The Importance of Building Rapport

03.05.22 11:15 AM - By VKGI Marketing

Tips to Building Rapport With Students

National Centre for Excellence - Building Rapport with Students

Relationships are built by developing mutual trust, friendship, and affinity. Establishing good interpersonal relationships can be extremely beneficial to your career - it can help you establish effective working relationships, which can lead to many opportunities.

Rapport is defined as:

National Centre for Excellence - What is Rapport

  • It is critical to establish rapport with students in the classroom for a variety of reasons, including building trust between students and teachers.

  • fostering student confidence and a positive learning environment at all times, a teacher must maintain a positive relationship with students.

  • Positive thoughts and feelings of closeness are common characteristics of rapport. Positive interactions between those in a relationship are facilitated by bonding perceptions.

  • Researchers have looked into the nature and impact of classroom rapport, using various definitions.

Student-teacher relationship

National Centre for Excellence - Student Teacher Relationship

According to the students, the most common teacher behaviours that helped build rapport were:

  1. Displaying humour.

  2. Being accessible before, after, or outside of class.

  3.  Encouraging class discussion; showing interest in them. 

  4. Knowing their names and sharing personal insights and experiences.

The instructor-student relationship can have a big impact on how well a student learn and succeeds. It has the potential to reduce anxiety, increase student participation, structure and encourage social interaction, promote a positive learning environment, and improve learning.

How can rapport be encouraged?

National Centre for Excellence - How to improve rapport

These teacher qualities were most frequently cited by students when they were asked to list specific behaviours that led to this rapport: ​

  • Motivating.

  • Openness to new ideas.

  • Innovative.

  • Intriguing.

  • Easily reachable.

  • Gratification.

  • Possessing a "positive" personality.

  • Encourage discussion in the classroom.

  • Students' welfare.

  • Impartiality.

Why is rapport beneficial?

  • Teaching is a social activity, and recognising the importance of our relationships with students is a key component of teaching and learning success. 

  • Both instructor and student behaviours and characteristics will have an impact on the quality of relationships. 

  • Instructors can help build rapport by demonstrating the behaviours discussed here and attempting to communicate goodwill. 

  • The likelihood of positive outcomes for both students and teachers will increase if professors and students have a good relationship.

The stronger the relationship with the student, the more likely the student will share the information needed to develop strategies for overcoming the obstacles that stand in their way. Allowing this advisor-student relationship to grow can improve the student's chances of succeeding. Spending time with students to build rapport, earn trust, and develop relationships will aid you and your institution in retaining students.

VKGI Marketing