It’s well-known that the relationships teachers build with students are a central feature of students’ learning and wellbeing, but do positive teacher-student relationships benefit teachers as well?

It turns out that positive student-teacher relationships are a key feature of teachers who feel, function and flourish well. This was the key takeaway from our recent study, published in Educational Psychology Review. We pooled evidence from research conducted to date on the teacher-student relationship quality and teacher wellbeing in middle and secondary schools, and found that there’s a link between them.

What we found

Evidence from 55 studies conducted worldwide told us that in middle and secondary schools, teachers with better relationships with their students reported better wellbeing across a range of measures. 

These global studies included teachers from new to experienced across a range of subject areas, suggesting these findings are consistent among middle and secondary school teachers.

Read more: Belonging isn’t just a buzzword, it’s the key to our kids’ education

Positive teacher-student relationships are linked with more positive day-to-day emotions such as joy and enjoyment, and fewer negative emotions such as anger and anxiety. 

Teachers with better relationships are more engaged and motivated in their work and experience a greater sense of being capable and effective. They’re more connected to their sense of meaning and identity as a teacher.

All of these are indicators of wellbeing according to the PERMA framework, which posits that wellbeing comprises positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment.

Importantly, we also observed associations in the other direction – poor relationships tended to co‑occur with greater stress and burnout for middle and secondary school teachers.

Why this matters now

It’s well-known that there’s a need to protect teachers’ wellbeing to support a smooth entry into the profession and longevity in their careers. It’s timely to recognise the relational work of teaching as central to both staff and students, not just a “nice‑to‑have”, even in secondary schools.

Teachers who have better wellbeing perform and feel better at work, and are less likely to consider leaving the profession.

Read more: The significance of school belonging in protecting mental health

Our study suggests that helping secondary school teachers feel connected to their students is a possible pathway for supporting their daily experiences at work, their sense of connection to their work, and their professional fulfilment, all of which support their wellbeing.

Secondary teachers often have large student loads and less time to build rapport, and competing demands can crowd out relational work. In several studies, teachers noted that structural barriers, such as timetabling and a heavy emphasis on content coverage, made forming connections with students harder.

What schools can do

In light of these findings, secondary schools can support teachers by treating relationship‑building as a core part of their role. Schools should recognise and embed relationships as a core part of their whole‑school approach to learning and wellbeing, for both students’ and staff benefit.

Schools can provide professional learning focused on building warm, fair and predictable teacher-student relationships within professional boundaries. Teachers can be supported to manage challenging behaviours in a relationship-driven way through whole-school approaches that support this.

Schools should protect the time teachers have with their students and consider how more incidental contact can be created, such as through school events or in hallways. These opportunities help teachers and students connect outside an academic-focused context.

Teachers need to feel supported in managing the emotional demands of teaching by ensuring there are referral pathways for students with complex needs and that staff have access to learning and resources that support their ability to cope with day-to-day stress.

What teachers can do

Relationships are built on the small things, such as getting to know students’ interests, finding commonalities, having fun through games and activities, and showing them that they’re seen as individuals. These are things teachers often focus on at the start of the year, but it’s important to keep this up throughout the year.

Teachers can take an interest in where their students are at and celebrate small wins with them, whether that was a great result or sticking to their study plan, understanding a concept they didn’t get the day before, or taking part in a group discussion.

Showing students that you remember those insights from the start of the year, such as what sports or kinds of movies they like, and working them into conversations, goes a long way. So, too, does noticing and encouraging their participation in extra-curricular activities, showing that you see them beyond how they are in your class. 

When students feel respected and seen as an individual, they also tend to show it back.

We know teacher-student relationships are important for supporting student wellbeing and achievement. Now it’s time to recognise how important they are for supporting teachers, too.