Do you prefer to work with a teacher you like or a teacher you don’t like? More than likely, it’s with the teacher you’re on good terms with. Nobody likes to do their assignments in a hostile classroom environment. That’s why teachers and students at Carter High School should put special effort into creating and maintaining good relationships with each other.
Without good teacher-student relationships, students may not get any work done. Studies have shown that whenever teachers put effort into understanding their students, then many good things happen. Sarah D. Sparks, author of the article “Why Student-Teacher Relationships Matter,” states that during a 2018 study at Arizona State University a researcher named Victoria Theisen-Homer found this out. There were two different groups of teachers each with their own group of students. One group of teachers was more affirmative and distant while the other one took time to know their students and help them. According to Theisen-Homer’s results of the emotionally-taught pupils, “These students not only learned to think for themselves, but also had adults who affirmed and responded to their thoughts and experiences.”
A Carter High School counselor, Mr. Mead, agrees with the claim that the relationship between students and teachers is important. “I think that Carter does have good student-teacher relationships… sometimes.” I agree that Carter’s teachers are generally kind, but there are still some with problems to address. We really need to look into it. However, some teachers may argue that being “too nice” to students may lead to them feeling empowered and engaging in bad behaviors. They are probably afraid of misbehaving students, but their worries can be put to rest with simple facts. If the opposing claim were true, then the students that were led with kindness in the experiment mentioned above wouldn’t have come out with such great results. It was the sternly led students that were less confident and more stressed. Also, many times young people (especially teenagers) rebel because of feeling controlled. If teachers give students some room to be themselves, then they will most likely reap the benefits that way.
Good student-teacher relationships can positively impact teachers, too. According to the article, “A study in the European journal of Psychology and Education found that a teacher’s relationships with students was the best predictor of how much the teacher experienced joy versus anxiety in class.” Teachers that don’t give love or feel love in a school are more likely to feel anxious, as there is no security or trust established between themselves and their students.
Lastly, a teacher’s relationship with their students can help those students become more understanding of others. You’ve heard of “leading by example,” right? Well, you see, teachers have the ability to impact their students with the way they act every school day. If you have a teacher that is understanding of others, these qualities can rub off onto students and help to equip them in further situations.
In conclusion, if students and teachers put effort into knowing each other, then both parties will feel better and improve in different ways. Without a good relationship established, it will be harder for the students to work and stressful for them both in general. This is why student-teacher relationships matter.
Carter Corps News 