Abstract
BackgroundIf an instructional environment that is conducive to learning generally requires the development of good student–teacher relationships, then a classroom atmosphere of trust is an especially important consideration when we engage students in the teaching and learning of evolution. Emotional scaffolding, therefore, is crucial to the successful teaching and learning of evolution. Quinlan (Coll Teach 64:101–111, 2016) refers to four key relationships necessary to construct this scaffolding—students with teachers being merely one of the four key relationships comprising a comprehensive emotional scaffolding—the others being students with subject matter, students with other students, and students with their developing selves. Our purpose here is to examine the types of student emotional responses that secondary science teachers reported as emerging in their science classes and categorize students’ behavioral responses as being representative of the four key relationships, identified by Quinlan (Coll Teach 64:101–111, 2016), as necessary for promoting both enhanced learning and individual student growth.ResultsThe results of this current study are highly encouraging in that respect. Each of the eight teachers were able to identify the development of each of the four key relationships identified by Quinlan as crucial for instructional success. In addition, where individual teacher profiles were statistically different than the aggregate profile across all eight teachers, it was due to a trade-off in emphasis of the development of one relationship in preference to another.ConclusionThe most salient recommendations to manage emotional responses to evolution instruction are to: (1) Foster relationships that engage students in positive conversations; (2) Construct relationships in an appropriate sequence—Teacher–Student and Subject–Student first, followed by student–student and finally nurturing students with developing selves; (3) Use non-threatening assessments; and (4) Allow students to privately express their honest feelings about the science being learned.
Highlights
If an instructional environment that is conducive to learning generally requires the development of good student–teacher relationships, a classroom atmosphere of trust is an especially important consideration when we engage students in the teaching and learning of evolution
The 168 instances were obtained after we parsed each interview into a set of statements that most closely matched key phrases for each of the four key relationships identified by Quinlan (2016)
One of the authors provided Quinlan’s original paper to a neutral party—an advanced doctoral student with a minor in mixed methods research and whose dissertation focused on Teacher–Student relationships
Summary
If an instructional environment that is conducive to learning generally requires the development of good student–teacher relationships, a classroom atmosphere of trust is an especially important consideration when we engage students in the teaching and learning of evolution. Quinlan (2016) argues persuasively that understanding and cultivating positive relationships between students and teachers is a crucial element in students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of one’s instruction. She further argues that the Teacher–Student relationship is but one Scharmann and Grauer Evo Edu Outreach (2020) 13:13 of four key relationships that need to be recognized and fostered to fully engage students as self-aware, active participants in their own learning—the other key relationships being between students and subject matter, other students, and with their developing selves. Quinlan’s work reflects and builds upon elements of both Schwab’s and Shulman’s influences
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