Abstract
ABSTRACT In adolescence, humans begin to establish their adult identities. Their teachers are important in this development, but increasing work and accountability demands on teachers mean teacher–student relations suffer, negatively impacting adolescents’ sense of school belonging and behavioural, psychological, and academic development. We used ecological systems theory to study affect, power, and reciprocity dimensions of the student–teacher relationship at school level in the United Arab Emirates. Observations and semi-structured interviews with female eleventh-graders and their teachers showed that adolescents believed teachers tried their best, but their lecture-based teaching style was boring, and that teachers rarely engaged students in group work or considered their opinions. Additionally, not all teachers supported or respected students. Teacher–student power imbalance exacerbated these issues and led students to disobey or skip classes. Relationships based on care, trust, respect, affect, openness, and cooperation can foster student achievement, identity development, and school belonging and teacher accountability.
Highlights
School belonging is the ‘extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment’ (Goodenow, 1993b, p. 80)
The purpose of this case study is to explore the nature of teacher–student relationship in the school microsystem and its impact on students’ sense of school belonging
This study explores teacher–high school student relationships in one UAE school district from students’ and teachers’ own perspectives and how these relationships influence adolescents’ sense of school belonging
Summary
School belonging is the ‘extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment’ (Goodenow, 1993b, p. 80). It is a psychological feeling of attachment that makes students want to go to school every day It is influenced by many factors, teacher–student relationships foremost (Uslu & Gizir, 2017). Schools are increasingly driven by achievement and standardized assessments rather than learning per se, and by external accountability rather than internal responsibility (Sahlberg, 2010). In such a climate, teachers become overwhelmed by the task of ‘teaching to the indicators’ and neglect their core business: fostering learning, getting to know their students, and forming relationships with them (Ritt, 2016). The purpose of this case study is to explore the nature of teacher–student relationship in the school microsystem and its impact on students’ sense of school belonging
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