Relationships with Adults
Most researchers join parents and students in agreeing that frameworks and content standards are only as good as the professional learning communities that provide the instruction. However, many studies indicate that a caring relationship with a teacher can be the most powerful motivator for academic success. Meeting academic standards, therefore, requires that schools put relationships at the heart of schooling. It is obvious to many successful teachers that children work harder and do things for people they care about and trust.1 For middle grades kids who are trying to gain some independence and figure out which way is up, relationships with classmates and teachers are crucial to success. 2
In a 2010 issue of the National Middle School Association’s Middle School Journal, an article highlights the unique and complex challenges faced by middle grades teachers in a classroom of young adolescents. Research has clearly indicated that building relationships with these students is key to student achievement and effective classroom management. Effective teacher-student relationships are defined by a teacher’s specific behaviors, strategies, and fundamental attitudes. However, reaching difficult students may require further understanding.
Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students: Promoting Change through Relationships (Outside Source), explores three unconventional strategies used by counselors and psychotherapists to build relationships. In addition, the authors suggest ways in which teachers may better connect with students from culturally different backgrounds.
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Adult mentors
Footnote
1Nel Noddings, An Ethic of Caring and Its Implications for Instructional Arrangements, American Journal of Education, Vol. 96, No. 2 (February 1988), 215-230.
2 Tara Brown, The Power of Positive Relationships (Outside Source), Middle Ground, August, 2010, 8.