scholarly journals The benefits of good tutor-student relationships in the first year

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-33
Author(s):  
Ella R Kahu ◽  
Catherine Picton

Teacher-student relationships (TSR) are an important influence on the student experience at university. Existing research, predominantly with lecturers, highlights that these relationships have academic and affective dimensions. Studies demonstrate good TSR increase student motivation, engagement, and learning. The current study adds a student voice to this topic, focussing on their views of tutoring staff, who undertake much of the face-to-face teaching in universities. The qualitative study followed 19 students through their first year at an Australian university. The students identified four characteristics of a ‘good’ tutor: helpful, caring, likeable, and hands-on. Students talked about multiple benefits of having a good tutor including increased help-seeking, studying harder, more interest in class, and improved well-being and belonging. The importance of the tutor role is underestimated and institutions would do well to better support these valuable staff.

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-521
Author(s):  
Maria S. Poulou

This study investigated how teachers’ perceptions of their psychological need stisfaction, teacher-student relationships and students’ perceptions of well-being relate to students’ emotional and behavioral difficulties. One-hundred eighty-three elementary teachers with an average of 23 years of teaching experience, completed the Basic Need Satisfaction at Work Scale, the Student-Teacher Relationships Scale, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Seventy-five students aged 11 years old, completed the Subjective Well-Being measure and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. SEM analyses revealed that teachers’ perceptions of need satisfaction and students’ perceptions of well-being were not associated with students’ emotional and behavioral difficulties. Rather, teacher-student relationships were robust predictors of these difficulties. Findings and implications for research and practice are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Robin Averill

<p>Teacher-student relationships are considered influential for academic achievement and motivation, particularly for students of minority and low socio-economic groups. Teacher care is an essential component of effective teacher-student relationships. This study examined factors that contribute to developing and maintaining caring teacher-student relationships in low socio-economic multicultural classrooms (Maori, Pasifika, New Zealand European). Three areas of teacher care were explored: care for students as individuals, their mathematical progress, and for students as culturally located individuals. The sample comprised three urban schools, one class and one teacher in each school for each of two years (six Year 10 mathematics teachers and their classes in total). Three data collection periods were used: the initial four weeks of the school year, and two weeks late in each of school terms 2 and 3. Each data collection period included classroom observations, teacher and student interviews, and teacher and student questionnaires. Within a holistic context of classroom well being, characteristics of caring teacherstudent relationships were found to fit within four dispositional aspects (liking, respecting, and being tolerant of each other, and being able to reflect one's personal identity), and four themes (knowing each other as people, knowing each other as learners, knowing each other's cultures, and enhancing feelings of cultural identity). Specific classroom practices found to be supportive of respectful caring teacher-student relationships included using humour, one-to-one teacher-student interactions, making opportunities for sharing personal identities, and expecting mathematical progress. Mixed results were obtained regarding how deeply students value their heritage cultures, whether or not they believe these are well reflected in their schools and classrooms, and the extent to which they would like them to be reflected in these places. There is evidence that for many Maori, Pasifika, and low socio-economic students, mathematics teachers can enhance students' motivation and mathematical achievement by using explicitly caring practices. Teachers must acknowledge and attend to caring teaching approaches to maximise their students' progress in, and enjoyment of, mathematics.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Robin Averill

<p>Teacher-student relationships are considered influential for academic achievement and motivation, particularly for students of minority and low socio-economic groups. Teacher care is an essential component of effective teacher-student relationships. This study examined factors that contribute to developing and maintaining caring teacher-student relationships in low socio-economic multicultural classrooms (Maori, Pasifika, New Zealand European). Three areas of teacher care were explored: care for students as individuals, their mathematical progress, and for students as culturally located individuals. The sample comprised three urban schools, one class and one teacher in each school for each of two years (six Year 10 mathematics teachers and their classes in total). Three data collection periods were used: the initial four weeks of the school year, and two weeks late in each of school terms 2 and 3. Each data collection period included classroom observations, teacher and student interviews, and teacher and student questionnaires. Within a holistic context of classroom well being, characteristics of caring teacherstudent relationships were found to fit within four dispositional aspects (liking, respecting, and being tolerant of each other, and being able to reflect one's personal identity), and four themes (knowing each other as people, knowing each other as learners, knowing each other's cultures, and enhancing feelings of cultural identity). Specific classroom practices found to be supportive of respectful caring teacher-student relationships included using humour, one-to-one teacher-student interactions, making opportunities for sharing personal identities, and expecting mathematical progress. Mixed results were obtained regarding how deeply students value their heritage cultures, whether or not they believe these are well reflected in their schools and classrooms, and the extent to which they would like them to be reflected in these places. There is evidence that for many Maori, Pasifika, and low socio-economic students, mathematics teachers can enhance students' motivation and mathematical achievement by using explicitly caring practices. Teachers must acknowledge and attend to caring teaching approaches to maximise their students' progress in, and enjoyment of, mathematics.</p>


2020 ◽  
pp. 60-87
Author(s):  
Ann-Louise Ljungblad

Situated within the field of inclusive mathematics education, this article presents empirical research from a microethnographic study exploring teacher-student relationships. More specifically, the searchlight was aimed at how math teachers relate to their students when they teach. The classroom study is based on a rich empirical data set collected during a year of field work: video-recorded math lessons, observations and dialogues and interviews in six classes. Four math teachers participated together with 100 students from compulsory school, upper secondary school and schools for children with learning disabilities. Based on a relational perspective on teaching, Pedagogical Relational Teachership, PeRT, (Ljungblad, 2018, 2019) a microanalysis was carried out, about how the teacher’s acknowledgement to students emerged in interpersonal, face-to-face communication. Through a relational turn in mathematics education, exploring interpersonal relationships, an extended relational understanding of situated teaching was acquired. The results illuminated how teachers’ pedagogical tactfulness emerged as a pedagogical fundament in inclusive educational environment. The results also highlighted a moment of specific importance in mathematics education: at that second, when the incalculable (Biesta, 2001, 2007) emerges, the teachers refrain from assessment and, instead, listen and create a space for the students to speak with their unique voices. Over time, such a relational teachership creates trustful and respectful teacher-student relationships.


2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
King Yin Shung ◽  
Sue Trinidad

<span>This research investigated the use of computer mediated communication (CMC) tools to enhance teacher-student relationships in two secondary schools in Hong Kong. This study showed that ICQ (a most popular CMC tool) could be used to enhance teacher-student relationships in these cases. An ethnographic approach was used where the interviews were conducted with key informants, face to face (n=11) and then through ICQ (n=4). Teachers who used ICQ to communicate with students were also interviewed (n=4). It was found in this study that the school and the parents over-stressed academic achievement, with both teachers and students being required to spend most of their time on academic related matters, and as such the results were that teacher-student communication was found to be rare in the two school environments. The study was able to summarise why students prefer using ICQ to communicate with teachers, how the Confucian heritage culture affects teacher-student communication in Hong Kong schools, and how ICQ can be used to enhance teacher-student communication.</span>


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