Supporting students’ learning: The power of the student–teacher relationship

Abstract

The learning relationship between students and those who teach them is intrinsic to student success (Thomas, Building student engagement and belonging at a time of change in higher education. London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation, 2012). Moreover, one of the factors that can lead to differential outcomes in student success is believed to stem from differences in the perceived and experienced learning relationships between students and their lecturers (Cousin and Cureton, Disparities in student attainment (DiSA). York: Higher Education Academy, 2012). This chapter considers the components of the student and teacher learning relationship that encourage students to be successful, and the multi-layered and multifaceted factors that can affect such relationships. The chapter will draw on the wider literature around learning relationships, whilst providing illustrative case studies from two research programmes: Disparities in Student Attainment (DiSA) and phase two of the What Works? project.