsement: Yuen Pang

(Co-Founder, Guangzhou Happy Seeds Education Centre) During the past two years I have been privileged to have the opportunity to work very closely with John

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Endorsement: Joshua Brown

(Founding Director, The Invictus Wellbeing Institute) John Hendry is one of the most important voices in education. His message of forgiveness leading to peak performance

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Endorsement: Sue Jackson PhD

(Course Facilitator, The Flow Centre) John Hendry has an outstanding capacity to bring together cutting edge research on optimal learning environments into practical strategies for

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Endorsement: Sally Cheah-Johnson

(Assistant Principal, John Monash Science School) Over the last two years John Hendry has supported John Monash Science School in its development of Positive Education. John’s passion, leadership and willingness to provide his time and

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Endorsement: Colette Bos

(Director for Inclusion, Henley High School) I have worked in partnership with John Hendry over the last few years, in my role as a new Principal at Salisbury North R-7 School and in my current

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Endorsement: Yuen Pang

(Co-Founder, Guangzhou Happy Seeds Education Centre) During the past two years I have been privileged to have the opportunity to work very closely with John Hendry to bring the best of positive education to parents,

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Endorsement: Dr Kerry Howells

(Senior Lecturer, College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania) I have seen audiences come alive in a completely different way in response to the relevance of John’s deep and important work on forgiveness,

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Endorsement: Joshua Brown

(Founding Director, The Invictus Wellbeing Institute) John Hendry is one of the most important voices in education. His message of forgiveness leading to peak performance and the creation of a culture of care, is essential

Read More »

Endorsement: Sue Jackson PhD

(Course Facilitator, The Flow Centre) John Hendry has an outstanding capacity to bring together cutting edge research on optimal learning environments into practical strategies for the classroom. John’s passion for helping others understand how to

Read More »

Simple things for parents to do

Finding the positive Find, as parents and as students, three good things about the day and individually write them down and briefly explain what was good about them. Then share them with each other. This

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3 Ways for Schools to Cultivate Kindness

This article by Vicki Zakrzewski, from The Blue Dot (published by UNESCO), outlines practical and positive actions for schools to model and encourage kindness and helpfulness. “Sometimes… the most powerful learning happens when students are

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7 ways for teachers to connect with parents

This article from the US Education Week website provides research evidence that relationship-focused communication between families and schools can mitigate some of the frustrations of pandemic-induced educational disruptions. We think the benefits are just as

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