The Influence of Positive Faculty-Student Relationships on Student Engagement: The Basics

Kurt Hubbard, PhD, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA

Abstract 

Relationships between faculty and students are foundational to the learning environment. Positive faculty-student relationships play an essential role in overall student development. Research continues to implicate the benefits of emotionally supportive faculty-student relationships and the impact on students' academic stability. Educational researchers often argue that interpersonal relationships are directly associated with students’ personal, social, and academic well-being. Therefore, it is crucial to find ways to understand students’ academic, persona, and social needs to increase student motivation. This article aims to explore how faculty can build relationships with students to improve the quality of student outcomes in Occupational Therapy Education. The faculty-student relationship should focus relationship development as an active interaction to shape a mutually inclusive environment. The aim is to highlight positive relationships among faculty and students to foster positive behaviors, increased achievement, and motivational outcomes. 

Introduction

Research states that students' perceptions of their social environment directly correlate to student engagement (Hughes & Cao, 2018). While student achievement was directly associated with high levels of school expectations, the faculty-student relationship remained a significant and beneficial predictor of all student outcomes examined (Lee, 2012). A key component to creating inincludeons that support positive faculty-student relationships includes engaging online practices that are used to influence student engagement. An educators' ability to influence student outcomes lies with the understanding of how faculty perceive positive interactions with students. This is crucial to overall academic student engagement (Goktas, 2023; Xu & Yang, 2019). 

The impetus for this article is for faculty to initiate basic best practices and instruction to help mitigate negative influences that may impact the positive development of faculty-student relationships. A better understanding of how faculty develop positive relationships with their students may add to the development of more effective ways to increase engagement in the classroom. Classroom interactions occur in a variety of settings in OT education. This can be face to face, lab emersion, or online via synchronous /asynchronous interactions. A further analysis of developing positive relationships between faculty and students to influence student engagement, may provide an opportunity to improve student participation, thus improving academic performance. 

Student outcomes

The student’s ability to actively engage in the classroom demonstrates a level of comfortability and confidence. Students demonstrate a more passive stance by complying with rules, following instructions, and becoming less confrontational because they are more emotionally engaged (Abou-Khalil et al., 2021). A supportive learning environment attributes to the teaching and learning process (Achor et al., 2019). Brinkworth et al. (2018) describe the relationships between faculty and student as a fundamental contribution to student success. Although faculty express different expectations for students, ideally, how teachers display such expectations has a tremendous impact on student outcomes (Braun et al., 2022). 

Although faculty need to communicate expected behaviors, it is also important to clarify expectations and engage in dialogue that promotes positive student outcomes (Hajovsky et al., 2020). The nature of dyadic relationships provides students with emotional security and the necessary support to express themselves and deal with the various challenges they face (Timmermans et al., 2019). When faculty display a caring and compassionate disposition, it influences the way students view themselves and perceive their abilities. Owusu-Ansah and Keyei-Blankson (2016), suggests the following strategies for improving teacher-student connectedness: 

1. Get to know the student as an individual.
2. Recognize students’ goals and aspirations.
3. Be attentive to diverse learning styles and backgrounds of individual students. 
4. Encourage student input and be responsive to the classroom environment.
5. Provide timely, specific constructive feedback on activities, assessments, and classwork. 
6. Provide a safe, supportive, and fair learning environment where students are encouraged to learn and grow and feel free to ask questions or respond to questions without fear of being wrong or embarrassed. 
7. Demonstrate clarity and encourage an environment of understanding with behavioral and academic expectations. 

It is important for faculty to be empathetic and model a sense of care and concern. Students normally work to their greatest learning levels when they have a sense of belonging (Richardson, 2019). Therefore, the teachers must encourage an environment that is favorable to producing positive effects. 

Concept of Teaching and Student Relationships

Various educators demonstrate differentiation of instruction, ideas, and concepts of interacting with their students (Scherzinger et al 2019). When teachers focus on students' strengths and provide them with an opportunity for positive learning, effective engagement occurs between them (Wang & Kuo, 2019). The way faculty interact with their students' influences how they receive new knowledge and create experiences in their minds (Servet, 2018). Servet (2018) defines learning as a permanent change in behavior, which occurs as a result of certain levels of interaction with the individual's environment. Therefore, instruction need to establish consistency when providing rationales and relevant information to students (Wang & Kuo, 2019). Tas et al., (2019) describe several characteristics that encourage a harmonious relationship between faculty and students: 

1. Interacting with students in a trustful and respectful manner. 
2. Inspiring and encouraging students to do and be their best. 
3. Initiating guidance, support, and direction.
4. Building a collaborative partnership that involves active input and voice of the student. 
5. Initiating a kind and sympathetic way that encourages students’ academic and social stability.
6. Creating a safe and creative platform that allows students to adjust in difficult situations or environments.
7. Encouraging students to identify their strengths and areas of improvement. 

Conclusion

Faculty are a contributing factor to how students learn and perceive their academic ability. Effective teaching lies in the ability to care for and support students (Goktas, 2023). Through the impactful value of teaching and learning, students build interest in engaged practices and apply the motivation to increase academic performance (Cook et al., 2018; Goktas, 2023). Across educational literature, there is the consensus that student engagement is an essential component to successful student outcomes (Archambault et al., 2017). Faculty who develop relationships with their students are embodied by positive interactions that lead to optimal student outcomes (Wang et al., 2024). The results from establishing healthy relationships with students lead to academic accountability and increased motivation. 

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