Thick Description of the Teacher-student Relationship in the Educational Context of School: Results of an Ethnographic Field Study

Abstract

Complexities of essential aspects of the teacher-student relationship were identified in a group of German adolescents and their teachers through participant observation. It is already known that the determinants of the teacher-student relationship cannot be simply categorized and analyzed as univariate features. Using Clifford Geertz"s concept of "thick description," empirical data were collected during a six-month field study at a secondary school in the south of Germany. Thematic analyses of the extant empirical database identified six sociological principles that constitute fundamental components of the teacher-student relationship: power, dualism, solidarity, productivity, sympathy, and identity. Analyses showed that meaningful ritualized structures limit teachers and students to institutional roles that are incongruent with the general aim of having productive interactions in educational settings. The complexity of educational settings can only be grasped if the teacher-student relationship is understood as an interpersonal process. When reduced to their institutional roles, both teachers and students experienced their relationship and educational settings as unsatisfactory.

Improving Student’s Social solidarity Value Awareness through Learning Community-Based Mentoring

“…The role of education as a reinforcer of a very fundamental and significant attitude of solidarity as well as the ultimate solution is greatly needed in dealing with current advancements in the field of science and technology. This is in line with Bill Joy's opinion [1], that one of the key important solutions needed to meet the challenges of science and technology is how to fully and correctly understand solidarity. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language that the principle of solidarity is defined as the unity of interests, goals, or sympathies between group members [2].…”

The Power of Social and Motivational Relationships for Test‐anxious Adolescents’ Academic Self‐regulation

“…The Teachers as Positive Motivators (TPM) subscale is also part of the REMO Scale (see Raufelder, Drury et al., for evidence of psychometric soundness) and consists of six items, such as “I will make more of an effort in a subject when I think the teacher believes in me” and “When a teacher helps me, I try to do well in the subject,” which was rated on a 4‐point Likert scale, from 1 ( strongly disagree ) to 4 ( strongly agree ; α = .78).…”

“…However, the awareness of the interdependence of emotion and motivation has not yet been the focus of daily motivational and learning processes in school, as emotions are rarely considered. Instead, teachers and schools are often so focused on academic achievement that they overlook the importance of emotions (Raufelder, Bukowski, & Mohr, ). Therefore, research on the implementation of learning environments that promote positive feelings, for example, by improving the quality of social relationships between students and teachers, is lacking.…”

Improving Student’s Social solidarity Value Awareness through Learning Community-Based Mentoring

“…This is in line with Bill Joy's opinion [1], that one of the key important solutions needed to meet the challenges of science and technology is how to fully and correctly understand solidarity. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language that the principle of solidarity is defined as the unity of interests, goals, or sympathies between group members [2]. The same thing emphasized by Gidding (1855Gidding ( -1931 that psychological interpretation of social solidarity is an idea of individual's consciousness abouta virtue or goodness [3].…”