Addison

My name is Addison. I am a sophomore at a technical school, and I am in the pursuit to become a teacher. As a student and as a future teacher, I want to share the importance of student-teacher relationships.

A good student-teacher relationship helps students feel safe and comfortable in a classroom, enabling us to learn better. When I have a connection with a teacher, I open up and participate more. We can tell when teachers care about us, and when teachers are doing the bare minimum.

The teachers with good student-teacher relationships make connection with their students. The teacher takes time to get to know you. They ask about sports, your life, and you can tell that they care. Because they take time to get to know us, they understand our humor and are able to joke around with us. These teachers accept us for who we are. They ask me questions unrelated to school, and we build a relationship based on trust. When I have a sense of trust, I tend to participate more in class. I feel comfortable asking questions when I am confused because I know that they know me and won’t judge me.

For example, let me describe my favorite teacher’s class. Before the class begins, the teacher waits outside and greets the students. When the bell rings the teacher greets us with morning or good afternoon. While taking attendance, the teacher gives us time to talk, giving us freedom to be teenagers for a bit. This teacher’s class is mostly class discussions, and the teacher trusts us to finish our work and lets us talk when we are done. The teacher often gets involved in our conversations, asking us about our lives and asking us how we are doing. The teacher lets us take learning in our own hands – making it our responsibility and pace. At the end of class, the teacher tells us to have a good day. In that class, I feel like I am treated like a human being, and I enjoy learning in that class. When I leave, I feel seen, respected, and happy.

On the other hand, if I don’t have a relationship with the teacher, I tend to pay less attention. I tend to struggle more. When teachers make it clear that they don’t want to teach or that they don’t want to be there, it makes me dislike them. I do not raise my hand because I have no sense of trust with the teacher. I do not feel comfortable asking questions or participating.

For example, there is this one class I dread going to. The teacher is not welcoming – when we walk in, the teacher is usually just sitting at their desk. When the bell rings, we are told to be quiet and just do our assignments. If we are not quiet, the teacher gets mad and just repeats themselves. We go straight into notes, and we have to follow a template for notes. We do not get freedom in how we take notes. When we do assignments, we have assigned partners. Throughout the class, we are told to be quiet, the teacher reads off the slides, and we have no freedom to take learning the way it works for us. When the class ends, the teacher does not say goodbye or have a nice day. In that class, there is no greeting, no learning, and no relationship. It feels like the are treating us like robots, and no one really cares about the class because students don’t feel like the teacher cares about them.

I don’t think this is just the teacher’s fault though. There are many factors that make it difficult for teachers to form relationships with their students. Educators are not taught how to build positive relationships. It might be their personality. Or, they might simply be burnt out. To make sure every teacher is able to form a positive relationship with their students, we need to help the teacher through trainings and workshops and more resources. We may also need to reassess how hiring process.

Since there are so many factors at play, I ask you to support the Safe and Supportive Schools Initiative. This program will help schools like mine get funding and budget to support teachers so that they can build positive relationships with students. Thank you.