Rehumanizing Education Through Relationships

By: Theresa Pfister & Jessica Stern

Highlights:

In the U.S. education system, experiences of dehumanization—from disproportionate discipline practices to deficit-based, color-evasive pedagogy—are common, especially for marginalized students.
To address this, many school staff and leaders are rehumanizing education by strengthening relationships and reimagining systems.
In this blog, we highlight an APA Division 15 practice brief that provides research-based practices to improve school relationships and systems through the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle.

Source: Canva

In this newly released APA Division 15 practice brief, we address how schools can rehumanize education through equitable, relationship-focused practices and policies in a continuous improvement framework. In this blog, we highlight some of the main points for those working in schools.

From Dehumanization to Rehumanization

Dehumanization is the denial of characteristics that make us human. In the school environment, dehumanizing practices like disproportionate discipline and deficit-based, color-evasive pedagogy can erode institutional trust, reduce student engagement and academic achievement, and strain relationships. Dehumanization may also threaten feelings of connection, which can undermine mental health and well-being.

Rehumanization is the restoration of human dignity, such as intelligence, emotion, and individuality, to those denied it.

We believe schools can rehumanize education by:

Supporting positive relationships among students and all adults within the school, and
Promoting equitable systems to support and sustain those relationships.

Case Study: Rehumanization as a Collaborative Process

In Illinois, Forest Park Middle School staff and students are collaborating to build relationships among their students, teachers, and administrators to co-create an equitable school climate and culture. They conduct empathy interviews and collect survey data about teacher caring, student belonging, and cultural identity affirmation. Additionally, they have a circle team, which includes district and school leaders, teachers, and students. This team reviews data, anchors it in student experience, and makes collective decisions to improve practices and policies. Through this collaboration, they are building trusting relationships, transforming school culture, and addressing disparities.

The Plan-Do-Study-Act Process

Continuous improvement frameworks are one way to rehumanize education. By adapting this process to your unique context, you can identify, implement, study, and sustain small shifts in social relationships that can make your school a place that honors everyone’s humanity.

Step 1, PLAN:

Build a diverse project team, including the voices of those who are most often dehumanized, with a shared goal to support positive relationships among students, teachers, and staff. Develop a plan (that includes specific goals for strengthening relationships and systems) and gather data to plan the intervention.

Step 2, DO:

Implement your plan using evidence-based resources. For example, if discipline policies are damaging trust and relationships, your school could implement equity-focused discipline like restorative practices and empathic discipline.

Step 3, STUDY:

Collect data to answer a) What is working? b) What is not working? and c) What can we change to achieve our goals? Share this data with your team and use it to inform next steps.

Step 4, DO:

Based on what was learned from the previous steps, your team can lead ongoing improvement efforts. This step is reflective, grounded in students’ and teachers’ experiences, and solutions-oriented.

If priorities have shifted, your team can return to Step 1 and begin again. If adjustments or expansion are the next step, continue looping between Steps 3 and 4—collecting data and continuing to improve.

Concluding Thoughts

By committing to this Plan-Do-Study-Act continuous improvement process, your school community is choosing to know better and do better. This work takes time, creativity, and persistence—but has the potential to transform learning environments into the equitable, safe, and supportive spaces our students deserve. By investing in relationships and the systems that support them, we are honoring the humanity of our students, ourselves, and our community.

Download this APA Division 15 practice brief to read more & access references!

If you have any comments or questions about this post, please email [email protected]. Please visit the Youth-Nex Homepage for up to date information about the work happening at the center.

Dr. Theresa A. Pfister received her PhD in educational psychology from the University of Virginia. Before returning to school for her doctorate, she was a Peace Corps volunteer, an elementary school classroom teacher, and a college advisor for first-generation students in New York City. She is now a researcher and technical assistance provider in the Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities content area at WestEd.

Dr. Jessica A. Stern is an assistant professor in the Dept. of Psychological Science at Pomona College. She received her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Maryland and completed a National Research Service Award postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the role of social relationships as a foundation for healthy child and adolescent development.