Students see their professors in class nearly every day; do they really need to see them outside of it as well? When academics surround their lives, for many students, the last thing on their mind is hanging out with teachers outside of the classroom. But the evidence seems to suggest that positive student-teacher relationships not only help improve students’ academic standing but may be even more important than the academics themselves.
Dr. Kristin Geraty, a sociology professor and head of North Central College’s Scholars Honors Program, arranges numerous events where she and honors students interact with one another in non-academic settings. Morning group chats and team-based challenges have become regular parts of the honors program.
Geraty says that faculty interaction with students outside the classroom is “crucial to community building in these programs, possibly even more so than academics.”
She notes that students see educators in the classroom, peers both in and out of the classroom, but that student-faculty interaction outside of academics appears to be lacking, and strengthening these relationships will benefit students in the present as well as in their future. “Implementing more programs with this dynamic could be very helpful in creating a more cohesive learning environment that benefits professors and students.”
It turns out that Dr. Geraty is not alone in these sentiments. In a recent article from the Journal of Educational Research published in September 2017, data show that when comparing positive interactions against negative interactions, most student-teacher relationships experienced the majority of their positive interactions outside of the classroom when the discussion was open and varied.
According to the study, these positive developments not only promote general social well-being but also improve atmosphere and productivity in the classroom and in academic progress.
