Explanation and evidence

Two theoretical perspectives — Attachment Theory and Self-System Theory — help to explain why children behave in certain ways in your classroom and how you can use your relationships with them to enhance their learning.

Attachment theory explains how students use their positive relationships with adults to organize their experiences (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 safe when making mistakes and feel more comfortable accepting the academic challenges necessary for learning.

Forming positive relationships with behaviorally difficult children

These video clips show two teachers talking about the ways positive relationships with their students helps to reach and motivate them.

Self-System theory emphasizes the importance of students’ motivation and by doing so, explains the importance of teacher-child relationships (Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Harter, in press; McCombs, 1986). Students come 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 & Ryan, 2002). (See competence for definitions.) Positive teacher-student relationships help students meet these needs. Teachers offer feedback to students to support their feelings of competence. Teachers who know their students’ interests and preferences and show regard and respect for these individual differences bolster students’ feelings of autonomy (see the module on autonomous learners). Teachers who establish a personal and caring relationship and foster positive social interactions within their classrooms meet their students’ needs for relatedness (or social connection to school). Taken together, effective teacher-student relationships confirm to students that teachers care for them and support their academic efforts.

This video clip shows competence and autonomy from an 8-year-old child.

This video clip shows relatedness from an 8-year-old child.

Competence

Competence refers 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; and 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.