Teacher–student relationships across the teaching career

This contribution explores the relation of teacher experience with features of teacher–student relationships. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were used to investigate this relation. The cross-sectional data set consisted of data on teacher–student relationships of over 6000 teachers with 1–36 years of experience. Teacher experience was compared with the amount of teacher influence and proximity in the relationship. The longitudinal data set included data on perceptions of teacher–student relationships of 343 teachers, that were collected each year during 2–20 years of these teachers’ career. Growth trajectories in these relationships were estimated for the first 20 years of the teaching career using multi-level analyses. s showed that, on average, teachers’ ideal perceptions of influence and proximity were rather stable during the career. Teachers’ self-perceptions and students’ perceptions of proximity in the teacher–student relationship were rather stable as well. Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of teacher influence on average grew in the first 6 years of the teaching career.