"I Work Harder With a Nicer Teacher": What Works to Build Relationships and Motivate Students

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Social and Cultural Contexts in Learning and Instruction

Abstract

A strong student-teacher relationship is an important factor in increasing students’ academic achievement. We conducted three focus groups with middle and high school students at the beginning and end of the school year, asking these students to describe what worked when building relationships with their teachers, and whether these relationships helped to motivate them. Students articulated a clear link between having a strong relationship with a teacher, and being motivated to work harder in their class. Students also provided several examples of what these strong relationships looked like. These examples clearly aligned with the Developmental Relationships framework, giving us a more multi-faceted understanding of student-teacher relationships beyond the traditional focus on caring.

Authors

• Jenna Sethi, Search Institute

• Rachel Chamberlain, University of Wisconsin - Madison