The relationships teachers develop with students are real engines for social mobility.
- Ben Alcott
Schoolchildren who receive words of encouragement from a teacher are significantly more likely to continue their education beyond the age of 16 than those who do not, a new study suggests.
The influence of teacher encouragement appears to be much greater on students whose own parents never progressed past compulsory education – an important indicator of a less advantaged background.
For students from these backgrounds, encouragement increased entry into post-16 education from just over half to around two-thirds.
The research also found that encouragement from a teacher has the greatest influence on those students most likely to be on the margin for university attendance.
The University of Cambridge study used ‘big data’ techniques to look at the long-term impact of student-teacher rapport, and is the first to analyse the role it plays in university access.
The findings, published in the journal Research in Higher Education, show that further education and social mobility policymaking might benefit from increased focus on the “relational aspects” of interactions between teachers and students.
“Teachers are often relegated to course deliverers and classroom managers in the policy discussions around further education. However, it’s clear that teachers have more forms of influencing inequality than is currently appreciated,” said study author Dr Ben Alcott from Cambridge’s Faculty of Education.
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Image: Dissection class
Credit: http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Dissect-Laboratory-Lab-Classroom-Class-Science-1121481
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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