Cultivating Teacher-to-Teacher Friendships in Schools

08/17/2017

Cultivating Teacher-to-Teacher Friendships in Schools

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941, Author

"One of the most important things we adults can do for young children is to model the kind of people we would like them to be," writes Carol Hillman in her book, Teaching Four-Year-Olds: A Personal Journey. "Living together for five mornings a week at school gives teachers that opportunity...I want the children to see the camaraderie between the other teachers and me. I want them to see a supportive and caring relationship and a sense of enjoyment in our work together. I want the children to treat their peers the same way I treat my peers."

Hillman describes many ways teachers model their own friendships for children. A few examples:

"When one of us brings our dog to school, it visits each of the classrooms. When our Monarch butterflies emerge, they go traveling, too. Our guinea pig, Little Nose, may spend an hour across the hall, or I invite one of the teachers into our class to do her special 'Tickle Song' with feathers. Connections are a part of friendship."

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