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ERIC Number: EJ1220324
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jul
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0663
EISSN: N/A
Teacher-Student Relationships and Students' Engagement in High School: Does the Number of Negative and Positive Relationships with Teachers Matter?
Martin, Andrew J.; Collie, Rebecca J.
Journal of Educational Psychology, v111 n5 p861-876 Jul 2019
Teacher-student relationships are an important part of students' interpersonal context at school that impacts their academic development. This study extended prior research into teacher-student relationships by exploring the relative balance of negative and positive teacher-student relationships in high school students' academic lives (in each of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography subjects). Also examined was the role of this relational balance in predicting students' school engagement (operationalized by academic participation, enjoyment, and aspirations). The study involved a longitudinal sample of 2,079 students from 18 high schools. Findings identified a significant linear (main) effect, with an increase in the number of positive relationships (relative to negative relationships) with teachers predicting greater school engagement. This was accompanied by a significant curvilinear effect. Specifically, (a) when the relational balance became predominantly negative, students' engagement was lower, but did not decline with an increasing number of negative teacher-student relationships, and (b) when the relational balance became predominantly positive, students' engagement was higher and became increasingly more so as the number of positive teacher-student relationships outnumbered the negative. We conclude that the enhancing properties of positive teacher-student relationships seem to outweigh the limiting (or narrowing) properties of negative teacher-student relationships. Further, there is cumulative engagement yield through increasing the number of positive teacher-student relationships across students' school subjects.
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A