Bridget Hamre on the Power of Human Relationships and Interaction in CLASS

This episode explores how the quality of human relationships and interactions, not merely the delivery of content, allows students to thrive academically and socially. Dr. Bridget Hamre, CoFounder and CEO of Teachstone, traces her thinking to early research on teacher-child interactions and the development of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). This tool focuses on emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support as key drivers of positive student outcomes. Skills like teacher cue detection, individualization, facilitating dialogue, and nurturing student perspectives create classrooms where students feel safe, engaged, and empowered. Dr. Hamre counters myths that social-emotional development is separate from academics, explaining how emotional support gives students confidence to learn. She discusses challenges translating research into practice but finds inspiration from innovative leaders advancing relationship-centered visions of education. While dedicated to disseminating classroom research through tools like the CLASS, Dr. Hamre wonders if new language is needed around the adult role as technology transforms what students must learn. She argues human interactions will remain essential to guiding students across all domains, even with advances in AI. The quality of relationships, not merely content delivery, allows students to thrive.