Teacher-student interaction in the context of higher education

The article addresses the issue of teacher-student relationship in Russian higher education environment. The aim of the study is to identify challenges and problems faced by first- and second-year Russian students in interaction with university teaching staff and consider ways of solving them. The paper presents the analysis of student survey results, which contained closed and open-ended questions. Quantitative and qualitative research methods, applied in the study, allowed to confirm students’ needs for respectful attitude and teacher’s support. Respectful teacher’s attitude was found to be more significant for harmonizing classroom environment than teacher’s ability to effectively transfer subject-related knowledge. Recommendations on establishing balanced teacher-student relationship and minimizing anxiety in higher education settings are given. The findings are in relation to teacher development programmes and their potential in providing teaching staff with pedagogical and psychological knowledge for establishing cooperative teaching and learning. Suggestions for further research including teacher-student interaction from teacher’s perspective are outlined