The Big Picture: Building Student-Teacher Relationships

Research Summary

The Question

What effect does building student-teacher relationships have on high school student readiness to learn?

Summary

Many teachers already know that our job is more than instruction. We are often called on to be therapists, advocates, friends, and cheerleaders, and, as my and others’ studies suggest, how we relate to the students is just as important as our curriculum in building successful students. Many of us became educators because we knew that having an impact on students’ learning really meant having an impact on the future, and we felt excited by all that challenge entailed. And, though the demands on us professionally are profound, we have the opportunity to positively impact all our students’ through hard work, support, compassion, and love. Building relationships with the young people who come through our classes every day is one piece of the whole big picture.