In our research on student-teacher relationships and its effect on student learning and achievement, we decided it was best to look at literature surrounding psychology and sociology. More specifically, educational psychology and student-teacher interactions. There is a large amount of literature that provides evidence that strong relationships between students and teachers are essential to the academic development of all students. Supportive student-teacher relationships are a critical factor in creating and maintaining a sense of school belonging that encourages positive behavioral and academic outcomes (Anderman & Anderman, 1999; Birch & Ladd, 1997).
The concept of learning differs depending on the perspective. Many definitions of learning have been proposed in psychology. A broad definition, states that learning is any process that leads living organisms to relatively permanent changes in potential behavior or capacities that result from experience (Dworetzki, 1982; Illeris, 2009; Myers, 1992). Three major perspectives come from behaviourist, cognitive- constructivist, and socio-constructivist. From a behaviourist perspective, learning is seen as a conditioning of reactions or responses to signals or stimuli in which a learner’s information processing is or can be
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A study by Gregory & Weinstein (2004) indicated that student-perceived teacher connection was the factor most closely associated with growth in achievement during teenage years. Both studies found that poor student teacher relationships were considered a predictor of sustained academic problems and an indicator of future school difficulties. These findings indicated the importance of teachers building solid relationships as they have a direct impact on academic achievement for many