ABSTRACT
Teachers should prioritize student achievement and success over popularity. Positive student-teacher relationships lead to higher student motivation, engagement, and academic achievement, prevent alienation, and decrease disruption. For example, take a middle-ranked student from a class of 100 students without strong student-teacher relationships. The key attributes of teachers who develop positive student-teacher relationships are warmth, empathy, and high expectations. Effective classroom management and the development of social and emotional learning among students also support positive student-teacher relationship development. The impact of negative, conflict-ridden student-teacher relationships is more pronounced and long-lasting with younger students, and the impact of positive student-teacher relationships is more pronounced with older, adolescent students—this despite the fact that teachers tend to spend less time during the school day with older students. Teachers as mentors should have high academic expectations, inspire confidence on the part of students, and work closely with students to reach them.
