holidays they celebrate, or the customs recognized in mainstream society. While these concepts are important, it is only through the relationships we build with students that we learn about their culture, including ethnicity, history, social class, and ways of being and interacting in the world. When we better understand our students as individuals continually navigating multiple cultural contexts every day, we are better able to see them in and through our education environment systems and better position them for success.
The final concept Nieto (2002) presents is community, which is strongly rooted in Vygotsky’s (1978) notion that society and culture influence learning and if used in positive ways, schools can support student learning. Nieto (2002) notes that teachers can best express this concept by acting as a bridge for students. Through relationships, teachers can acknowledge students’ differences and then bridge these differences with the dominant culture in society.
Sociocultural theory supports the importance of relationships in our classrooms and the effort needed to grow these relationships. As educators, it is imperative that we learn about and exercise our relationships with students to provide the best environment for all students to learn, grow, and further develop who they are as individuals and as part of society. This is the true goal of all No-Nonsense Nurturers.
The No-Nonsense Nurturer
Having established the reason for the model’s initial research and the theoretical framework, let me explain the term No-Nonsense Nurturer. I respectfully refer to the highly effective teachers Lee and I studied as No-Nonsense Nurturers because of the way students reference their highly effective teachers in our interviews with them (Klei Borrero & Canter, 2018). Speaking with students about their teachers and why they are successful in their classroom, many use phrases like “She doesn’t play” in the same breath as “She would never let me fail.” And they say, “He wants me to stay after school until my homework is done,” while at the same time noting, “He comes to my game to cheer me on. He really cares about me.” Students essentially talk about the no-nonsense qualities of their teachers—refusing to allow their students to fail—while also noting their nurturing sides—identifying specific actions these high-performing teachers take to build life-altering relationships with them.
The No-Nonsense Nurturers Lee and I interviewed and studied all noted the importance of relationships with students as part of their success (Klei Borrero & Canter, 2018). To understand what a life-altering relationship really is, take a moment to think back to your high school graduation. If you are like me, while the valedictorian and superintendent spoke, you took some time to reflect on your K–12 education experiences. As I did this, certain teachers stuck out to me because they had a profound impact on who I am as a learner and shaped who I became as a person. Impacting me both as a learner and as a person made these relationships life altering. Like you, as an educator, I want my students to remember me not only for what I taught them but also for how I supported them as individuals and how I made them feel. In the end, I think we all strive to be No-Nonsense Nurturers.
No-Nonsense Nurturers are educators who understand the importance of purposefully building relationships with each student, setting high expectations for every academic challenge, and holding themselves and their students accountable for success with little room for excuses. These teachers work to create environments in which they teach discipline, develop expectations and routines, and create predictable environments to establish trust, respect, and a positive culture.
But how do they do it?
The Four-Step Model
Studying these high-performing teachers, Lee and I notice that they create effective classroom environments using strategies and the following four actions, which we eventually translated into the No-Nonsense Nurturer four-step model (Klei Borrero & Canter, 2018).
1. Give precise directions so every student knows how to be successful with each activity or academic challenge.
2. Narrate positive behaviors of students who get right to work and make choices in the best interest of their learning and the learning of their peers.
3. Implement accountability systems to encourage strong choices, self-discipline, and incentives for collaboration.
4. Build relationships with students beyond academics and really get to know them as individuals.
By using all of these strategies, the teachers built life-altering relationships with their students. By establishing a consistent, predictable, fair, and positive environment with the first three strategies, these teachers were able to earn respect, build trust, and set high expectations for students. By grounding it all in relational actions that helped them get to know their students and their students get to know them, they leveraged that initial trust by taking these relationships to transformational levels.
The Foundation of the Model
While building life-altering relationships is the fourth step of the model, it is truly the cornerstone of everything a No-Nonsense Nurturer does. However, relationships take time to build. A teacher’s precise directions (step 1) support students with finding success; positive narration (step 2) creates positive momentum in the classroom; and consistent accountability systems (step 3) support a culture of high expectations and care. These first three steps create a path to build life-altering relationships (step 4) that support a student to engage and take risks in the classroom. The power of the four-step model lies in how all the steps work in concert to enhance relationships between teachers and students (and among students) in unique, deep, and lasting ways. It’s through these relationships that transformational teaching has the platform to thrive. Precise directions, positive narration, and accountability systems are supports and necessary stepping stones to reaching the fourth step of building life-altering relationships, but none of the four steps can work without the support of the other three.
The types of relationships No-Nonsense Nurturers have with their students are life altering. Life-altering relationships for both students and teachers provide opportunities to transform one another for the better. They define how we communicate and relate with one another in school and ultimately in society. No-Nonsense Nurturers realize that everyone benefits from the relationships they build with students. Through these kinds of relationships, students gain access to rigorous academic content and find trusted adults in their teachers. Teachers who have built such relationships approach their students with an asset-based mindset, thinking about what they can do to help them grow, succeed, and learn. These teachers understand that building relationships is difficult, with ups and downs. Through self-reflection, they learn to adjust their own perceptions as they grow to better understand their students and their cultures.
The students you serve every day—whether from urban, rural, or suburban areas—are masters of their culture, and they are constantly exploring relationships. Students’ cultural mastery supports their learning every day. It is up to you to learn from them and use their cultural experiences as assets in your classroom. The best way to do this is through your relationships with them. Through consistent, caring, and interactive discourse, relationships between teachers and students become life altering.
You also must consider the power and importance of building relationships with students’ families. No-Nonsense Nurturers recognize the connection each student has to his or her family—culture, experiences, and care. Part of building a strong relationship with students includes building trust and respect with their caregivers. By communicating your expectations to families and making your approach to student learning and classroom culture transparent, you will likely enlist family members as teammates on this journey—ones who want what is best for their children and who will, when they understand your model, aid you in supporting your students.
This book presents the beliefs, attitudes, and techniques No-Nonsense Nurturers
