Relational
A new command I give you: As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13 v34
Definition: Concerning the way two people or things are connected.
Key Words: Collaboration, interdependence, listening, empathy, support, imitation, self-awareness.
Biblical Example: Core to Christian understanding of God is the doctrine of the Trinity. God is one, yet contains within the One the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For Christians then God is both one and relational. Creation itself is an expression of God’s relational nature because humanity is created to be in relationship with its maker.
Jesus is asked about the greatest Commandment. His answer is ‘to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body, soul and strength’. He goes on to add that the second is to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. In these two, Jesus tells his followers lay the heart of God’s law.
The prophet Micah captures this ideal in our key verse. He asks, ‘What does the Lord require of us? That we act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God’. If we approach our relationships with mercy and justice, we are unlikely to go far wrong.
In The Classroom: Being relational means we will support students to purposely collaborate, to listen to others and to empathise with different experiences and out looks. We recognise that some people are gregarious and others more introverted, but we want all to be able to build positive and enabling relationships with others. It also means recognising when to work with others in pairs or teams and when to work as an individual.
Around The Academy: Wren has no place for bullying or discrimination on any grounds and we deal robustly with anything that diminishes others. At the same time, we work to help students recognise their shortcomings and, when like the Prodigal Son, they ‘come to their senses’ and recognise their mistakes, we help them restore their relationships and reputations. We work to ensure students value diversity and see the good in others. We seek to develop community, a commitment to the common good and to the service of others, knowing that ‘to those whom much is given much is expected’.
