ABSTRACT
The research of Relational Schools attempts to provide leaders, policy-makers and change agents with conceptual and practical measurement tools to help them work with, and through, relationships at work, at home or in the community, in organisations or in society. The most important, and sometimes the most challenging, task of a school leader, is to cultivate – and model – healthy, effective relationships. The importance of relationships can appear self-evident, and this presents the most profound challenge. Working relationships are a by-product of decisions taken with other priorities in mind. Relationships can be assessed and the impacts can be modelled. Good relational practice can be incentivized and more supportive environments for relationships created. The Mental Health Foundation concluded that young adults in particular are more likely to experience loneliness than the elderly in Britain, even though a study by Independent Age concluded that severe loneliness in England impacts nearly two million people over 50.
