IN A QUAKER SCHOOL, STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY AMONG THE UPPER SCHOOL FACULTY

Natalie Mayer

Background

In our upper school at Friends Select, I have always felt deep pride in the ways in which we teach and prioritize Quaker community among our students. As our mission states, we “work to achieve balance between the needs of individuals and our community, in an atmosphere of cooperation and concern for the betterment of all.” Our ideals of community are seamlessly woven into students’ daily practices—in classrooms, assemblies, advisory groups, and Meeting for Worship. We teach our students to accept, to give, to listen, and to shine in their identities, all of which create a sense of warmth and bonding. But I sometimes wonder if we could do more, institutionally, to ensure that the US faculty feels equally prioritized within our space of community.

I can remember the moment, several years into my teaching career at Friends Select, when I truly felt part of our community. It was the day my Division Director invited me to be the faculty advisor for a student affinity space—a space in which he knew I belonged. I felt seen, and I felt heard. Not only did it help me feel more connected to our community, but it helped me fully appreciate the power of community. I wanted other faculty members to feel that same sense of belonging, but how? For my Action Research Project, I decided to delve into how we might strengthen community among our US faculty and explore why it is crucial to do so, particularly in a Quaker School.

Exploration/Learning

In a 2022-23 US faculty meeting, I introduced my Action Research Project with an initial question of “Why is having a strong community among our US faculty important, particularly in a Quaker School?”

The responses included these overarching ideas:

• As we encourage our students to live out our school’s values, including community and integrity, we must serve as models in these testimonies.

• Feeling seen by each other enables us to better see our students.

• An adult community with stronger bonds helps us see each other’s inner lights with trust. As we all aim to improve our teaching practices, it allows us to more safely learn from each other, stumble in front of each other, and grow from each other’s wisdom.

• The better we know one another, the better we can hear each other, especially during difficult conversations.

• Considering the extensive time we spend in school, it helps to feel a sense of belonging, which leads to sentiments of fulfillment.

• A more cohesive adult community helps earn confidence and trust from our families and students.

It was clear that our faculty recognized the value of community. In order to work on strengthening it, I investigated what systems were already in place that helped foster a sense of community, and what obstacles prevented community growth?

Through surveys, I learned that our US faculty believed that:

1-Most connections with other teachers were made: within shared classroom spaces, during school faculty social outings, or during collaborative initiatives (e.g., feld trips, committee work, or outside-the-classroom projects). 2-Limitations to making connections existed because of: limited faculty-designated spaces, our separated upper school campus buildings, unaligned free periods, and a lack of time due to personal-life responsibilities.

When faculty were asked which three action steps they’d want to try in order to strengthen our US faculty community, the results revealed (as seen in this bar graph) that faculty had a wide range of willingness, but the most popular choice was to participate in creative professional development outings during a time of the year that was already allocated to work hours. Thanks to my division director’s support of the Action Research process, I was given an end-of-the-year faculty meeting day to create an upper school community building day, in accordance with the data I collected. Our resultant June 2023 day at Treetop Quest Philly (an outdoor ropes course) followed by a lunch at our Division Director’s home, created moments of challenge, vulnerability, support, courage, and newfound camaraderies. These feelings were not just my observations but actual testimonies from the participants, as recorded on “What Do You Notice? What Do You Wonder?” cards. (See Example)

Some common ‘I notice’ excerpts:

• Pride in accomplishments, people enjoying each other and making summer plans together; deeper sense of community

• Smiles, laughter, friends, relaxation, people cheering each other on, walls coming down, ease in conversations

• Light and warm energy, connections

Some common ‘I wonder’ excerpts:

• How do we create space for this kind of relaxation in the midst of the intensity of the year?

• Why don’t we do this more often?

• When can we do this again? (with students? with other divisions?)

Next steps

My takeaway from our June 2023 outing was that it fostered a sense of belonging for many co-workers in our community. But how do we use this moving forward? While I recognize there is no exact formula for this work of community building, I know it involves ‘strengthening our muscles’ through exercises that include listening, stepping outside of our comfort zones together, and leaning on one another in safe spaces. As Suzie Wise points out in Design for Belonging, “belonging…gives us permission to share our talents and express our life force.” So it is with these conditioned muscles that we can flourish, feel safe to be creative, and feel safe to discuss differences. In an ever-complex world today, our school, our morale, and our student community depend on the adults in the room to continue this work and to continue our Quaker search for the truth, in community.

Moving forward, I hope to:

• Make a tradition of an end-of-the-year community-building activity and develop practical mid-year activities as well

• Expand programming with activities that incorporate US faculty family, faculty community service, or bridging together our separate US buildings

• Establish an upper-school committee to continue this work

• Find ways to present our findings to the adults and students in our school, and collaborate together

In my current role as US Dean of Academics, where my focus typically lies within the details of grading, pedagogy, and student support, it has been fulflling to take a step back for a bird’s-eye view of the community as a whole. I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to thinking further about how community and academics intertwine.

NATALIE MAYER

Upper School Dean of Academics, Upper School BiologyFriends Select SchoolPhiladelphia, PA

My career path toward education—a path that included experiences in politics, in hospitals, and in children’s television production—may seem meandering. But the experiences I had in communicating with different constituents, caring for patients in medicine, and learning how to educate children with care and creativity, all provided me with invaluable life lessons for my ultimate landing spot in Quaker education and administration. My frst exposure to Quaker education at Friends Central School was followed by 17 subsequent years at Friends Select School as a Biology Teacher, Science Department Chair, Advisor, Grade Dean, and currently as the US Dean of Academics.