Middle Schoolers' Relationships With Their Math Teachers: Prosocial Behaviors, Self-Efficacy, and Math Interest

• In Event: 66.059 - Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: 66.059-5 - Poster Session 1: Motivational Processes

Abstract

This study investigated predictors of middle school students’ relationships with their math teachers. Students and their math teachers participated in a cross-sectional survey that measured perceptions of their relationships with each other to predict students’ quality of their relationships with their teachers. Analyses revealed that students’ math interest, math self-efficacy, and their teachers’ prosocial behaviors were positively associated with students’ perceptions of high quality teacher relationships. Teachers’ positive relationship perceptions also predicted students’ high quality teacher relationship perceptions. This study points to specific teacher behaviors that encourage relationship development and promote prosocial classrooms. While the data are correlational, they suggest that it is useful to instruct teachers about how to be more prosocial in the classroom.

Authors

• Sara L Prewett, University of Missouri - Columbia

• David A. Bergin, University of Missouri