Stressful Interactions and Conditions of the Teacher-Student Relationship

Positive interactions and relationships between teachers and students have been shown to impact the well-being and professional/school success of teachers and students. In practice, however, negative interactions and relationships can also be observed, which can become a burden for teachers and students. However, the research situation in this area has so far been very heterogeneous: Numerous studies have investigated which conditions of the teacher-student relationship and behaviors of students teachers perceive as stressful. However, only little is known about teachers' behaviors that students perceive as stressful, their effects and causes.

This desideratum will be addressed in the project. The project focuses on stressful interactions and conditions of the teacher-student relationship from the perspective of teachers and (former) students. The perspectives will be captured in two sub-studies:

(1) Interview study: Within the framework of a semi-standardized interview, teachers will be asked about stressful conditions of the teaching profession and the teacher-student relationship as well as about forms, triggers, and consequences of negative behavior of teachers.

(2) Case study: In a case study, students are asked to describe experiences with negative behavior of teachers (case study, reaction/consequences, suspected causes).

Through the sub-studies, further insights into stressful interactions and conditions of the teacher-student relationship are to be gained in order to develop intervention and prevention options for successful relationships with positive effects for teachers and students in a next step.