The Student-Teacher Relationship: Why Our Teachers Stay with Their Classes
When we think of education, the student-teacher relationship is without a doubt, a core element. According to Education Week, “Students spend more than 1,000 hours with their teacher in a typical school year.” How the student teacher-relationship develops therefor has a pivotal impact on student learning, development and success, both academically and socially.
In Waldorf Education, our teachers typically stay with their classes from 1st grade through 8th grade. This unique approach means the student-teacher relationship serves as the backbone for classroom dynamics and the development of each individual student. Our teachers have the time and motivation to go beyond simply “getting to know” a student. As our Main Lesson teachers stay with a class for such extended periods, their capacity to understand and see both the strengths and challenges of each individual student changes the way learning takes shape. According to the article in Education Week, “Why Student-Teacher Relationships Matter”:
“A lot of teachers ... have really strong abilities to engage socially with the students, but then it’s not enough,” she said. “You have to go much deeper than that and actually start to engage with students around their curiosity, their interests, their habits of mind through understanding and approaching material to really be an effective teacher.”
When a teacher takes on a class at our school, they are committed to the deeper layers of knowing that guide true education, both academically and socially. Because they typically spend anywhere from five to eight years with their classes, there is no choice other than to invest in each and every student and family, more often than not, building lifelong relationships. Our alumni have been known to return to their class teachers as mentors long after they graduate. Our specialty teachers rotate throughout the grades while our class teachers stand as an unwavering touchpoint for the class.
In this approach to the student-teacher relationship, students learn to navigate and build human connections that withstands, grows and adjusts over the course of time and through challenges. The impact is a pivotal relationship serving as a model for the type of relationship we all hope to nurture in a world that often feels disconnected and distant. Not only do we value the student-teacher relationship, we choose a different approach to nurturing human connection, one that brings a lifelong impact on academic, social and human development.
To read the full article from Education Week on student-teacher relationships, please click here.
