Fostering Well-Being and Connection in the Classroom and Beyond: The Role of Developmental Relationships

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Fostering Well-Being and Connection in the Classroom and Beyond: The Role of Developmental Relationships

Overview

This research brief explores the concept of developmental relationships: reciprocal, caring interactions between adults and youth that evolve over time and gradually transfer power to the young person. Drawing on the Search Institute’s five-element framework (Express Care, Challenge Growth, Provide Support, Share Power and Expand Possibilities), this report synthesizes decades of research demonstrating how such relationships significantly impact youth well-being, academic motivation and social-emotional development. Using Branksome Hall’s 2024 School Climate survey results as a case study, the brief highlights local trends and insights, emphasizing key areas for growth including listening, navigating support and reframing failure. Practical strategies for fostering developmental relationships are outlined across classrooms, co-curricular spaces and whole-school environments. These are illustrated through selected examples from faculty that reflect some of the many relationship-centred practices already embedded in Branksome’s teaching culture, including creating an engaging classroom environment, using culturally sustaining pedagogy, scaffolding, mentoring, and being present outside of class. The brief documents how developmental relationships are not “nice-to-have” extras, but a foundational condition for thriving and for creating equity within schools and other youth-serving organizations.

Introduction

There is no single better predictor of a young person’s ability to thrive than the quality of their developmental relationships (Houltberg et al., 2023). Based on years of both qualitative and quantitative research, Li and Julian (2012) originally coined the term developmental relationships. Simply put, it refers to ongoing, reciprocal interactions between an adult and youth; relationships that are caring, evolve over time and gradually shift power from the adult to the young person.

Building from Li and Julian’s (2012) seminal work, the Search Institute (Houltberg et al., 2023) has identified five elements of positive developmental relationships, broken down into twenty specific actions (refer to Figure 1 for a full list). The Search Institute’s (2025b) Rooted in Relationships model uses a ginkgo tree to illustrate how young people thrive when their learning is grounded in relationship-rich environments.

The roots, soil, bedrock and climate represent the relationships, relational space, organizational structures and broader societal contexts that shape their growth. When organizations create intentional, inclusive and equitable space, they provide fertile conditions needed for strong adult-child relationships to take root. As Houltberg and team (2023) note, thriving depends on the interaction of conditions within the broader ecosystem, and positive developmental relationships contribute not only to youth well-being but also to the health of the ecosystem itself.

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