We know a great deal about relationship
If process skills and relationships/interrelationships are a large part of teaching and educating, then it becomes important to assess the depth of current practice and understanding of relationship in current education. The following address some of those concerns.

1. Does a body of information address relationships and process?
   Yes. Educational philosophy, Social systems, humanistic psychology, educational and business leadership, counseling and social psychology provide a wealth of knowledge and research about these areas.

2. Is the material accessible to educators?
   Much of it is written in the language of philosophy, psychology and sociology but some of the information is already utilized in branches of education and some school districts have introduced these materials as electives or adjuncts. Educators who have a liberal education or a business degree are often conversant in various practices, and theories which have become entrenched in current practice.

3. Could it be learned by or taught to current educators?
   It would be relatively simple to present these concepts and practices through in-service workshops, and in fact, most of the material has appeal to teachers and administrators.

4. How hard would it be to get it in place in today's schools?
   Since the material would explicate current practices and provide a sense of joy in the classroom, most educators would be excited about these concepts. It might work to the advantage of the schools to set up a team learning - teaching approach with video instruction to enhance team training. Many models exist for educational training.
   Any change has a tendency to generate resistance . It will be important to approach educators and parents with as much expertise and concern for their rights and abilities as it will be to ask them to do so with children.

5. What knowledge base would we have to sacrifice if we include process and relationship in an educational day?
   The cognitive knowledge base would remain substantially unchanged. The major areas of change would come in more effectively teaching what is currently valued, recognizing flaws in presentation of developmentally inappropriate tasks, and retooling the processes for presenting vital knowledge and concepts. Frequently suggestions that we address the needs of the child are met with suspicions that building esteem and building knowledge may be antithetical. That has not been true of these initial field studies.
   Relationship goes hand in hand with responsibility. The student is reassured from the beginning that education will be a challenge and will call forth great effort and dedication. The child is taught responsibility for self and action in the same sentence with personal freedom. Teachers stress to young people that they have a right to be educated, a right to be called upon to push their own limits, and that they have a responsibility to learn above and beyond limits set by educators. Students who are taught in this manner excel; push beyond the boundaries normally expected, rise to the call to give their best.

6. Would curriculum and instruction change radically?
   Current curriculum offerings in many instances could stay much the same. Instruction would change dramatically, although many educators welcome the changes and many of the cutting edge best practices are in line with process education.

7. Could we measure process and relationship?
   This is one of the challenges. Literature on the affective domain suggests options as does case study research. This is an exciting opening for future study and development. It is also an area which will take the greatest adjustment. At the present time we tend to mistrust self report and ideogram data. We overrate tests which are norm-referenced, and hold suspect any measure which has not been validated statistically. Many researchers believe that this protects from a personal bias. Instead, it may be an overgeneralized belief. One cannot help but recall the number of scientists who held that the earth could not be round, who had data to support their contentions, and who were willing to put voices to death who would suggest otherwise. Measuring process may be difficult, especially given the prevailing energy focused on the Gaussian principles, but surely there are bright social scientists and educators who will bridge this chasm.

8. Could we evaluate and report student abilities in process?
   In one sense we always have. It is usually printed on the left hand side of the report card. It has not typically been standardized or defined. It certainly is something we could do as an effective beginning. If we determine that systematic teaching of process and relationship are crucial, tracking student progress and expertise in relationship will be vital. We all know that what we choose to measure and what we report about takes on greater importance to others and to ourselves.

    

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