by Christina Pomoni

Created on: December 08, 2009

It is widely accepted that students’ relationships with their teachers can be a remarkably important influence, able to affect the connection of students to school. Students spend most of their time at school and therefore, their interpersonal relationships with their classmates and their teacher are developed within the classroom environment. In this context, the significance of student-teacher relationships is important, mainly on academic performance and psychological well-being.

In particular:

a) Academic performance

Positive student-teacher relationships influence students’ academic performance. Students who develop better social skills develop also better intellectual competence. Besides, as a result of their supportive relationships with their teacher, students are motivated to actively participate and acquire broader knowledge that may not be addressed to traditionally popular subjects.

b) Psychological well-being

Positive student-teacher relationships influence students’ psychological well-being. In elementary school, students that develop positive bonds with their teacher obtain higher scores on emotional intelligence than those who don’t. Older students who think positive of their teachers tend to have fewer adjustment problems than those who are rather indifferent. Besides, students who perceive teacher support demonstrate higher self-esteem and lower depression symptoms than the students who do not perceive teacher support.

The role of parents

The parent-teacher relationship is as important as the student-teacher relationship because it helps students feel balanced both at home and at school. When parents find common grounds with teachers, students feel that they can trust their teacher because their parents do. Most importantly, they feel that the most significant people in their lives are working together.

The best strategies for parents so that the parent-teacher relationship remains positive are:

a)      Be respectful

The parent-teacher-student relationship should be treated with respect so that a problem-solving partnership is created. If parents confront teachers, students get confused. On the contrary, if parents respect teachers, they collaborate and help students. In many cases, teachers have a different style than parents and there are parents who don’t like that. There are differences of age, mentality, communication, philosophy and educational style. However, these differences

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