Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, online school education has taken a severe hit but not for too long. Within no time schools started adapting to the new and unusual situation by shifting entire classes online via different channels.
In an otherwise physical classroom where students might be hesitant to ask questions in front of the class, the online school has made it possible for them to simply be behind a screen and connect with their teachers one on one by unmuting and asking them questions. The benefits of online school especially in Indian schools in Abu Dhabi are in abundance but the benefits of healthy student-teacher relationships due to online classes are commendable.
At all levels of an academic institution, within the classroom and around the school setting as a whole, secure and supportive connections between teachers and students can be immensely useful. There are numerous advantages to building excellent student-teacher connections between students and teachers of all ages, ranging from greater self-esteem to increased engagement.
The adoption of tactics such as conveying good expectations, exhibiting care, and establishing classroom pride can help educators and children not just in an Indian school in Abu Dhabi but around the world reap these benefits. Long-term consequences benefit not only children and teachers but also parents and administrators, as favorable student-teacher connections continue to grow.
Promotes academic success:
Although the prevalence of positive student-teacher connections does not guarantee academic achievement, kids who create a close bond with their teachers perform better than students who have tense relationships with their teachers. Teachers can assist students despite transitioning to online schools in achieving academic success by explicitly communicating positive expectations for each student, providing equitable opportunities for participation in class discussions, and expressing confidence in students’ capacity to achieve in their courses.
Avoids behavioral problems:
A classroom devoid of behavioral interruptions is another benefit of excellent student-teacher interactions, giving teachers more time to instruct their students. Positive student-teacher interactions contribute to the creation of a learning environment in which students and teachers show mutual respect for one another instead of engaging in conflictual exchanges. The method in which a teacher handles pupils when they misbehave and in general is a determining element in how kids respond, therefore achieving this equilibrium is dependent on it. When speaking with a pupil, teachers should keep a cool tone to avoid frustration.
The following are some examples of non-confrontational ways to reprimand student behavior –
Avoid embarrassment by speaking with students individually about their behavior and addressing students’ sentiments to understand the source of their behavior. Reviewing school policy or classroom guidelines to ensure that pupils understand the regulations they have broken, as well as following through with prompt punishments for misbehaving students.
Following up with pupils after School has penalized them for their misbehavior –
It is necessary to address a behavior problem to prevent it from recurring. This emphasizes the importance of positive student-teacher interactions in which students’ misbehavior is reprimanded in a way that enables them to think about how they misbehaved and what steps they might take to modify their behavior in the future.
Better mental health:
Specific groups of students, such as male students, students with learning disabilities, and kids from low-income families, benefit most from healthy student-teacher connections. To assist pupils to build a sense of self-worth, it may be important to seek out opportunities to praise them, such as by recognizing academic or athletic achievements. Students with poor self-esteem, who are frequently regarded as at-risk, will respond positively to positive reinforcement from their teacher, which will instill pride in them.
Aids professional growth:
Healthy student-teacher interactions help more than just the students. One of the most important advantages for educators is that while they work deliberately to create these relationships, they strengthen their interpersonal and professional skills. Teaching is a career that necessitates the capacity to transmit information accurately even in high-stress situations. Teachers must learn to effectively regulate stress to effectively explain concepts and avoid irritation.
Improving interpersonal communication skills can help some educators reduce stress and build healthy student-teacher interactions, as well as positive relationships with parents and coworkers. Personal and professional growth are also advantages of enhanced interpersonal skills, which can be seen in an educator’s level of interaction in the classroom and the amount of student participation that results as a result.
Reduced stress:
Students who are attempting to fit in may experience significant levels of anxiety. It manifests itself as aggressive and disruptive behavior if left untreated. When a teacher provides a supportive structure, empathic direction, and caring, the student’s behavior changes and he or she becomes more cooperative in the classroom. When the classroom setting is seen to be harmonious, studies have indicated an increase in creativity and expression.
Increased motivation to succeed:
When you make a child feel at ease and desire to be a part of something bigger than just being mischievous, they might redirect their energy from being defiant to working well in the classroom. This will almost always convert into academic success. Having a close relationship with your pupils also aids you in properly communicating your expectations to and for each of them.
You can inspire struggling students to work harder and bright students to improve on their existing performance. You might encourage them to enroll in additional training sessions, such as assertiveness training, to help them enhance their overall communication skills and achieve greater self-respect.
Students, for their part, have faith in your capacity to assist them, so they pay closer attention to you and obey your commands without question. They also feel at ease approaching you if they have a problem with their assignments. When all of these factors are combined, the kids’ performance improves. If you work from home, you’ll be sending a lot of academic documents via the internet. As a result, make sure the students are familiar with the technical aspects of sending emails, transferring data, and changing files to PDF, among other things.
Develops social maturity:
How successfully a child’s social maturation process goes depends on the type of relationship they have with the adults in their lives. The non-parental authority person with whom the child spends the most time is the teacher. Kids can mature quickly if you provide a pleasant atmosphere in which they can develop their emotional and social intelligence. Remember that when you are nice to these youngsters, they will trust and respect you, and they will always feel privileged to have such a lovely adult in their lives. They will want to follow in your footsteps and become as responsible and caring as you are.
Teachers frequently have difficult relationships with their pupils, especially when they have to connect with each student at an individual level in a class full of 40 or more students. With online school classes that are prevalent in Indian schools in Abu Dhabi, that isn’t the problem anymore. A terrible relationship, on the other hand, exacerbates the problem. The students continue to be defiant, the instructor finds new reasons to dislike the students, and the students discover new reasons to dislike the teacher.
Finally, the profession stagnates, and the Teacher’s hopes of transforming people’s lives through teaching are dashed. It is very essential and imperative that Indian schools must begin looking for ways to positively engage each of the children irrespective of offline or online school. To a great extent, International Indian schools in Abu Dhabi have managed to achieve this successfully.
