School-Wide Professional Development to Improving Teacher-Student Relationships: Complexities, Successes, and Failures

• In Event: Classroom Management Research Presentations

Abstract

A qualitative research design was used to review the implementation of a school-wide professional development program designed to improve teacher-student relationships. Interviews of ten teachers and group interviews were conducted with five to six students from each of the aforementioned teachers’ classrooms. Rather than create professional development presented by “outsiders,” the goal was to give teachers a voice, have them participate in the process, and empower them to make changes. Rarely is improving teacher-student relationships the primary goal of professional development programs. This study informs the classroom management literature about the complexities, successes, and failures of creating and implementing a teacher-student relationship program that focuses exclusively on relationships.

Authors

• Kent Alan Divoll, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• Winona Burt Vesey, University of Houston - Clear Lake