Teacher-Student Relationships

Explore the complexity of teacher-student relationships insecondary school settings and learn how these largely unscriptedrelationships function for students and teachers in their learningand socioemotional development.For teachers, the relationships provide a foundation forpedagogical and curricular endeavors and lead to their increasedinvestment in students' growth, development, and academicsuccess. Students who have such relationships feel more comfortablein their learning environments, interested in the material, andmotivated to perform well.We discuss what these relationships look like from theperspectives of teacher and student. Topics include:* Drawing appropriate boundaries* School-provided guidelines and guidance* Formats for supporting teachers* A whole school approach to working on students' emotionalchallenges* Relationships in after-school programs.The voices of teachers and students in this volume show how muchyoung people want to feel known and engage with teachers and howmuch teachers feel rewarded and invigorated by taking the step toconnect with students on this level.This is the 137th volume of New Directions forYouth Development, the Jossey-Bass quarterly report seriesdedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helpingyoung people, including scholars, practitioners, and people fromdifferent disciplines and professions.

Issue Authors' Notes1 Beth Bernstein-Yamashiro, Gil G. NoamExecutive Summary 111. Teacher-student relationships: A growing field of study15This article reviews historical and current research in thefield of teacherstudent relationships by examining work on studentrisk factors, school dropout, and teacher burnout to contextualizethe study presented in this volume.2. Relationships, learning, and development: A studentperspective 27This article presents the perspectives of students regardinghow they see close, positive relationships with teachers whosupport their academic and socioemotional success.3. Learning together: Teaching, relationships, andteachers' work 45This article provides an understanding of how teachers seetheir personal relationships with students and the complexities ofsustaining relationships while operating within the school.4. Youth development practitioners and their relationships inschools and after-school programs 57In this article, a perspective from the world of after-schoolprograms is explored with attention to how after-schoolenvironments can be ripe areas for personal relationships.5. Establishing and maintaining boundaries in teacher-studentrelationships 69The challenge and importance of creating emotional boundariesin relationships with students is discussed, along withperspectives from students and teachers about how they see therelationships being defined.6. The role of a student support system and the clinicalconsultant 85This article posits models for responding to students'socioemotional concerns at school and explores the needs that adultcaregivers require to adequately serve students.7. Working with teachers to develop healthy relationshipswith students 99This article presents a training module designed to helpadministrators work with teachers to define their boundaries andrelationships with students.8. A dialogue between an educator and psychologist 109A personal dialogue between the authors reveals theirexperiences with teacher-student relationships; they comment aswell on how psychology might contribute to the educationalchallenges these relationships pose.Index 125