Hi Juanita,
Right you are. Often a student needs both to be successful in a class. The needed support helps students to stay on course and complete their education.
Gary
I feel you can be a friend and a mentor at the same time.
They need to be open to you in order to trust you. They need to trust you in order ot focus on what your teaching.
If you do not have rapport with your students, there is no effective bridge for communication of knowledge. Students need to build that bridge with the instructor to make learning fun and meaningful.
Rapport is important in the classroom because of the nature of the student-teacher relationship. Students need to know the instructor can be trusted. Students need to know the instructor respects them. Once the trust and respect are established, the student will feel more comfortable with this instructor. This 'comfort zone' helps the student stay in the class.
It is important to have a good rapport with your students because they feel they can trust you and come to you when they have issues. And they know it will be held in confidence. If they trust you they are more likely to ask for help when they need it.
Hi John,
Great approach. This really sets up a positive environment for the students so they can progress in both their personal and professional development.
Gary
What I find helps to build rapport, is on the first day, I let my students know how much I respect them for their choice to return to school. Many students have never heard this from an instructor and this really gets the relationship off to a good start.
It is important to connect with your students. If you create a positive, open, welcoming environment it will assist with the development of rapport with the students. It is also important to validate your students and never make them feel "stupid." This will shut them down rather than open them up. In an environment that is comfortable, students will be more likely to learn and retain.
Students need to trust in the fact that their teacher knows them and wants them to be successful. Students will not seek help from instructors than are uncaring or unapproachable.
I believe that building rapport with students is very important to the learning process. When there is a trusted relationship or comfort level between student and teacher, there is better communication. If a student feels completely disconnected from the instructor, they will not feel comfortable asking questions or seeking advice.
Hi Marcos,
Good point. We, as instructors need to remember that we are the teachers and that we cannot be buddies with our students. We can earn their respect and develop rapport with them but that is the extent of our relationship.
Gary
Hi Eric,
So many instructors miss this point. They are multi-tasking when they should be listening and focused on the student. None of us like it when it is done to us so we need to make sure we are zeroed in on our student and what he/she is saying. This is how respect is developed as well.
Gary
Students need to feel that their instructor has a vested interest in their success. Developing a rapport is the first step in establishing that sense of trust.
I agree sometimes people feel the need to be liked that they forget that they have a job to do. They become “one of the guys†and later on when they have to be a teacher it becomes more difficult because there is a dual-relationship in the mix.
I realize the value of time for some professional instructors. But there was nothing more discouraging for me (as a student) then having an instructor actively working on another project during a previously, scheduled short conference. I would be sympathetic with the instructor's schedule but he would 1) do this many times and 2) be working on projects which could be resolved later.
Because of these experiences, I try not to multitask during any of my scheduled meetings with my students. Students should feel valued and not as a waste of time.
I agree. "Mentor" best describes our relationship with our students.
Issues of Visual Communication involve shades of interpretation. This bring in process and values. Trust and thru rapport is very important if you need to have student "buy into" the process.
Hi Sherrie,
Isn't it amazing that something that seems so simple can have such a major impact. The fact you put forth the effort to learn their names quickly really help to start the development of respect and rapport. It just builds from there.
Gary
Without Rapport we become just a monotone person, spouting information in front of a gourp of people who will quickly tune us out. "Keep them wanting more"...Bring life and excitement into the class and the course. Rapport gives the students that comfort feelng that you care and listen to what they say. Building Rapport allows the barriers to lower and the learning to really begin.
