Question about teacher-student relationships

6.If teacher student relationships reflect both characteristics  of the teachers and characteristics of students, how stable are these relationships overtime?

The quality of teacher-student relationships is surprisingly stable over time.In other words, if a kindergarten teacher has a conflictual  relationship with a student, it is likely that the child's first and second grade teachers will also experience conflict in their relationship with that same child. this stability is more evident when the relationships are conflictual rather than when the relationships are described as close or dependent (Howes, Phillepsen and Peisner-Feinberg ,2000;Pianta & Stuuhlman, 2004).
Most likely the stability stem from the "internal work model"that students create in their mind about how relationships with adults typically ought to work.   

Question about teacher-student relationships

5. Are positive teacher-student relationships easier to form in some situation than other?

Some situation (such as elementary school where each teacher is assigned only twenty or so students) provide more opportunities for the development of close teacher-student relationships. Other situations (such as the middle school or high school were teachers routinely provide instruction to four or five groups of twenty-five or more students ) make it difficult to form positive teacher-student relationships with all students(Feldlaufer, Midgley &Eccles,1988;Meece et al; 2003), and thus, it takes more effort. It is also easier to focus attention on positive teacher-student relationships in schools where the administrators behave that trust and positive relationships are important for improving children's performance (Bryk & Schneider,2002).        

Question about teacher student relationships

3. Will more positive teacher-student relationships improve the peer relationships in my classroom?
Yes, positive teacher- student relationships can promote improved peer relationships in your classrooms though direct and indirect approaches.Teachers can directly promote positive social behavior by orchestrating the relationships within a classroom in a positive manner(British et;al 2004). Teachers can use positive teacher-student relationship indirectly to promote peer relationships as well.Students tend to be more accepting of peers who show engagement in the task of school ( e.g show attention, participate in classroom activities), and positive teacher-student relationships enhance students, engagement. Positive teacher-student relationships improve student-to-student acceptance in both current and future year(Hughes &Kwok,2007). 

Question about teacher-student relationships

2. What are the factors contributing to positive teacher-student relationships?

Teacher-student relationships are determined by more then one factor :teacher characteristics and student characteristics each play an important role in predicting the quality of interaction that teachers have with individual students. Although less well-studied other factors (school social climate, school policies ,etc.)also contribute to the quality of these relationships.

Question about teacher-student relationships

1. How does the importance of the teacher-student relationship compare to other important relationships, such as parents students relationship, in students'  lives?

From early childhood through adolescence, positive teacher-student relationships appear to complement the other relationships in students' lives. For young students, family relationships are more important that teacher-student relationships in predicting students' adjustment to kindergarten(Pianta, Nimetz &Bennett,1997).
In middle school students, the perception of their teacher (whether they felt that their teacher was supportive toward them or not) predicted students' interesting in learning and their engagement in classroom.At this level, parental support plays a complementary role by predicting youths' motivation in school (Wentzel,1998). In high school, both parent and teacher supportive (combined with parent and teacher monitoring and high expectation) play critical roles in predicting gains in mathematics achievements (Gregory & Weinstein, 2004).

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Introduction

The students in the school:
The students in my school have several emotional and behavioral problems and my school has few economic resources - can good relationships really helps?
Teacher student relationships contribute to student's resiliency. Often, we assume that hard-to-change factors such as class size, teacher experience or availability of instructional supplies are crucial for predicting students achievement. In fact, these factors are not as important as positive relationships.
in one study almost, 4000 poor and minority children, the presence of positive relationships the teachers and the experience of positive and orderly school environment in elementary and middle school were strong predictors of gains in mathematics outcomes-much stronger then class size, teacher experience, or availability of instructional supplies.In another study, urban high school students with behavior and emotional problems were assigned to an intervention involving weekly interaction with teachers, monthly calls to the students at home and increase praise from adults. Studies like this point to an important message: across ages and in virtually all classrooms, students will be more engaged and motivated if teachers meet students essential need for social connection.      

Improve competency techniques in students.

Competence:

• Competence refer to a student's need to feel capable of academic work; 
• Autonomy suggests a feeling that he or she has some choice and ability to make decisions;
• Relatedness implies that a student feels socially connected to teachers or peers. 
• Classroom practices that foster the feelings of competence,autonomy and relatedness are likely to produce the engagement and motivation required for academic learning and success.

Forming positive Teacher Student Relationship .

Self- System Theory:
 This theory emphasizes the importance of students' motivation and by doing so, explains the importance of teacher- child relationships(Connell and Wellborn, 1991; Harter ,in process; McCombs, 1986).
Students comes to the classroom with three basic psychological  needs- competence, autonomy, and relatedness-all of which can be met in a classroom through students' interactions with teachers  and with the learning environment (Deci and Ryan, 2002).
Positive teacher-student relationships help students meet  these needs. Teacher offer feedback to students to support their feelings of competence. Teacher who know their student's interests and performances and show regard and respect for these individual  differences bolster students, feeling of autonomy.( The modules of autonomous learner)
Teacher who establish a personal and caring relationships and foster positive social interactions with in their classrooms meet their students' need for relatedness.(social connection to schools).
Taken together, effective teacher- student relationships confirm to students that teachers  care for them and support their academic efforts. 
 

Explanation and Evidence

Two theoretical perspective-Attachment Theory and Self-System Theory- help to explain why children behave in certain ways in your classroom and how can you use your relationship with them to enhance their learning.
Attachment Theory explains how students use their positive relationships with adults to organize their experience( Bowlby 1969). Central to this theory is that students with close relationships with their teachers view their teacher as a "secure base" from which to explore the classroom environment. In practice, students with this "secure base" feel save when making mistakes and feel more comfortable accepting the academic challenges necessary for learning.

Respectful and sensitive instructions

Instructions:
Supportive teacher-student relationship are just as important to middle and high school students as they are to elementary students.Positive relationship encourage students' motivation and engagement in learning. Older students need to feel that their teacher respect their opinions and interests just as much as younger students do.