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Editorial article, editorial: student-teacher relationship quality research: past, present and future.

• 1 Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
• 2 Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Editorial on the Research Topic Student-teacher relationship quality research: Past, present and future

More than 20 years have passed since the publication of Pianta (2001) on the quality of the teacher-student relationship. Since then, several attempts have been made to elaborate theoretically the concept of teacher-student relationship quality and to provide empirical evidence of the impact that good teacher-student relationship quality might have on academic achievement, student psychological adjustment, and classroom climate. The teacher has been recognized as a “psychological parent” and defined as a secure base and safe heaven, following attachment theory ( Verschueren and Koomen, 2012 , 2021 ; Prino et al., 2022 ; Spilt et al., 2022 ). Several studies have shown that a relationship with the teacher characterized by affection, closeness, and respect predicts more favorable developmental outcomes and better adjustment to the classroom context in any school setting ( Roorda et al., 2011 , 2017 ; Longobardi et al., 2019 , 2021 ; Lin et al., 2022 ). However, after 20 years, we saw the need to synthesize the current literature on the topic of teacher-learner relationship quality and to promote a collection of studies that provide new insights, ideas, and reflections to advance the research field and overcome current limitations.

In this Research Topic, 16 publications were collected from different parts of the world. The Research Topic includes two literature reviews, several empirical works, some of which aim to develop and validate instruments to measure the quality of the teacher-student relationship, and others to promote new knowledge about the effects and mechanisms of action of the quality of the teacher-learner relationship on the psychological development and adjustment processes of children and adolescents. In addition, the Research Topic includes a contribution on possible intervention strategies on the quality of teacher-student relationship.

Literature review

Spilt and Koomen present a chronological review of the literature that shows how the research field of teacher-student relationship quality has evolved over the past three decades. The authors highlight five major themes that have emerged in the literature and identify current research limitations, offering important suggestions for the development of new research. In addition, Shayo et al. proposed a review of the conceptualization and measurement of trust in the home-school context.

Measurement instrument development and validation

Borremans and Spilt addressed a topic that seems important to us. The authors devoted themselves to the validation of a questionnaire for measuring attitudes, knowledge, and self-efficacy in building dyadic relationships with students: Competence Measure of Individual Teacher-Student relationships (COMMIT). In this work, the authors developed the questionnaire and examined each dimension in a sample of pre-service teachers. Whitehead et al. developed and validated a new self-report instrument to measure adolescents' perceived teacher quality: Caring Student Teacher Relinquishment Scale. The instrument was validated on a sample of Canadian youth and has two dimensions: Teacher Support and Attitude and Caring Teacher Qualities. Yadav et al. propose the development and validation of a measurement scale for the Indian context, while Bai et al. present the development and validation of a version of the Student Teacher Relationships Scale for the private college context. Indeed, the latter point out that the current measurement scales are not applicable to the private school context due to characteristics different from those of public schools. Thus, in their article, propose the validation of the Private-College Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (PCSTRS). The authors also found a positive correlation between the PCSTRS and measures of wellbeing, involvement in extracurricular activities, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and academic achievement. In addition, the authors compared students from public and private schools and found differences in PCSTRS dimensions and correlation between the constructs studied. This paper paves the way for further research.

New horizons

The paper by Vagos and Carvalhais sought to find answers to the unknowns that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised with regard to teacher relations and the quality of the teacher-student relationship. In their longitudinal study, 47 teachers and 56 students assessed the quality of the teacher-student relationship at two different time points: after 3 months of online instruction and after 3 months of face-to-face instruction. According to the authors, online instruction is perceived by students as an impersonal experience, and online instruction is associated with less conflict in the teacher-student relationship due to the absence of social cues. Despite the importance of distance learning in the dramatic moments of the pandemic, it is considered useful to encourage teachers to connect with their students and prioritize social presence. This can help in the psychological adjustment of the students.

Conflict management in the classroom is addressed in the paper by Alvarez et al. The authors point out the importance of considering teachers' emotional regulation when managing conflict in the classroom. In addition, the authors suggest that virtual reality may be a good tool for training teachers in developing appropriate strategies for managing classroom climate.

One of the issues that requires greater investigation, particularly in collectivist cultures, is the degree of agreement between students and teachers regarding their mutual relationship. In this direction is the contribution of Gregoriadis et al. , who used a dyadic analysis approach to determine the degree of agreement between teachers' and students' perceptions of their relationship with each other. The study was conducted in Greece and found that students and teachers perceive their dyadic relationship from different perspectives.

A number of papers have been presented on the effects of the quality of the teacher-student relationship on students' and teachers' psychological adjustment and the possible mechanisms involved. Among them are two studies from Italy. Longobardi et al. provided new evidence on the possible mediating role of a positive teacher-student relationship in the relationship between daytime sleepiness and prosocial behavior in kindergarten children. Relatively less is known about how TSR influence teachers' functioning. In this direction, Pedditzi et al. found that satisfaction in the teacher-student relationship may be a protective factor for bournout in elementary and secondary school teachers.

Some studies have come from cultural contexts in which the quality of the teacher-student relationship has been little studied. Duby et al. proposed qualitative work conducted in South Africa. Based on teacher connectedness theory, the authors provided evidence of the potential impact of a good teacher-student relationship on promoting wellbeing, particularly sexual and reproductive wellbeing, among a group of female adolescents and young adults. In China, Luo et al. shed light on the possible moderating role of the teacher-student relationship in the relationship between parental punishment and adolescent loneliness. Among other findings, the authors report that Chinese adolescents' loneliness is less influenced by parental punishment when they have a more positive relationship with their teachers.

Finally, another contribution from the Chinese cultural context by Bo and Chinemerem Onwubuya . The authors offer a contribution from the Chinese cultural context. They illustrate the complexity of implementing the School Discipline Law as a universal national policy. Their contribution seems innovative, and the authors' reflections can serve as a guide for future research in other cultural contexts.

Interventions

The Research Topic also addressed intervention strategies designed to promote better quality teacher-student relationships in educational contexts. Koenen et al. tested Student Teacher Interaction Coaching (STIC) with six teachers working with children with special needs. Working with children with special needs can be very complex, especially for teachers who are early in their careers. The pilot study proposed by the authors seems to suggest that STIC could be a useful intervention to improve the quality of the teacher-student relationship and increase positive emotions in the relationship.

Author contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Lin, S., Fabris, M. A., and Longobardi, C. (2022). Closeness in student–teacher relationships and students' psychological well-being: the mediating role of hope. J. Emot. Behav. Diso. 30, 44–53. doi: 10.1177/10634266211013756

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Roorda, D. L., Jak, S, Zee, M., Oort, F. J., and Koomen, H. M. Y. (2017). Affective teacher-student relationships and students' engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic update and test of the mediating role of engagement. School Psychol. Rev. 46, 1–23. doi: 10.17105/SPR-2017-0035.V46-3

Roorda, D. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., Spilt, J. L., and Oort, F. J. (2011). The influence of affective teacher–student relationships on students' school engagement and achievement: a meta-analytic approach. Rev. Educ. Res . 81, 493–529. doi: 10.3102/0034654311421793

Spilt, J. L., Verschueren, K., Van Minderhout, M. B., and Koomen, H. M. (2022). Practitioner Review: Dyadic teacher–child relationships: comparing theories, empirical evidence and implications for practice. J. Child Psychol. Psychiat . 63, 724–733. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13573

Verschueren, K., and Koomen, H. (2021). Dependency in teacher–child relationships: Deepening our understanding of the construct. Attach. Hum. Develop. 23, 481–489. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2020.1751986

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Keywords: student-teacher relationships, editorial, psychological adjustment, school-environment relations, academic achievement

Citation: Fabris MA, Roorda D and Longobardi C (2022) Editorial: Student-teacher relationship quality research: Past, present and future. Front. Educ. 7:1049115. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.1049115

Received: 21 September 2022; Accepted: 03 October 2022; Published: 19 October 2022.

Edited and reviewed by: Ting-Chia Hsu , National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan

Copyright © 2022 Fabris, Roorda and Longobardi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Claudio Longobardi, claudio.longobardi@unito.it

This article is part of the Research Topic

Student-Teacher Relationship Quality Research: Past, Present and Future

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Toward the Positive Consequences of Teacher-Student Rapport for Students' Academic Engagement in the Practical Instruction Classrooms

Due to the fact that teacher-student rapport may favorably influence students' academic behaviors, several scholars have empirically studied the impact of this interpersonal communication behavior on a range of student-related variables. Notwithstanding, academic engagement as another student-related variable has received less empirical attention. Further, no review study has been carried out to illustrate the beneficial outcomes of teacher-student rapport for students' involvement. The current study, hence, aims to fill these gaps by explaining the construct of teacher-student-rapport and its positive consequences for students' academic engagement in the practical instruction classrooms. Drawing on the available evidence, the positive impact of teacher-student rapport on students' academic engagement was illuminated. The significant implications of the finding are also discussed.

Introduction

In classroom interactions, teachers and students may influence each other either positively or negatively (Luo et al., 2020 ). A negative teacher-student relationship may lead to stress, anxiety, and aggression in students (Hashemi, 2011 ; Alnuzaili and Uddin, 2020 ). Accordingly, creating a positive relationship with pupils is among the top priorities of teachers in any educational setting, especially in the practical instruction classrooms. A positive and favorable relationship between teachers and students is called teacher-student rapport (Frisby and Martin, 2010 ). Reyes and Von Anthony ( 2020 ) defined this construct as “a harmonious teacher–student relationship which encompasses enjoyment, connection, respect, and mutual trust” (p. 2). As put forward by Wilson et al. ( 2010 ), to establish rapport in classrooms, teachers should pay attention to students' interests, value their beliefs and ideas, and allow them to freely express their feelings toward instruction.

In addition, having a sense of humor and providing continuous feedback are also enumerated as the approaches through which instructors can create a close relationship with their pupils (Frisby et al., 2017 ). To illuminate the significance of teacher-student rapport, Ibarra ( 2014 ) stated that the strong rapport between teachers and students can contribute to desirable academic behaviors. In this regard, Nathan ( 2018 ) postulated that those instructors who are able to build a harmonious relationship with their pupils can effectively improve students' sense of accomplishment, which contributes to their increased autonomy.

Additionally, Xie and Derakhshan ( 2021 ) also illustrated that positive teacher interpersonal behaviors such as teacher-student rapport can positively and dramatically influence student learning outcomes. Given the importance of teacher-student rapport in academic contexts, several studies have explored the positive outcomes of this factor for students' motivation (e.g., Opdenakker et al., 2012 ; Koca, 2016 ; Frisby et al., 2017 ; Henry and Thorsen, 2018 ; Zheng et al., 2021 ), learning achievement (e.g., Yunus et al., 2011 ; Hughes et al., 2012 ; Wubbels et al., 2016 ), and academic success (e.g., Camp, 2011 ; Estepp and Roberts, 2013 ; Jimerson and Haddock, 2015 ; Lammers et al., 2017 ). Yet, the desirable consequences of teacher-student rapport for other student-related variables such as academic engagement have received less attention (e.g., Estepp and Roberts, 2015 ; Geng et al., 2020 ).

In a general sense, student academic engagement refers to “the quality of students' participation or connection with the educational endeavor and hence with activities, values, individuals, aims, and place that comprise it” (Skinner et al., 2009 , p. 496). When it comes to the practical instruction classroom contexts, student academic engagement pertains to the amount of effort that learners dedicate to learn a new language (Hiver et al., 2021 ). Barkatsas et al. ( 2009 ) stated that students' academic engagement can lead to increased achievement, enhanced retention, and academic success. That is, those students who exert more effort in doing classroom activities are more likely to acquire course content. Thus, exploring factors that may positively contribute to students' academic engagement seems essential.

In line with this necessity, some empirical studies (e.g., Ghelichli et al., 2020 ; Derakhshan, 2021 ; Jiang and Zhang, 2021 ) have examined the desirable outcomes of various personal and interpersonal factors for student academic engagement. However, as previously mentioned, the favorable effects of teacher-student rapport as an important interpersonal factor on students' academic engagement have been less investigated. Additionally, no review study has been carried out to illustrate the beneficial consequences of teacher-student rapport for students' academic engagement. To fill this gap, the present review study attempts to explain the positive consequences of teacher-student rapport for student academic engagement in the practical instruction classrooms.

Teacher-Student Rapport

As a positive interpersonal factor, teacher-student rapport is conceptualized as “an emotional connection between teachers and their pupils based on understanding, caring, and mutual respect” (Lammers and Byrd, 2019 , p. 128). Teacher-student rapport is a close bond between instructors and learners that enables them to work jointly in classroom contexts (Culpeper and Kan, 2020 ). As put forward by Weimer ( 2010 ), valuing students' ideas and viewpoints is a key to build a strong rapport with them. In this regard, Estepp and Roberts ( 2015 ) postulated that demonstrating concern for students' welfare is also essential for establishing a positive relationship with them. Taken together, those teachers who respect students' ideas and pay attention to their well-being are able to develop a strong connection with their pupils. Building rapport in classrooms is of high importance, mostly due to the fact that having close relationships with students motivates them to collaborate with instructors in order to attain their mutual objectives (Frisby et al., 2016 ).

Student Academic Engagement

Student academic engagement refers to “the quality of the effort students themselves devote to educationally purposeful activities that contribute directly to the desired outcomes” (Hu and Kuh, 2002 , p. 557). As a complex construct, student academic engagement comprises three components of “ Behavioral Engagement ,” “ Affective Engagement ,” and “ Cognitive Engagement ” (Jimerson et al., 2003 ). As the first sub-construct, behavioral engagement relates to students' active participation/involvement in academic tasks and activities. The second sub-construct of student academic engagement, known as affective engagement, refers to students' inner feelings regarding the instructional-learning context, peers, and instructors. Cognitive engagement, as the last component, pertains to the positive perceptions and attitudes of pupils toward their instructors, classmates, and the learning context (Alrashidi et al., 2016 ).

The Positive Consequences of Teacher-Student Rapport for Students' Academic Engagement in the Practical Instruction Classrooms

To explain the positive consequences of teacher-student rapport, Ibarra ( 2014 ) stated that establishing friendly relations with pupils enables teachers to enhance students' willingness to engage in the learning process. In this regard, Pedler et al. ( 2020 ) also submitted that having positive relationships with teachers encourages students to enthusiastically participate in classroom tasks. Further, Xie and Derakhshan ( 2021 ) elucidated that positive interpersonal behaviors (e.g., confirmation, clarity, stroke, rapport, etc.) that teachers employ in instructional-learning contexts can remarkably promote students' learning engagement. Similarly, by relying on the basic assumptions of the positive psychology movement, Budzinska and Majchrzak ( 2021 ) suggested that students' academic behaviors such as engagement can be considerably enhanced in a positive learning atmosphere. To them, teachers can provide such pleasant atmosphere by developing a close and harmonious relationship with their pupils.

Empirical Studies

Owing to the fact that teacher-student rapport can contribute to desirable academic behaviors (Ibarra, 2014 ; Wang et al., 2021 ), a large number of studies have probed into the positive consequences of this construct. Nevertheless, the beneficial effects of this positive interpersonal behavior on students' engagement have remained elusive. That is, compared to other academic behaviors, student academic engagement has received less attention (e.g., Estepp and Roberts, 2015 ; Geng et al., 2020 ; Snijders et al., 2020 ; Wanders et al., 2020 ). Estepp and Roberts ( 2015 ), for instance, examined the impact of teacher-student rapport on students' engagement. To do so, 306 university students were selected from different countries. To elicit participants' viewpoints, they were invited to respond to two close-ended questionnaires, namely Professor-Student Rapport Scale (PSRS) and Student Academic Engagement Questionnaire (SAEQ). Analyzing respondents' answers, they found that teacher-student rapport is a strong predictor of students' academic engagement. By the same token, Geng et al. ( 2020 ) also attempted to scrutinize the positive effects of positive teacher-student relationships on Chinese students' learning engagement. To this aim, 628 Chinese students took part in this study. They were asked to complete two reliable questionnaires. Inspecting the correlations of the utilized questionnaires, the researchers reported that there was a positive connection between positive teacher-student relationships and Chinese students' academic engagement. In their study, Wanders et al. ( 2020 ) also studied the probable association between teacher-student connection and students' involvement. In doing so, 4,128 students were opted from different schools in the Netherlands. The analysis of students' perceptions revealed a strong association between positive teacher-student relationships and student involvement.

Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications

So far, different conceptualizations of teacher-student rapport and student academic engagement, their underlying dimensions, and their interrelationships were thoroughly explained. The previous studies conducted on these variables were also summarized to illuminate the positive consequences of teacher-student rapport for students' academic engagement. Drawing on the existing evidence, one can infer that favorable relationship between teachers and students can desirably influence students' academic engagement. An important implication of this is that those people who are in charge of training pre-service teachers should teach them how to establish pleasant and friendly relationships with students. It is due to the fact that inexperienced and novice teachers typically do not know how to establish a strong rapport with their pupils (Farhah et al., 2021 ). Another important implication that emerges from the finding of this study is related to both pre and in-service teachers. Since teacher-student rapport plays a pivotal role in fostering student academic engagement (Budzinska and Majchrzak, 2021 ; Wang et al., 2021 ; Xie and Derakhshan, 2021 ), teachers in any educational context should employ appropriate interpersonal behaviors to create a close relationship with students.

Author Contributions

XZ confirmed being an independent author and submitted to this special issue.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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What public k-12 teachers want americans to know about teaching.

Illustrations by Hokyoung Kim

At a time when most teachers are feeling stressed and overwhelmed in their jobs, we asked 2,531 public K-12 teachers this open-ended question:

If there’s one thing you’d want the public to know about teachers, what would it be?

We also asked Americans what they think about teachers to compare with teachers’ perceptions of how the public views them.

Related: What’s It Like To Be a Teacher in America Today?

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand what public K-12 teachers would like Americans to know about their profession. We also wanted to learn how the public thinks about teachers.

For the open-end question, we surveyed 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023. The teachers surveyed are members of RAND’s American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative panel of public K-12 school teachers recruited through MDR Education. Survey data is weighted to state and national teacher characteristics to account for differences in sampling and response to ensure they are representative of the target population.

Overall, 96% of surveyed teachers provided an answer to the open-ended question. Center researchers developed a coding scheme categorizing the responses, coded all responses, and then grouped them into the six themes explored in the data essay.

For the questions for the general public, we surveyed 5,029 U.S. adults from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16, 2023. The adults surveyed are members of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, a nationally representative online survey panel. Panel members are randomly recruited through probability-based sampling, and households are provided with access to the Internet and hardware if needed. To ensure that the results of this survey reflect a balanced cross section of the nation, the data is weighted to match the U.S. adult population by gender, age, education, race and ethnicity and other categories.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, the teacher survey methodology and the general public survey methodology .

Most of the responses to the open-ended question fell into one of these six themes:

Teaching is a hard job

About half of teachers (51%) said they want the public to know that teaching is a difficult job and that teachers are hardworking. Within this share, many mentioned that they have roles and responsibilities in the classroom besides teaching, which makes the job stressful. Many also talked about working long hours, beyond those they’re contracted for.

“Teachers serve multiple roles other than being responsible for teaching curriculum. We are counselors, behavioral specialists and parents for students who need us to fill those roles. We sacrifice a lot to give all of ourselves to the role as teacher.”

– Elementary school teacher

“The amount of extra hours that teachers have to put in beyond the contractual time is ridiculous. Arriving 30 minutes before and leaving an hour after is just the tip of the iceberg. … And as far as ‘having summers off,’ most of August is taken up with preparing materials for the upcoming school year or attending three, four, seven days’ worth of unpaid development training.”

– High school teacher

Teachers care about their students

The next most common theme: 22% of teachers brought up how fulfilling teaching is and how much teachers care about their students. Many gave examples of the hardships of teaching but reaffirmed that they do their job because they love the kids and helping them succeed. 

“We are passionate about what we do. Every child we teach is important to us and we look out for them like they are our own.”

– Middle school teacher

“We are in it for the kids, and the most incredible moments are when children make connections with learning.”

Teachers are undervalued and disrespected

Some 17% of teachers want the public to know that they feel undervalued and disrespected, and that they need more public support. Some mentioned that they are well-educated professionals but are not treated as such. And many teachers in this category responded with a general plea for support from the public, which they don’t feel they’re getting now.

“We feel undervalued. The public and many parents of my students treat me and my peers as if we do not know as much as they do, as if we are uneducated.”

“The public attitudes toward teachers have been degrading, and it is making it impossible for well-qualified teachers to be found. People are simply not wanting to go into the profession because of public sentiments.”

Teachers are underpaid

A similar share of teachers (15%) want the public to know that teachers are underpaid. Many teachers said their salary doesn’t account for the effort and care they put into their students’ education and believe that their pay should reflect this.

“We are sorely underpaid for the amount of hours we work and the education level we have attained.”

Teachers need support and resources from government and administrators

About one-in-ten teachers (9%) said they need more support from the government, their administrators and other key stakeholders. Many mentioned working in understaffed schools, not having enough funding and paying for supplies out of pocket. Some teachers also expressed that they have little control over the curriculum that they teach.

“The world-class education we used to be proud of does not exist because of all the red tape we are constantly navigating. If you want to see real change in the classroom, advocate for smaller class sizes for your child, push your district to cap class sizes at a reasonable level and have real, authentic conversations with your child’s teacher about what is going on in the classroom if you’re curious.”

Teachers need more support from parents

Roughly the same share of teachers (8%) want the public to know that teachers need more support from parents, emphasizing that the parent-teacher relationship is strained. Many view parents as partners in their child’s education and believe that a strong relationship improves kids’ overall social and emotional development.

“Teachers help students to reach their potential. However, that job is near impossible if parents/guardians do not take an active part in their student’s education.”

How the U.S. public views teachers

While the top response from teachers in the open-ended question is that they want the public to know that teaching is a hard job, most Americans already see it that way. Two-thirds of U.S. adults say being a public K-12 teacher is harder than most other jobs, with 33% saying it’s a lot harder.

And about three-quarters of Americans (74%) say teachers should be paid more than they are now, including 39% who say teachers should be paid a lot more.

Americans are about evenly divided on whether the public generally looks up to (32%) or down on (30%) public K-12 teachers. Some 37% say Americans neither look up to or down on public K-12 teachers.

In addition to the open-ended question about what they want the public to know about them, we asked teachers how much they think most Americans trust public K-12 teachers to do their job well. We also asked the public how much they trust teachers. Answers differ considerably.

Nearly half of public K-12 teachers (47%) say most Americans don’t trust teachers much or at all. A third say most Americans trust teachers some, and 18% say the public trusts teachers a great deal or a fair amount.

In contrast, a majority of Americans (57%) say they do trust public K-12 teachers to do their job well a great deal or a fair amount. About a quarter (26%) say they trust teachers some, and 17% say they don’t trust teachers much or at all.

Related: About half of Americans say public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction

How the public’s views differ by party

There are sizable party differences in Americans’ views of teachers. In particular, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say:

• They trust teachers to do their job well a great deal or a fair amount (70% vs. 44%)
• Teaching is a lot or somewhat harder when compared with most other jobs (77% vs. 59%)
• Teachers should be paid a lot or somewhat more than they are now (86% vs. 63%)

In their own words

Below, we have a selection of quotes that describe what teachers want the public to know about them and their profession.

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

THE STORY I WISH I HAD

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Main Article Content

This essay is a personal narrative about the story behind the author’s desire to become a teacher. The narrative highlights the author’s journey and the challenges she faced throughout her experiences in school, which in turn provided insight into the kind of teacher she hopes to become.

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Tristen Collins, Indiana University East Student

Tristen Collins is a junior from Pitsburg, Ohio. She is majoring in Elementary Education and minoring in Mild Intervention.