What does conditional positive regard look like in practice??
Conditional positive regard is something that can easily happen in classrooms, it is putting positive attention towards specific things, sometimes academic. The podcast gave examples like "you're so good at writing, or science" this is putting parameters on the strengths we notice, therefore it can be perceived as a conditional positive response. All kids deserve what this episode refers to as unconditional positive regard, meaning students feel that I care about you and believe you have value and that no mistake, or struggle you have will change that. We can build this with students by learning more about them, and making attempts to connect outside of the academic realm.
Consider a time when you went out of your way to connect with a student. What did you have to do? What were the outcomes?
I had a student previously that came to me mid year, this student had some pretty heavy trauma and behavior that at times could be disruptive and unsafe. It took time to build trust and a team of people to help this kiddo. We worked to find the good things they were doing and take time to talk about things they wanted to talk about. I found this student loved music and we would talk about that, they also loved sports and yoga and we connected practicing and doing things around these interests. I think once this student understood we had unconditional positive regard, there was trust. Once these relationships were strong and in place we saw growth emotionally, behaviorally, and academically.
Conditional positive regard is something that can easily happen in classrooms, it is putting positive attention towards specific things, sometimes academic. The podcast gave examples like "you're so good at writing, or science" this is putting parameters on the strengths we notice, therefore it can be perceived as a conditional positive response. All kids deserve what this episode refers to as unconditional positive regard, meaning students feel that I care about you and believe you have value and that no mistake, or struggle you have will change that. We can build this with students by learning more about them, and making attempts to connect outside of the academic realm.
Consider a time when you went out of your way to connect with a student. What did you have to do? What were the outcomes?
I had a student previously that came to me mid year, this student had some pretty heavy trauma and behavior that at times could be disruptive and unsafe. It took time to build trust and a team of people to help this kiddo. We worked to find the good things they were doing and take time to talk about things they wanted to talk about. I found this student loved music and we would talk about that, they also loved sports and yoga and we connected practicing and doing things around these interests. I think once this student understood we had unconditional positive regard, there was trust. Once these relationships were strong and in place we saw growth emotionally, behaviorally, and academically.