Develop secondary-specific conceptualisations and measures of positive teacher-student relationships¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 mixed) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review recommends that future research develop an understanding of what positive teacher-student relationships consist of specifically for middle and secondary school teachers, rather than continuing to apply primary-school tools and definitions. It states that "developing an understanding of what constitutes positive relationships for teachers in middle and secondary school settings through future research would be valuable". This responds to the finding that most included studies used primary-school-formulated measures, often adapted with unreported changes.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Future studies should report precisely how adapted scales were modified and validate them for secondary contexts (e.g., focus groups, confirmatory factor analysis).

Constraints¶

• The review excluded dissertations, non-English publications, and specialist school settings, so the evidence base reflects those boundaries.

Target Learners¶

• middle and secondary school teachers

Target Learning Goals¶

• valid measurement of relationship quality in subject-based teaching contexts

Claims¶

• Teacher-student relationship measurement in middle/secondary wellbeing research is highly varied and mostly relies on tools formulated for primary school relationships [+W]
• Relatedness with students predicted teacher wellbeing for elementary but not middle/secondary school teachers in one study, while other studies found associations in secondary samples [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Develop context-specific child self-report measures through separate conceptualisation and operationalisation stages with child partnership
• Develop and select relationship measures that reflect an integrated understanding of core relationship components — dyadic and multidimensional — identified across relational and motivation theories

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Rhoda Lai, Jennifer Southam, Luella Mageean, Sue Roffey, Kelly-Ann Allen. (2026). Associations Between Teacher-Student Relationship Quality and Middle and Secondary School Teachers' Wellbeing: A Systematic Review. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10107-2