For whom does the strategy work and under what conditions?

What are the developmental differences associated with teacher-child relationships?

Teacher-student relationships are as important to adolescents as they are to younger students. Feeling a connection and sense of relatedness to a teacher represents an essential need of all children and teens (Gregory & Ripski, 2008). However, it is worth noting that the nature of positive teacher-student relationships changes depending on the age of the child involved. In other words, the precise behaviors that might be perceived by a kindergarten child as nurturing and caring (e.g., a doting smile, a one-armed hug) might be perceived by adolescents as over-involved and cloying. It is also important to realize that in the early years of school, students’ perception of their relationship with teachers and teachers’ perception of those same relationships are quite similar. As children grow and develop, the gap between their perceptions of teachers and teachers’ perception of them grows and widens (McCombs & Miller, 2006).

Students experience stressors as they grow and develop. Positive, healthy relationships can help children with the developmental transitions they experience.

Do good teacher-student relationships work better for some students than others?

Teacher-student relationships are important to virtually all students. However, high quality teacher-student relationships appear to be most significant for children who are “at risk” for school failure (Baker, 2006; Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2002). In one study, high quality teacher-student relationships appeared to be better predictors of classroom adjustment, social skills and reading performance for children showing initial externalizing problems (e.g., aggression, hyperactivity), internalizing problems (e.g., anxiety, depression) and learning problems (e.g., attention problems) (Baker, 2006) than for children without these initial risk factors.

In another study, sensitive and supportive relationships proved to be more important in predicting more self-reliant behavior and less off task, negative and aggressive behaviors in the kindergarten classroom for bold, outgoing children. (Comparable levels of sensitivity and support of the teacher played less of a role in children’s classroom behavior for shy, hesitant children [Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2002). Teacher sensitivity and emotional supportiveness played a greater role in predicting children’s academic achievement gains in first grade (after taking into consideration children’s earlier achievement) for children “at risk” for school failure than for those without these risk factors (Hamre & Pianta, 2005).

In another study, poor teacher-child relationships were correlated with an achievement gap. When Hughes and Kwok (2007) studied a group of low achieving readers, they found that first grade children who had poorer relationships with their teachers were less engaged in school and had lower academic achievement in second grade. It is very important to note that Hughes and Kwok found that African American children had poorer relationships with their teachers than children of other ethnic backgrounds (i.e., Caucasian, Hispanic). This suggests how important it is for teachers to develop the best possible relationship with all children, regardless of their ethnic background. Taken together, such findings suggest that high quality teacher-child relationships can partially compensate for disadvantages in other facets of students’ social-emotional lives.

Two video clips of teachers discussing links between their relationships with students and students’ academic performance:

High quality teacher-student relationships are equally important for all students, regardless of ethnicity. Students are more likely to experience positive relationships with teachers who share their ethnicity. However, other factors beside ethnicity (e.g., the teachers’ skills in creating good relationships, the child’s tendency toward behavior problems) are probably more important than ethnicity in predicting the quality of teacher-student relationships.

Student Stressors

Positive teacher-student relationships can offset some of the normal stressors that students experience as they grow and develop. For example, the transition to middle school is often viewed as a stressful time for children; middle school students often show declines in motivation, self-esteem and academic performance (Feldlaufer et al., 1988). However, students who perceive greater support from their teachers experience less depression and have more growth in self-esteem between the sixth and eighth grades (Reddy, Rhodes, & Mulhall, 2003). Also, students who perceive their teachers as respectful, eager to support their autonomy, focused on setting realistic and individualized expectations for performance, and offering nurturing and constructive feedback are more motivated in school (Wentzel, 1998). More specifically, if a student believes “my teacher trusts me” or “my teacher calls on me to give the answer,” he or she is more likely to be interested in class, more likely to conform to the positive social norms of the classroom, and more eager to master the academic material being taught (Wentzel, 1998; 2002).  
 

Ethnicity

Several themes emerge in relation to the study of teacher-child relationships among ethnic minority children. First, it is worth noting that virtually all peer-reviewed studies on teacher-child relationships included students who are ethnic minorities in their samples, and many included only ethnic minority students. Such studies have found that high quality teacher-student relationships are important for all children (e.g., Murray & Malmgren, 2005). Second, students are more likely to experience positive relationships with teachers who share their ethnicity (Saft & Pianta, 2001). Although this finding is evident in the research literature, the magnitude of its effect is very small, suggesting that other factors beside ethnicity are more important in predicting the quality of teacher-child relationships. Third, there is a “folk wisdom” that some children, particularly African American children, will not respond well to the outwardly warm, nurturing, and supportive behaviors typical in classrooms led by White teachers. This idea is often espoused in books and articles, however there are no data to support this assertion