Teacher- Student Bond: The relationship that shapes everyone

The relationship between a teacher and student transcends the classroom and textbooks and is marked with equal parts of discipline and affection. It is a kind of relationship where both the giver and receiver grows not only in terms of academic but also in personal development. It gives a purpose and shapes to both the contenders.

Bonding is not a complex subject. It is only the satisfaction of having a communication channel open in a setting that is emotionally secure. Fostering a sense of identity is one of the most important prerequisites for ensuring that the students feel safe, secure, and cared for. When a teacher constantly acts equally with all of the pupils, it fosters respect and creates a positive environment. Students are inspired and driven to perform and engage.

Teachers are students’ second-largest source of support after their parents therefore need to be taken care of their interests and help them find out their area of interest and work together to build a successful career.

How do we create such a bond with the students?

1. Developing trust: This might seems easy to hear but it is actually difficult to inculcate trust among all the students in all the classes and make them feel belongingness. In today’s constantly changing world and technology, people are more connected with their cell phones rather than sitting together to talk and chat. This might create long-term loneliness and anxiety. So to overcome these, the environment must be created in a way that all the students feel free to have conversations and group chats.
2. Creating a tight and comfortable schedule: Creating a consistent schedule for students is one of the ways to keep them engaged and busy in their academic activities. An effective schedule stops children from misusing time and misbehaving with others. Also, it manages students’ routines and provides them some spare time to relax and study better.
3. Set up high expectations for them: Engaging students in a task or activity is important because it creates a sense of authority and responsibility. This will lead to creating a sense of ownership in the task and help them to perform better than before every single time.
4. Act as a role model: After their parents, teachers are the only beings that spend the maximum time with the students, therefore a teacher must guide them on how to respond to unpredictable situations and handle them with patience and calm. The actions portrayed by teachers in the class are reciprocated back by the students in many ways.

5. Create reality, not fantasy: Showcasing a positive attitude is important but as a teacher we must make them ready to face the world and guide them to have checkpoints in life where situations might not always be positive and show them how to deal with such situations. Case studies and critical analysis help them a lot in understanding reactive and responsive attitudes and which to accept. Instead of building a fantasy world of a fairy tale, teachers must make them ready for themselves, family, society, environment, and nation.
6. Counselling and not punishing: Post covid the world has begun to re-enter the new normal lifestyle, wherein we can see, that the attitude and approach of students have changed a lot. This era of technology-driven students needs to be taken care of by explaining and counselling rather than having a stick and scolding attitude. Instead of making them feel neglected and guilty about their mistakes, a teacher can try to make them realise the consequences and avoid them from happening again. It will help in developing a sense of comfort, and trust and thus reducing the introverted nature of students. Because accepting own self is the major challenges teen and early adults face. With proper counselling, this problem can be solved to some extent.

The relationship between a teacher and students must be rational, logical, trustworthy and positive because we are the one whom they look up to for any solution and guidance. The attitude makes the whole difference and create a personality which is useful not only for students to grow but teachers to have a holistic approach towards life. Thus this is a relationship that shapes everyone- individual, student, society, environment and Nation.