Teacher-Student Relationship Quality: The Examination of Lower Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of TSR in Schools of Giza city, Egypt

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday IV)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Teachers' experiences, teaching approaches, and consequences on learning

Proposal

Children’s rights to education, freedom of opinion and expression can be attained by focusing on the quality of the learning environment (Wang et al., 2018). Students’ experiences in the learning environment play a critical role in developing their behavioral, social, and academic skills (Young, 2014). Therefore, characteristics such as class arrangements or student relationship with teachers and peers impact their development. Accordingly, the quality of the teacher-student relationship (TSR) affects students’ development.
A large and growing body of literature has extensively investigated TSR. This has resulted in a developing agreement that the quality of this relationship is a key factor for motivating and engaging students (Wentzel, 2009). Many researchers defined the quality of TSR as the state of having emotional support and utilizing proper instructional strategies that maintain a sense of relatedness and motivation (Davis, 2003; Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Mason et al., 2017). Other studies defined TSR as having low levels of conflict and high levels of closeness and support (McCormick et al., 2013; Toste et al., 2015). These definitions were based on the extended attachment theory from research on mother-child relationships (Korthagen et al., 2014) and from self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). They concluded that students who experienced a supportive TSR showed better achievements than those who experienced conflicts (Baker, 2006; De Wilde, Koot, & Van Lier, 2016; Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Hughes, 2011). Additionally, neuroscientists affirmed the importance of TSR when they elucidated that working memory performance is associated with a supportive TSR (De Wilde, Koot, & van Lier, 2016; Inglis, Nishioka, Dawson, 2014).
Although, teachers are typically seen as the main instrument in developing this relationship, too little attention is given to their perceptions. Numerous studies that explained TSR and its impact based their criteria for comprehension on whether utilizing objective measurements or examining the subjective perceptions of the students; rather than broadening understanding from the perceptions of the teachers. However, many researchers affirmed that teachers’ perceptions guide their teaching behaviors (Shavelson & Stern, 1981) and practices (Fives & Buehl, 2016). Therefore, in line with Argyris and Schön (1974), it is important to study teachers contrasting theories of actions in order to reveal their true perceptions. This is because people have mental maps guiding their actions. Values that they claim to follow and theories-in-use that are inferred from their actions may not always be compatible. Thus, this study aims to examine teachers’ perceptions of the importance of TSR and how it should be practiced. This will be achieved through an in-depth analysis of their theories of actions, which will promote an understanding of their perceptions about the ideal TSR.
The research questions that will be adopted in this study are: how do lower primary teachers perceive the ideal relationship with students, and to what extent do their perceptions correspond to their teaching practices. Therefore, this qualitative research will adopt maximal variation to develop multiple perspectives as well as snowballing sampling to recruit hidden populations. The analysis will be based on open-structured interviews and observations on a group of Egyptian teachers, who work in lower-primary public schools (urban and rural) to form a diverse sample. This research intends to make a much-needed contribution to the field of teachers’ professional development because it will provide insights based on qualitative data to guide future planning for teachers’ training.

Author

• Lamiaa Mohamed Fathy Eid, The American University in Cairo