Student-Teacher Relationships

Improving students' relationships with teachers has important, positive and long-lasting implications for both students' academic and social development. Teachers who foster positive relationships with their students create classroom environments that are more conducive to learning and meet students' developmental, emotional, and academic needs. Here are some concrete examples of teacher-student rapprochement:

• A high school student chooses to share the news that he recently participated in a community play with his teacher because he knows that his teacher will show genuine interest in his success.

• A fourth-grader struggling in math shows comfort in admitting to his teacher that he needs help multiplying fractions and dividing fractions even if most students in class have passed this work.

• A middle school girl gets bullied by other students and approaches the social studies teacher to discuss the matter because she trusts that the teacher will listen and help without making her feel socially inadequate.

Positive teacher-student relationships contribute to academic performance

Positive teacher-student relationships – as evidenced by teachers' reports of reduced conflict, high degree of closeness and support, and little dependency – have been shown to support students' adaptation to school, contribute to their social skills, enhance academic performance and enhance students' flexibility in academic performance.

Steps to improve Student Teacher Relationships

1. Encourage open communication: Encourage students to speak up and express their concerns or ideas. This can be done through regular class meetings, suggestion boxes, or one-on-one meetings.

2. Build trust: Show students that you trust them and that you value their opinions. This can be done by involving them in decision-making processes, keeping your promises, and being consistent in your actions.

3. Show respect: Show respect for your students by being punctual, prepared, and treating them with dignity and fairness.

4. Get to know your students: Take the time to learn about your students' interests, backgrounds, and cultures. This will help you connect with them and understand their perspectives.

5. Provide clear expectations: Clearly communicate your expectations for behavior and academic performance. This can be done through class rules, rubrics, and grading criteria.

6. Show Interest in student's Learning: Be available to answer questions, provide feedback, and offer extra help if needed. Show interest in your students' learning and progress.

7. Provide Positive feedback: Provide positive feedback to students when they do well and correct them constructively when they make mistakes.

8. Create a Safe and Supportive Environment: Create a safe and supportive classroom environment where students feel comfortable to express their ideas and take risks.

9. Collaborate with Parents: Collaborate with parents to keep them informed about their child's progress and to work together to support the child's learning.

10. Continuously Reflect and Improve: Reflect on your teaching practice and be open to feedback from your students, colleagues and superiors. Continuously look for ways to improve your teaching and student-teacher relationship.

Students who attended math classes with higher emotional support reported increased participation in math learning. For example, fifth graders said they were willing to do more to understand the math lesson. They enjoyed thinking about and solving math and were more willing to help their peers learn new concepts. Between kindergartens, students reported that they liked school more and experienced less loneliness if they had a close relationship with their teachers. Furthermore, kindergarten children with better teacher-student relationships showed better performance on measures of early academic skills.

The quality of early teacher-student relationships has a long-lasting impact. Specifically, students who had more conflict with their teachers or showed more reliance on their kindergarten teachers also had lower academic achievement (as reflected in math and language arts grades) and more behavioral problems (e.g., bad work habits, more discipline problems) until eighth grade.