Teachers Make a Difference: The Long-Term Influence of Positive Teacher-Student Relationships

Effective teachers are defined and evaluated based on their instructional practices and student achievement outcomes, but what is undeniably missing from these evaluations is the teacher’s ability to connect and form strong, positive relationships with students. This, along with their instructional practices, is what truly makes them an effective teacher, not only resulting in academic achievement, but long-term outcomes for a student’s life. Growing research supports the notion that social and emotional learning, including positive connections, has its rightful place in the classroom and the importance of it can no longer be ignored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term impacts of a strong, positive teacher-student relationship. The study was informed through former students who credit a teacher with positively affecting long-term outcomes in their lives that goes beyond academic performance and school experience. The study analyzed the specific qualities of the teacher that had lasting impacts on students, the attributes of that strong, positive connection, the sustained benefits of that relationship, and how that relationship and ultimately the teacher, impacted the student’s life long-term. This study sought to shed light on the influence of a positive teacher-student relationship on a student’s life beyond school using former students’ memories and the critical implications these strong, positive relationships can have for a student long-term. This study also sought to critique how current school systems and administrators evaluate teachers and provide evidence that might shed light on alternative ways to measure teacher effectiveness by incorporating positive teacher-student relationships into comprehensive teacher evaluations through student surveys and relationship rating scales. This study also has the potential to inform policy makers, administrators, and college preparatory programs on the importance of not only emphasizing social and emotional learning, but also in training teachers how to form strong, positive relationships with students, why they are so critical for a student’s social, emotional, and academic development, and just how far-reaching and impactful that relationship can be in the life of the student long-term. By examining the personal narratives of former students, the study revealed that there is a relational progression of a positive teacher-student relationship that ultimately leads to long-term impacts well beyond their school years. This study was able to uncover the type of teacher it takes to form strong connections with students, the type of relationship that is developed and maintained, and the benefits students experience from having that positive relationship; all of which ultimately leads to impactful and long-term influences in their adult lives. Relationships do matter and do have the ability to influence a student’s college, career, personal well-being, self-actualization, and life-long skills. This study portrayed a natural progression in a chain of events that began with a specific type of teacher who established a strong, positive influential relationship with a student that produced positive outcomes personally and academically, which led to long term outcomes with lasting impacts for the student. The results of this study reveal that positive teacher-student relationships have not only short-term benefits for students while they are in school, but arguably more important, long-term advantages that impact students well into their adult lives resulting in being happier, healthier, and more contributing members of society