Differences between Adolescent Boys’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of the Student–Teacher Relationship

Abstract

Relationships between teachers and students vary and the way these relationships are perceived by their members also differs. Seventy Australian adolescent boys described their relationship with a key teacher using the My English Class questionnaire. The teachers described the same relationships using the Teacher Student Relationship Inventory. Student-teacher relationships generally were seen positively. Cluster analysis identified two distinct profiles of student-teacher relationship for both student and teacher perceptions. In 44% of cases, perceptions of boys and teachers did not match. The boys considered positive feedback and a caring, helpful attitude towards themselves important elements of a strong relationship whereas teachers considered help-seeking important.Keywords: student-teacher relationships, student-teacher interaction, pupil-student relationships, teacher qualityRelationships between students and their teachers are unique and varied, and there is clear evidence that strong classroom relationships can be associated with positive schooling outcomes. In this research we examine the quality of student-teacher relationships as perceived by young adolescent male students and their teachers, and consider whether student perceptions and teacher perceptions match. Understanding some of the bases for both agreement and disagreement between student and teacher perceptions of their relationships will add to current understanding of the complexity underlying the assessment of the quality of student-teacher relationships.Studies of student-teacher relationships have regularly over-relied on teacher reporting about students to establish relationship quality (Mercer & DeRosier, 2010). However, some studies have compared data capturing student perceptions of their relationships to teacher ratings of student attributes. Murray and Greenberg (2000) reported that primary school students who perceived feeling a close bond with their teacher had fewer teacher-reported problem behaviours and were reported as more socially competent. Wentzel (2002) demonstrated student-teacher relationships that

Teacher-Student Relationships in Childhood as a Protective Factor against Adolescent Delinquency up to Age 17: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

“…The handful of studies ( Gest et al, 2005 ; Hughes et al, 1999 ; Rey et al, 2007 ) that explored teacher-student relationships from the young people’s as well as teachers’ perspective around age 10 (from age 8 to 11), reported correlations of .16 to .25 between the two informants. One study ( Kavenagh et al, 2012 ) found that adolescent boys (mean age 13.10) and their teachers viewed their relationship generally positively; however, with relatively low concordance (44% were mismatched). Furthermore, while boys saw caring and helpful attitudes toward them alongside positive feedback as key to positive relationships with their teachers, teachers viewed youths’ help-seeking as key for defining the quality of their relationship.…”

Student Version of the Teacher–Student Relationship Inventory (S-TSRI): Development, Validation and Invariance

“…This is the only scale that was originally developed in an Asian context to measure the teacher-student relationship. The TSRI has dimensions such as satisfaction, instrumental help, and conflict, and has been used in Singapore (Ang and Raine, 2009;Chong et al, 2010;Huan et al, 2012), Australia (Kavenagh et al, 2012), and the United States (Suldo et al, 2014).…”