| Education exists to serve society, specifically individuals. The basic goal is to provide an opportunity for each student to explore ideas and develop into a productive, functioning citizen with an interest in his or her community and environment. Educators seek to promote student achievement, but sometimes their vision is hindered or interrupted by student misbehaviors. The misbehaviors are often misunderstandings or differences of point-of-view between teacher and student. Furthermore, these incidents often result in discipline that takes the student out of the learning environment. Research supports the idea that students are more likely to be successful and higher achieving when in a learning environment that they feel comfortable, safe, and respected, and with teachers with whom they can relate. This qualitative case study sought to identify teacher perceptions of the instructional strategies that create positive student-teacher relationships that ultimately promote student achievement. This study was based on the theoretical aspect of emotional intelligence as it pertains to teachers' interactions with students in promoting an environment most conducive to student success. A phenomenological research approach was employed for this study in order to analyze common themes that emerged when analyzing data collected from teachers within their respective schools. It is the researcher's hope that the narrative data collected in this study has yielded results that will be beneficial in supporting the future implementation of instructional strategies that will create positive student-teacher relationships in order to transform students' educational experiences. |
