7. Research indicates that academic achievement
and students’ behaviors are influenced by the
quality of the teacher-student relationship.
8. Kleinfield
Kleinfield analyzed teachers’ relationships with
Eskimo and Native American students who had both
moved to a more urban setting.
Findings
He found that the more effective teachers showed a
personal interest in the students and also
demanded solid academic achievement.
9. Center for Research on the Context of Secondary
School Teaching at Stanford University
Researchers investigated students’ perceptions of
factors that influence academic achievement.
Findings
Many student comments emphasized that they
were able to achievement better in classes when
they felt that the teachers cared.
10. Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko, and Fernandez
(1989)
These researchers reported the following roadblocks to a
positive teacher-student relationship:
1. Adjustment: Schools do not provide a personal and
supportive environment.
2. Difficulty: The type of instructional strategies utilized (i.e.,
lecture) and the fact that there was not enough time
proved difficult for students.
3. Incongruence: There was a lack of personal-social
alignment between the students and the school.
4. Isolation: Students had no personal relationship with
adults.
11. Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko, and Fernandez (1989)
These researchers reported the following roadblocks to a
positive teacher-student relationship:
1. Adjustment: Schools do not provide a personal and
supportive environment
2. Difficulty: The type of instructional strategies utilized (i.e.,
lecture) and the fact that there was not enough time
proved difficult for students.
Findings
Many student comments emphasized that they were able to
achievement better in classes when they felt that the teachers
cared.
12. Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko, and Fernandez
(1989) - continued
Teaching beliefs that constitute a “positive teacher
culture”:
1. Teachers accept personal responsibility for
student success.
2. Teachers practice an extended teacher role.
3. Teachers are persistent with students.
4. Teachers express a sense of optimism that all
students can learn.
13. Interviews conducted with 400 inner-city middle
and high school students in Philly shows that
students value teachers who:
1. Made sure that students did their work
2. Controlled the classroom
3. Were willing to help students whenever and
however
4. Explained assignments and content clearly
5. Varied the classroom routine
6. Took time to get to know the students and their
situations
14. Children seek models (e.g., sports, entertainment) as they
develop an identity.
Children tend to emulate the behavior of adults who play a
large role in their lives.
1. What does this say about parents who allow their children
to listen to certain songs/view particular videos on an
ongoing basis?
2. What does this say about parents who allow their children
to constantly play sports videos?
“I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball
doesn't mean I should raise your kids.”
Charles Barkley
15. “Teachers must be aware that the manner in
which they interact with a student may have
a significant impact on how other students
view the teacher and their relationship with a
teacher.”
16. The relationship between teacher and student is
good when it has:
1. Openness or transparency –
directness/honesty with the other
2. Caring – each valued by the other
3. Interdependence – able to depend on the
other
4. Separateness – each allowed to grow and
develop uniqueness
5. Mutual Needs Meeting – neither need is more
important than the other
Thomas Gordon (1974) Teacher Effectiveness Training
17. Education based on caring has four
components:
1. Modeling – how educators treat others
2. Dialogue – open-ended discussion in which
there is no dominance
3. Practice – providing children with an
opportunity to be involved in caring
relationships
4. Confirmation – student’s growth is validated
Noddings (1984) Teacher Effectiveness Training
18. Teacher-student relationship and openness:
1. Virtually complete openness– personal concerns
and values are shares with students (based on
what is best for them)
2. Openness in relation to the school environment–
Dialogue is school-related with little relative to
personal issues (out-of-school)
3. Role-bound relationship – both the teacher and
student assume their roles
• So, just how much should teachers share with students?
• What about new teachers?
Read pages 64- 69 of your book.
19. 1. Getting to Know Students
2. Maintaining a High Ratio of Positive to Negative
Statements
3. Communicating High Expectations
4. Giving Specific, Descriptive Feedback
5. Listening to Students
6. Sharing Responsibility with Students
7. Using Culturally Sensitive Communication
8. Responding to Inappropriate Behavior
20. Peregoy and Boyle (1993) suggest that teachers become familiar with
students’ cultural backgrounds by asking questions about students:
1. Family Structure: Who lives in the home?
2. Life Cycle: How are transitions in life defined?
3. Roles and Interpersonal Relationships: What are some significant
roles and how might they relate to academic achievement?
4. Discipline: How are children disciplined?
5. Time and Space: How important is time/speed?
6. Religion: What are some topics that should not be discussed in
school?
7. Food: What is eaten and how often?
8. Health and Hygiene: How are illnesses treated?
9. History, Traditions, Holidays: What are some events that are
celebrated?
21. Suggested methodology:
1. Individual conferences
2. Attending activities in which they are involved
3. Eating lunch with students
4. Allow students to interview
5. Use a suggestion box
6. Get involved in activities outside of the classroom (i.e., school,
community)
7. Join in playground games
Be mindful of sexual harassment issues. Know your boundaries.
Know “what” physical contact you may have with students.
22. Children are sensitive to both praise and criticism given by adults.
Teachers tend to respond more rapidly to disruptive behavior than to
on-task behavior.
Research shows that critical remarks do not improve student behavior.
In a study done in a school district in Oregon, it was determined that
“positive feelings about school changed dramatically within the first
fifteen weeks of school” when students were confronted with a “low rate
of positive teacher verbalizations.”
See page 76
Read the section in your book on inviting/disinviting teacher behaviors.
23. To those who teach:
Do some of your students receive more attention,
praise and opportunities to respond than others?
Results from classroom interaction studies indicate
that teachers generally respond more favorably to
students they perceive as high achievers.
24. A Cooper and Good (1983) study found that teachers tend to
respond to students differently in the following ways:
1. Seating low-expectation students farther away
2. Paying less attention to lows in academic situations
3. Calling on lows less often
4. Waiting less time for lows to answer questions
5. Not “staying with” lows in failure situations
6. Criticizing lows more frequently than highs for incorrect
responses
7. Praising lows less frequently following successful classroom
responses
8. Praising lows more frequently than highs for marginal responses
9. Providing lows with less accurate and less detail feedback
10. Failing to provide lows with feedback as often as highs
11. Demanding less work and effort from lows than from highs
12. Interrupting performance of lows more frequently than highs
25. So, what can we as teachers do to improve our expectations of low-
achieving students?
See Figure 3.2 – Page 82
What should teachers do when students fail to respond or provide
an incorrect answer to a question?
1. Provide adequate wait time
2. Rephrase the question
3. Ask if another student would assist the student
4. Allow the student to request assistance from another student
5. Ask students to turn to a peer and discuss the question
6. Offer hints or cues
7. Break the question into small manageable parts
8. Provide some or all of the answer
9. Allow the student to pass
26. Studies indicate that many teachers do not provide effective student
feedback. Cited are:
• Low rates of specific positive feedback
• High rates of general acceptance (e.g., yes, OK, uh-huh)
• Seldom is there an indication that a student’s response is incorrect
O’Leary and O’Leary (1977) found that effective feedback must have
three components:
1. Contingency: Praise must immediately follow positive behavior
2. Specificity: Praise should describe the specific behavior being
reinforced
3. Credibility: Praise should be appropriate for the situation and the
individual
Johnny comes from a lower SES environment, and has made excuses
for two days for not bringing a textbook to class. On the third day
Johnny brings in a textbook. How might you respond?
27. Listening skills create relationships that allow students to:
• feel respected
• significant
• accepted
• have the ability to take responsibility
When a student shares personal problems, expresses confusion
academically or expresses strong emotion; effective listening skills
must utilized.
Empathic, Nonevaluative Listening provides a platform for
acceptance:
• Students learn that their feeling are acceptable
• Students are less likely to express their feelings in unproductive
ways
• Students are provided an opportunity to examine their feelings
28. Two approaches to nonevaluative listening:
• Acknowledge the speaker by looking at him/her
and making oral responses (e.g., m-hm, yes, uh-uh, I
see, I understand)
• Paraphrasing
29. Students’ self-esteem, sense of efficacy, motivation,
achievement, and school-appropriate behavior are
enhanced by actively involving students in taking
responsibility for creating a positive classroom and
school climate and making decisions regarding
instructional activities.
30. Olsen and Jaramilo (1999) list three types of knowledge teachers need
in this area:
• Self-knowledge about their own background and its connection to
their work with other cultures
• Knowledge about other cultures in general
• Knowledge about their particular students
31. The quality of the student-teacher relationship is enhanced by student
feedback.
Forms may be utilized (See examples on pages 91-93).
