Importance of Student-Teacher Interaction

The importance of student-teacher interaction can be expressed in varied ways, having in mind that after parents, the primary role models for children/students are teachers. Knowing that every day, teachers channel strength and consciousness towards enhancing real discussion and interactions with their students for their academic excellence.

At this, the importance of student-teacher interaction extends from enhancing positive values to achieving positive results in academic cumulative assessment practices. 

In the University of Virginia’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, educators developed a Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) for teachers. This includes viewing the class through a common lens by both teachers and students, discussing in a common language which will aide symbiotic understanding of any subject under discourse.

The provision of quality teacher-student interaction is also important in enhancing student learning.

In all of these, the CLASS has been suggested to be organized in ways which include:

A positive atmosphere for learning. This is an important emotional support for students which could ensure an emotional connection with teachers. This will lead to enjoying any interaction as there is no disturbance.

Teachers must be sensitive. The sensitivity of teachers extends from noting each emotion exhibited by the students as well as the utmost consciousness for each emotion they express to their students. Without tracking both the emotions of the students and theirs’, an effective emotional control will be lacking in the class.

Hence, the teacher’s responsiveness to their emotional needs in the classroom will aid academic progress and success.

Teachers must regard a student's perspectives. One of the things that injures a student is his weak self-confidence. Self-confidence can be enhanced by teachers if teachers give ears to their perspectives in any discussion.

By this, the teacher should listen to them, allow them to tell of their interests, know their various forms of motivation and respect their difference. By doing this, students will trust the teacher and emotional support would stem out of all these. Support is necessary for the academic environment.

The organization of the class stems from the behavioral management of the students by the teachers. Teachers must monitor and prevent their students’ misbehaviors. However, teachers must know that while doing this, it is defacing the face of the kid. To save the face, ego, and prestige of the kid, the teacher must redirect this behavior.

This will ensure no nursing of hatred towards themselves in the classroom.

Enhance productivity. As students and teachers respect timetables and the activities which enhance quality education, the time students spend with teachers will enhance extreme productivity in the courses.

Use of instructional learning materials and formats. The teachers can best engage students through means of easy understanding. Especially through learning materials that are relatable to the students, through vivid materials that could serve as a spectacle for students’ memory of class activities.

Ensuring this, teachers engage students by facilitating activities that aide learning in little or no time.

Teachers must know the art of concept development. While using instructional materials to teach, teachers must develop concepts around instructional discussions and activities to promote students’ creative and critical thinking abilities. A high thinking order and skill with cognitive excellence would enhance focus on the instructional materials, hence, understanding of such materials.

Quality feedback. Teachers must ensure that they get quality feedback from their students. This isn’t only related to passing and granting compliments from teachers to students and vice versa, it extends to knowing the extent of students’ understanding of a knowledge that has been transferred.

At this, teachers must ensure that their classes carry everyone along and the response is as quality as the teaching.

Language modeling in the classroom. Teachers can stimulate and facilitate language use in the classroom through the dimensions language is used. Teachers must be very conscious of the language used in the class.

This isn’t about a multi-cultural teaching environment alone, this is about integrating emotional language and language which students will easily connect to. Not vocabularies which could be difficult to comprehend or cuss words which could affect students’ morality and decency.

As these would ensure that students achieve the learning goals and would be a catalyst to academic excellence, it would also serve as a foundation to post-class excellence which would regulate extra-curricular learning and mastery.

Further, establishing a comfortable classroom would ensure the active participation of students in the class. Teachers who are engaged in class are passionately driven to enhance quality student education which would aide not just a strong relationship but a successful one which would lead to academic excellence.

Attention must be given to the fact that it would aide students' maturation. The importance of student-teacher interaction is the positive rapport that comes with an interaction with a non-parental authority. By this, students are permitted to define themselves in classes.

It further allows an adaption to the environment, growth of both social and emotional intelligence which is useful for all students at any level.

More so, students who struggle in school can find a positive relationship with teachers as aa good source of motivation to succeed. At this, students who face a lot of personal stress can find it easy to relate with teachers who would give positive energy and inculcate a positive belief system into the student. This is a good drive to academic excellence.

In all, a positive teacher-student interaction borders on mutual acceptance and acknowledgment, understanding and affection which would enhance intimacy between both teachers and students, hence, trust, respect, care, and cooperation.

With these elements, a teacher consciously tilts towards enhancing a positive student-teacher interaction for academic success as well as building a strong relationship that may last for long.

As written above, teachers influence their students as much as parents influence them. However, good interaction between them would ensure a productive impact on students’ enthusiasm towards education as well as students’ growth in their self-esteem.

By this, respectful informal interaction with students can enhance further motivation which could be channeled to active engagement of students in classes. Teachers must, hence, be emotionally connected to their students to aide their understanding, trust, and liberty of expression in class.

Further, as discussed above, teachers must use relatable means of enhancing students understanding through instructional materials. After creating a comfortable academic environment, a relatable means of learning must be used.

Teachers must also support their students, emotionally and academically as it will nurture the maturity of such students till they are strong enough.