Co‑constructing Visions for the Future of Teaching

10. Centring a network of relationships: A future vision for the teaching profession

Abstract

Carol R. Rinke, professor of Science and Mathematics Education and Assistant Provost for Student Success at Marist College in New York and former science and maths teacher, envisions teaching as an interconnected network of relationships.

An expert perspective by Carol R. Rinke, Marist University

Education is critical for the future of our children, youth and society and no single factor is more influential to that practice than the teacher (Darling-Hammond, 2012[1]). New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching Project seeks to project what teachers as professionals might become far into the future. In order to best envision the future, we must first look to the past.

Teachers have not always been viewed as professionals. In the United States, teaching was initially a largely transient profession for young men seeking social mobility; early in the last century it retained its transient character but transformed largely to young women who would teach for a brief period before raising their families (Rury, 1989[2]). It is only since the conclusion of the second World War and the unionization and the systemisation of the teacher workforce that it became common for teachers to remain in the classroom for long periods of time (Goldstein, 2015[3]; Tyack, 1974[4]).

During the 20th century, a new vision for teaching slowly emerged: that of teachers as professionals. Envisioning teachers not only as workers but also as professionals meant that they were capable of building their own higher-level critical thinking skills rather than solely rote knowledge, which they would in turn pass along to their students (Devaney and Sykes, 1988[5]). Entry into teaching and professional autonomy were modelled after other classic professions such as medicine and law, complete with graduated entry via teacher residencies, ongoing professional development, and collaborative knowledge-sharing community (Hargreaves and Goodson, 2002[6]; Hart and Marshall, 1992[7]). The teacher education field sought to replicate international models that valued teachers as professionals and lifelong learners (Darling-Hammond et al., 2005[8]; Sahlberg, 2009[9]).

Placing the person in the teaching profession

It is within this context of systemisation and professionalisation of teaching that the field began to recognise a critical missing element: the role of the personal within the professional (Rinke, 2008[10]). While teacher identity has long been recognised as central to the field (Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop, 2004[11]; Goodson and Walker, 1991[12]), the formal career ladders and at times-inflexible structures of 20th century teaching often ignored inherent agency within teachers themselves. While teacher identity has long been recognised as central to the field (Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop, 2004[11]; Goodson and Walker, 1991[12]), the formal career ladders and at times-inflexible structures of 20th century teaching often ignored inherent agency within teachers themselves. In the way that scholars called for valuing teacher research in knowledge creation (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1993[13]), it became clear that teacher intentions were also central to their career development (Rinke, 2014[14]). Teachers’ implicit ideas about teaching and themselves in the profession shaped not only how they navigated classrooms and workplace contexts (Rinke, 2009[15]), but also how they frequently steered their professional lives out of teaching altogether, with genuine consequences for schools, students, and themselves (Rinke, 2013[16]). Emotions such as guilt were even linked to long-term career trajectories (United States Department of Education, 2016[17]) .

Identifying Identity in the Teaching Profession

Similarly, it became increasingly clear that the educational structures in place were not only inadequate for serving students from increasingly diverse backgrounds (United States Department of Education, 2016[17]), but they also missed a key element of teachers’ experiences in schools: their own intersectional identities. Based on broad new understandings about the lived experiences of individuals with marginalized identities (for example, (Diangelo, 2018[18]; Kendi, 2019[19]; Sue, 2016[20]), the teaching profession began to recognise that it is not only workplace structures and support mechanisms that influence teachers’ professional lives, but how they interact with the intersectional identities of the teachers themselves. Research illuminated the hostile racial climates for teachers of colour (Kohli, 2016[21]), gendered salary perceptions, regular micro-aggressions from school administrators (Mawhinney, Lynnette; Rinke, Carol R., 2019[22]), and the critical importance of constructing affinity spaces to foster community among educators from marginalized groups (Strong, Pittman-Polletta and Vázquez-García, 2017[23]).

Disruption to the Teaching Profession

As the field increasingly acknowledged the role played by personal intentions and intersectional identities in the teaching profession, education as a whole has faced several monumental transformations. To name just a few, substantial learning loss was brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic (United States Department of Education, 2021[24]), an increase in mental health concerns and what has been termed an epidemic of loneliness challenge the well-being of students and teachers alike (eClinicalMedicine, 2023[25]), the advent of Artificial Intelligence has made some traditional aspects of schooling obsolete (University of Iowa, 2024[26]), and a revision to requirements for teacher preparation have moulded new pathways into the teaching profession (Will, 2022[27]). These fundamental transformations to schools and society make clear that the teaching profession of the past must continue to adapt. While we do not wish to return to the structures of the past, there are meaningful lessons that can be gained as we re-imagine a future that is increasingly grounded in interpersonal connections and humane spaces for students and teachers alike.

Reimagining Teaching as a Network of Human Relationships

As teaching may no longer rely on the structures of the past, we can begin to imagine a future where the teaching profession is instead centred around human relationships, as it was at its inception. Drawing upon the influential work of Peter Felten and Leo Lambert (2020[28]) in Relationship-Rich Education, we can borrow from the insights of successful higher education institutions in crafting an interconnected network of mentoring relationships that benefit both students and educators alike. In their work, Felten and Lambert (2020[28]) highlight the centrality of mentorship for young adults finding their way through an often-opaque educational system. Felten and Lambert highlight that mentorship takes many forms but must incorporate several core values:

• Every student must experience genuine welcome and deep care.

• Every student must be inspired to learn.

• Every student must develop a web of significant relationships.

• Every student must explore questions of meaning and purpose.

In addition to the multi-faceted nature of mentorship, this line of work also highlights that students benefit most within a constellation of relationships, including multiple individuals who take an active interest in student development (Johnson et al., 2013[29]).

Drawing from this framework, we might re-imagine the teaching profession as one that is less centred around the teacher-student relationship and blurs the focus on the classroom context. Past perceptions of teaching may have been physically and conceptually limited by this egg-crate structure. Instead, we might begin to envision the teaching profession as a broad network of relationships where schools serve as a centralising hub. Within that complex system, traditional teacher-student relationships would be complemented by intersecting connections among educators writ large, students of various ages, family members, school alumni, local communities, industry professionals, teacher educators, and the like. Teaching and learning would become more deeply situated in a community-oriented and mentor-focused model, with this constellation of relationships at the heart.

Envisioning the teaching profession is less about developing individual educators and more about fostering a network of connections brings benefits for students and teachers alike. A vast literature exists on the positive outcomes from both peer and community interaction for student development (for example, (Eather et al., 2022[30]; Murrell Jr, 2001[31])). Applying a peer and community framework not only to students but also to teachers holds promise for those who spend their work lives in school settings. Previous work on modelling has identified multiple ways in which veteran educators shape the pedagogies as well as the career paths of their mentees (Rinke, 2014[14]). Expanding this vision of modelling from one-on-one relationships to a networked approach inherently situates teachers within a community of professionals from which they can continually learn, grow, and thrive (Baker-Doyle, 2023[32]).

Centring this network of relationships as the heart of a future teaching profession inherently incorporates the personal within the professional. It provides a structure by which teachers can bring their individual intensions, goals, and perceptions to bear on shaping their unique work lives, using personal agency to navigate within a fluid network. It allows teachers to operate in a variety of mentoring roles and capacities throughout their professional lives. It affords teachers from marginalized groups the chance to connect with others who share similar lived experiences, centring identity within the professional space. And it transforms schools from rigid structures to organic and humane spaces that centres human relationships. It is in this way that we can advance a teaching profession that values the individual in conversation with their communities, encourages expansive learning and growth over the professional lifespan, fosters a diverse and inclusive educational culture, and encourages compassionate school spaces that benefit students and teachers alike. Centring this network of relationships can serve as the core of an approach that puts teachers as professionals first, considers lifelong growth, values teacher well-being, and fosters innovation for years to come.

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