Improving Students' Relationships with Teachers to Provide Essential Supports for Learning
POSITIVE TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP LOOK & FEEL LIKE
A fourth grade boy who is struggling in math shows comfort in admitting to his teacher that he needs help with multiplying and dividing fractions even if most of the students in the class have moved beyond this work.
HOW TO DEVELOP POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENTS
A high school student chooses to share the news that he recently got a part in a community play with his teacher because he knows that his teacher will show genuine interest in his success.
A middle school girl experiences bullying from other students and approaches her social studies teacher to discuss it because she trusts that the teacher will listen and help without making her feel socially inept.
Show your pleasure and enjoyment of students.
Interact with students in a responsive and respectful manner.
Offer students help (e.g., answering questions in timely manner, offering support that matches students' needs) in achieving academic and social objectives.
Help students reflect on their thinking and learning skills.
Know and demonstrate knowledge about individual students' backgrounds, interests, emotional strengths and academic levels.
Acknowledge the importance of peers in schools by encouraging students to be caring and respectful to one another.
Avoid showing irritability or aggravation toward students.
NEGATIVE TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP LOOK & FEEL LIKE
show evidence of frustration, irritability and anger toward that student.
snide and sarcastic comments toward the student
teachers will describe a specific student as "one who exhausts them" or "a student who leaves them feeling drained and burned out."
HOW TO IMPROVE RELATIONSHIP WITH DIFFICULT STUDENTS
Try to find a time or place when you can have positive discussion with the problem student.
Notice and mention the positive behaviors they exhibit.
Remind yourself that even if a challenging student appears unresponsive to your requests, she is hearing the messages that you are giving her. Her responses may not change her immediate behavior but may matter in the long term.
DO'S
DONT'S
STUDENT CHARECTERISTICS RISK FOR PROBLEMATIC RELATIONSHIP
spend time individually with each student
Be aware of the explicit and implicit messages
Create a positive climate in your classroom
Make an effort to get to know and connect with each student in your classroom
Don't assume that being kind and respectful to students is enough to bolster achievement. Ideal classrooms have more than a single goal
Don't give up too quickly on your efforts to develop positive relationships with difficult students.
Don't assume that relationships are inconsequential.
Don't wait for negative behaviors and interactions to occur in the classroom
Students with more internalizing problems (e.g., depression, anxiety) show greater dependency on their teachers than their average counterparts whereas students with more externalizing problems (e.g., aggression, problem behaviors) show more conflict with teachers.
Students who exhibit more problem behaviors at home and school tend to develop more conflictual and less close relationships with their teachers
Students with emotional disturbances or mild intellectual disability have more negative relationships with teachers than students without these problems