According to the research, the impact of the conflict between students and teachers can be long term. All those children who experiences a conflicting relationship with their teachers in the first grade reflects very low level of achievement in the academics and are not likely to get along well with their teachers (Buyse et al). According to Baker, it is highly important for children to have a good relationship with their teachers as poor relations between students and teachers may result in learning problems of behavioural difficulties. When the children are able to gain trust of their teachers and develop closer relationships with them then they are able to show substantial advantages as compared to other children in the class who are not able to develop such relationships. Baker also identified that students which are able to establish positive relationship with their teachers are able to reflect positive adaptation to school without being affected by grade level or gender.
As students make an entry to the high school or even middle school, the relationships that they develop with teachers changes as they move on from spending substantial time with a single teacher to interacting with several teachers at one time. Many researchers have explored this area and identified how this change affects the relationship between teachers and students and the occurrence of conflicts between them. For instance, according to Murray and Malmgren, on surveying the high school students of African American, it was identified that behavioural and emotional difficulties affects the relationship of students and teachers negatively which results in greater occurrence of conflicts. The study involved interventions such as regular home phone calls, meetings and communication of high expectations. The results of this study showed that there is a positive impact in the average performance of employees as such interventions motivated students and enabled them to overcome their emotional difficulties. Such coordination between students and teachers results in less chance of conflict occurrence (Murray and Malmgren).
It is widely accepted that there is a link between disengagement and lower academic achievement. Some of the researchers have directly interviewed the children with the aim of determining the causes of disinterest in school. Daniels and Araposthasis suggests that such disinterest of children results in poor relationship between students and teachers which may lead to conflicts in some cases. Daniel and Araposthasis communicated with different high school students and asked them about the factors which may encourage them to remain engaged and be willing to learn what their teachers are trying to teach. The survey identified that students wants their teachers to build up trust and devise lesson plans in such a way that students find learning interesting and relevant. The students showed their preference towards declining emphasis being placed upon extrinsic rewards for example assessment grades which have less importance in the eyes of certain students (Daniel and Araposthasis).
Some of the researches identified that disciplinary problems are the main reason for poor relationship between students and teachers which leads to conflicts at a later stage. The teacher finds himself in a very frustrating position as the students create greater trouble and chaos preventing the teacher to achieve the set goals (Cothran and Ennis). Students on the other hand feel bored, disinterested and disengaged. In such case, their lack of concentration and lack of attention becomes the reason behind their behaviours. Making listening mandatory will not solve the problem. To resolve this issue, the teacher needs to be provided with enough training to motivate and engage students present in the classroom. Such interacting between the teacher and the students will enable them to become an important part of the learning process and will enable the teachers to avoid conflicts with the students as the students will feel important and motivated (Cothran and Ennis).
Another reason behind the conflicts between students and teachers are the social and personal problems (Baker). A student might be going through some family and personal problems which prevents the student from being attentive or creative in the classroom. The student in such case might feel illusional and distractive. Teachers need to develop an effective relationship with the students to obtain trust and confidence of the students. In case teacher fails to understand the situation and problems of the students, a student might demonstrate difficult behavior which might lead to conflicts (Baker; Daniels and Arapostathis).
All teachers are not able to develop positive relationship with the students. According to Baker, the abilities of the teachers to establish and maintain positive relationships with the students are affected by their experience, personality type and quality of their personal relationships. As stress is linked to an individual evaluation of their own circumstances, it is significant for all the individuals who are acing in supervisory roles to react to the situation when teachers raise their voice regarding workload. It is highly important for the management to listen and respond to the concerns of the teachers. Failure to do so will result in poor relations between teachers and students, thus leading to conflicts (Baker). According to the research carried out by Mantzicopoulos, it was identified that teachers who considers their classroom responsibilities challenging and difficult had greater levels of conflicts with their students whereas teachers who had significant experience and considered their job as motivating and encouraging found to have good relationships with their students and less conflict. It is suggested that the management of the schools and educational institutions must provide the teachers with additional support and training by implementing programs such as mentoring and professional development in order to minimize conflicts between teachers and students and promote healthier relationships.
Buys et al. suggests that it is highly important for the management of educational institutions to address the needs of the teachers. The institutions must have employee assistance programs so that effective assistance can be provided to teachers in diagnosing and treating serious conditions such as depression. At present, the focus in many schools over improvement of student teacher relationship has been centered towards dealing with the difficulties between individual children and teachers. Further attention must also be given to the teachers assistants in the development of classroom management skills (Buys et al.). According to Wu, Hughes, and Kwok, some teachers may find it difficult to build trust and a positively strong relationship with the children who demonstrate an over confident attitude. Teachers are more likely to consider these children as deliberately non complying which leads to them treating such children with harsh attitude and behavior. If the management assist the teachers through training and development programs to make them realize that such students seek a way to demonstrate their insecurity and lack of confidence in their ability, the attitudes of teachers can surely be changed positively towards such students which will result in less chances of conflict between them (Wu, Hughes and Kwok).
A research carried out by Cothran and Ennis identified that there is a conflict of interest between students and teachers over many aspects of class. While discussing with the students and teachers, they identified that each group had a conflict over the behavior preferences and content. It was identified that students and teachers do not consider education and take it in the same way. If students would consider education as important as teachers then there will be no conflict of interest between teachers and students. According to Cothran and Ennis, the relationship between students and teachers faces a lot of challenges due to the conflict of interest. A conflict was identified between students and teachers over the focus for education. In the past, in case of the occurrence of such conflicts teachers were more likely to deal with the situation and resolve issues by using their power and moral authority. However increasingly, students are now likely to question the authority of teachers and their selection of content. This has made the relationship
between students and teachers more complicated and complex (Cothran and Ennis).
Cothran and Ennis also identified during their study that students tend to use personality power strategies and non-participation as a way to affect the class processes negatively. A few students also mentioned a number of aggressive strategies to disrupt class processes. Such students were highly aware of their power in the classroom and were more eager to use such power to achieve their own personal goals which are usually conflicting with the goals of the teacher. It was identified that students intentionally disrupt instructions or the class. Disrupting the class might mean interfering in the class activity unnecessarily or disturbing the teacher. Such disruption or students with such goals and attitudes are more likely to come into conflict with the teacher (Cothram and Ennis). Sedlak also mentioned about a number of disruptive students and their strategies which might undermine the authority of teachers including those who are highly committed to the academic learning process. Even if the classroom comprise of a very few disruptive students, the entire learning process might collapse leading to failure. As such activities prevent the teacher from effectively implementing their lesson plans and achieving their set goals, there is higher risk that the teacher student relationship will become intense leading to conflicts. Sedlak emphasized that it is highly important for teachers to emphasize and focus greatly on the social relations in order to improve their relationship with the students. They identified that it is highly important for the teachers to personally interact with the students and implement teaching style and methodologies which ensure maximum interaction among the students as well. This will result in reduced disruption in the classroom even if the disruptive students are present.
Another reason why students fail to cooperate with the teachers is that the teacher fails to adopt effective methods and tactics in the classroom. The adoption of traditional or old methods and teaching styles may result in the demotivation of students making them disinterested in the classroom. The lessons become boring and the teacher using old ways fails to engage the children in the learning process. The occurrence of conflict between teachers and students is more likely to take place in such circumstances (Wu, Hughes and Kwok). According to Wu, Hughes and Kwok, if teachers observe and self evaluate themselves that this will lead to an adoption of new and innovative ways and styles of teaching. This will lead to greater chance of teacher creating a healthy classroom environment and motivating students to get engaged in the learning process.
Overall, recently students are more likely to question the authority and power of teachers and their choice of action which has made the relationship between teachers and students more complicated. If the relationship between teachers and students is not very strong, then there are increasing chances of conflicts. From the above analysis, it can be said that it is highly important for teachers to have a strong social relationship with the students to avoid conflicts and have healthy relationship.
References
Baker, Jean. “Contributions Of Teacher-Child Relationships To Positive School Adjustment During Elementary School.” Journal of School Psychology 44.3 (2006): 211-229
Buyse, Evelien, Verschueren, Karine, Verachtert, Pieter and Van Damme, Jan. “Predicting School Adjustment In Early Elementary School: Impact Of Teacher-Child Relationship Quality And Relational Classroom Climate.” Elementary School Journal 110.2 (2009): 119- 141
Cothran, Donetta and Ennis, Catherine. “Student And Teachers Perceptions Of Conflict And Power.” Teaching and Teacher Educaion 13 (1997), 541-553
Daniels, Erika and Arapostathis, Mark. “What Do They Really Want?: Student Voices And Motivation Research.” Urban Education 40.1 (2005): 34-59.
Mantzicopoulos, Panayota. “Conflictual Relationships Between Kindergarten Children And Their Teachers: Associations With Child And Classroom Context Variables.” Journal of School Psychology 43.5 (2005): 425-442.
Murray, Christopher. and Malmgren, Kimber. “Implementing A Teacher-Student Relationship Program In A High-Poverty Urban School: Effects On Social, Emotional, And Academic Adjustment And Lessons Learned.” Journal of School Psychology 43.2 (2005): 137-152.
Sedlak, Michael. Selling students short. New York: Teachers College Press, 1986.
Wu, Jy., Hughes, Jan. and Kwok, Oi-Man. “Teacher-Student Relationship Quality Type In Elementary Grades: Effects On Trajectories For Achievement And Engagement.” Journal of School Psychology 48.5 (2010): 357-387.
