ABSTRACT
Coming to know children and building relationships with them are two of the most exciting yet demanding challenges you will face as a teacher. If you are to assist children to engage in meaningful learning experiences and to approach their learning with confidence it is vital that you and the children know each other well and build mutually trusting relationships. In order to develop this knowledge and construct these relationships both you and the children will need to find out how the other thinks and feels, what each can do, and how each is likely to behave in particular situations. Building an effective relationship requires contributions from both parties. It is to be expected, however, that as the teacher you will have more detailed knowledge of children than children will have of you, and that you will show more empathy and unconditional positive regard than the children.
