Abstract
While positive teacher–student relationships are at the heart of teaching and learning, it is no easy task to improve these relationships and cultivate caring classroom communities. This study drew on key elements of improvement science. Three 9th grade language arts teachers and one researcher collaborated to plan, implement, study and revise an instructional routine for improving relationships with and among students. As part of this collaboration, the group created a survey to learn about students’ experiences in teachers’ classrooms. Through qualitative data collection and analysis, I examined teachers’ talk when collectively examining and discussing student survey data. Teachers’ talk turned towards and away from deeper investigations of pedagogical practice and the student survey. I describe patterns of teacher talk and analyse two episodes for which teachers collectively investigated their pedagogical practice and the routine as it related to their classroom environment. These episodes revealed that talking about survey results encouraged teachers to assess their classroom communities formatively, led to the creation of a teacher learning environment, influenced teachers’ practices, and evoked emotional and personal responses from teachers when looking at data connected to their classroom environments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boardman, A., Garcia, A., Dalton, B., & Polman, J.P. (2020). Compose Our World: Project-based learning in secondary English language arts. New York: Teachers College Press.
Bryk, A. S., Gomez, L. M., Grunow, A., & LeMahieu, P. G. (2015). Learning to improve: How America’s schools can get better at getting better. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Claessens, L., Van Tartwijk, J., Pennings, H., Van Der Want, A., Verloop, N., Den Brok, P., et al. (2016). Beginning and experienced secondary school teachers’ self- and student schema in positive and problematic teacher–student relationships. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 88–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.12.006.
Coburn, C. E., & Turner, E. O. (2012). The practice of data use: An introduction. American Journal of Education, 118(2), 99–111.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24(1), 249–305.
Coryn, C. L. S., Spybrook, J. K., Evergreen, S. D. H., & Blinkiewicz, M. (2009). Development and evaluation of the social-emotional learning scale. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(4), 283–295.
Crosnoe, R., Johnson, M. K., & Elder, G. H. (2004). Intergenerational bonding in school: The behavioral and contextual correlates of student–teacher relationships. Sociology of Education, 77, 60–81.
Darling-Hammond, L., Wei, R. C., & Johnson, C. M. (2009). Teacher preparation and teacher learning: A changing policy landscape. In G. Sykes, B. L. Schneider, & D. N. Plank (Eds.), Handbook of education policy and research (pp. 613–635). New York: American Education Research Association & Routledge.
Denham, S. A. (2016). Assessment in SEL in educational contexts. In J. A. Durlak, C. E. Domitrovich, R. P. Weissberg, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 285–300). New York: Guilford Press.
Farrell, C. C., & Marsh, J. A. (2016). Contributing conditions: A qualitative comparative analysis of teachers’ instructional responses to data. Teaching and Teacher Education, 60, 398–412.
Gaver, W. W., Dunne, T., & Pacenti, E. (1999). Cultural probes. Interactions. https://doi.org/10.1145/291224.291235.
Goldstein, L. S., & Lake, V. E. (2000). “Love, love, and more love for children”: Exploring preservice teachers’ understandings of caring. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 861–872.
Goodenow, C. (1993). Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: Relationships to motivation and achievement. Journal of Early Adolescence, 13(1), 21–43.
Gu, Q., & Day, C. (2007). Teachers resilience: A necessary condition for effectiveness. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1302–1316.
Hall, R., & Horn, I. S. (2012). Talk and conceptual change at work: Adequate representation and epistemic stance in a comparative analysis of statistical consulting and teacher workgroups. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 19(3), 240–258.
Hargreaves, A. (2000). Mixed emotions: Teachers’ perceptions of their interactions with students. Teacher and Teacher Education, 16, 811–826.
Horn, I. S., & Little, J. W. (2010). Attending to problems of practice: Routines and resources or professional learning in teachers’ workplace interactions. American Educational Research Journal, 47(1), 181–217.
Kim, M., & Schallert, D. L. (2011). Building caring relationships between a teacher and students in a teacher preparation program. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(7), 1059–1067.
Little, J. W. (2012). Understanding data use practice among teachers: The contribution of micro-process studies. American Journal of Education, 118(2), 143–166.
Means, B., Chen, E., DeBarger, A., & Padilla, C. (2011). Teachers’ ability to use data to inform instruction: Challenges and supports. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, US Department of Education.
Moje, E. B. (1996). “I teach students, not subjects”: Teacher–student relationships as contexts. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(2), 172–195.
Nguyen, T. D., Cannata, M., & Miller, J. (2018). Understanding student behavioral engagement: Importance of student interaction with peers and teachers. The Journal of Educational Research, 111(2), 163–174.
Patrick, H., Ryan, A. M., & Kaplan, A. (2007). Early adolescents’ perceptions of the classroom social environment, motivational beliefs, and engagement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(1), 83–98.
Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K., & Allen, J. P. (2012). Teacher-student relationships and engagement: Conceptualizing, measuring, and improving the capacity of classroom interactions. In S. L. Christenson, A. Reschley, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 365–386). Boston, MA: Springer.
Reddy, R., Rhodes, J. E., & Mulhall, P. (2003). The influence of teacher support on student adjustment in the middle school years: A latent growth curve study. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 119–138.
Rutledge, S. A., Brown, S., & Petrova, K. (2017). Scaling personalization: Exploring the implementation of an academic and social-emotional innovation in high schools. Peabody Journal of Education, 92(5), 627–648.
Schildkamp, K., Poortman, C. L., Ebbeler, J., & Pieters, J. M. (2019). How school leaders can build effective data teams: Five building blocks for a new wave of data-informed decision making. Journal of Educational Change, 20(3), 283–325.
Tichnor-Wagner, A., Wachen, J., Cannata, M., & Cohen-Vogel, L. (2017). Continuous improvement in the public school context: Understanding how educators respond to plan-do-study-act cycles. Journal of Educational Change, 18(4), 465–494.
Veldman, I., Tartwijk, J. Van, Brekelmans, M., & Wubbels, T. (2013). Job satisfaction and teacher-student relationships across the teaching career: Four case studies. Teaching and Teacher Education, 32, 55–65.
Yeager, D., Bryk, A., Muhich, J., Hausman, H., & Morales, L. (2013). Practical measurement. Retrieved from https://labs.la.utexas.edu/adrg/files/2013/12/Practical-Measurement.pdf.
Funding
Funding for this research was provided by George Lucas Educational Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Potvin, A.S. “Students speaking to you”: teachers listen to student surveys to improve classroom environment. Learning Environ Res 24, 239–252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-020-09330-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-020-09330-1