CRITICAL REFLECTION

REFLECTION ON HOW A PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP IMPACTS THE STUDENT’S

ENGAGEMENT

Within this critical reflection, I will focus on how a professional relationship impacts the
student’s engagement in the classroom. After completing 6 weeks of my placement, I feel like I
am able to control the classroom quite well. This was a big concern for me at the start of my
placement as my cooperating teachers had informed me on students that may disrupt the class.
According to (Brophy, 1984) “the interpersonal relationship between teacher and students is an
important element contributing to the learning process of students”. During my placement I have
developed a professional relationship with all students in my classes and I think this has helped a
lot. I think this has helped as it has reduced the amount of conflict in the classroom as I respect
them, and they respect me. I have gained the students trust and developed these professional
relationships with them by working with them, as the classes are hour long in the school, the
students find it challenging to focus for an hour, to meet the students half way I agreed on in
some classes that we have discussion time this is for the students to relax for 2-3 minutes and just
chat about the project or topic being covered with the teacher and peers.
After gaining some experience in the classroom, I believe that chat and discussion can be great in
a classroom once it is controlled. I have noticed that students are talking about the work being
covered most of the time with their peers. I have begun to allow more discussion time within my
classes as I think a student can learn a lot from their peers. I also believe students will be more
comfortable in a classroom with small discussion rather than a silent classroom, I think this as
discussion within a classroom can set a good learning atmosphere. From my experience on
placement, I can confidently say students’ engagement is clearly influenced by the atmosphere in
the classroom. As stated by (Brekelmans, Wubbels & den Brok, 2002) “Engagement rates
depend on the teacher’s ability to organise and manage the classroom as an efficient learning
environment”. This furthermore backs up my opinion of how the student’s engagement is
influenced by the atmosphere in the classroom. Going forward I will research more into what
impacts students engagement within the classroom.

References

Brekelmans, M., Wubbels, T., & Den Brok, P. (2002). Teacher experience and the teacher–
student relationship in the classroom environment [Abstract]. Studies in Educational
Learning Environments, 73-99. doi:10.1142/9789812777133_0004

Brophy, J. E., & Good, T. L. (1984). Teacher behavior and student achievement. East Lansing,,
Michigan: Institute for Research on Teaching, Michigan State University.