Belonging in School – The Effect of Teacher-Student Relationships: A Systematic Quantitative Review of the Literature

Tracee Nix, Donna Pendergast, Mia O’Brien

School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Australia

The literature reveals that positive teacher-student relationships encourage students’ work habits, engagement, and wellbeing; and create an environment that encourages students to experience a sense of belonging at school. When adolescent students feel a sense of belonging at school, they are more likely to attend school, engage in their learning, and feel like they are included and wanted. This is important because at the core of education is the student. Working with students in a holistic manner has positive implications for their wellbeing and academic performance. This study set out to examine the nature of the relationship between teacher and student interactions and student’s experience of the sense of belonging at school, through the lens of Interpersonal Theory in order to examine teacher pedagogical choices. The Systematic Quantitative Literature Review (SQLR) methodology is utilised at the intersections of Teacher-Student Relationships (TSR) and Sense of Belonging at School (SOBAS), and TSR and Interpersonal Theory to review the contemporary literature. Following the SQLR methodology that applies specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, 32 studies were identified for review. The analysis identified fairness, engagement, and achievement as key themes in the TSR and SOBAS literature; and the TSR and Interpersonal Theory literature highlighted the importance of moment-to-moment interactions to improve student engagement and achievement. The findings of the SQLR provide a basis for discussion of teacher choices in pedagogy and school-wide interventions that may promote student SOBAS.

Evolving Views: Gender Discourses and Young Children

As early childhood education is often approached through learning domains, this narrative review of literature traces some of the background theoretical work of the social/emotional learning domain, specifically looking at theoretical contributions in the area of the self, identity, and gender. Early childhood education is grounded in the developmental perspective. As such, two aspects of children’s early development within the social/emotional domain (the biological and the sociological), are examined. The research question prompting this review asked how adults’ understanding of gender discursively influences young children’s development of gender and identity. This narrative review seeks to qualitatively synthesize the chronological progression of theoretical explanations of gender emerging from research since 1966. It is recognized that the literature on gender is wide and that the sources and theories included here may not be exhaustive but do attempt to be comprehensive and provide a thread back over the last six decades spanning to the present that shows the evolving perceptions of gender. In looking at the thread of evolving perceptions about gender, it becomes evident that older generations (i.e., the adults of a given time) theorize and develop explanations and understandings regarding gender, and it is the younger generations (children of the given time) that enact the discursive information in each generation’s evolving perceptions of gender. Thus, how society, and particularly adults in society, view and treat gender has a profound effect on how children take up and enact gender. Future research may emerge out of feminist new materialism, where the materiality of gender signifiers, shared spaces, and embodied presentation stand to be examined as to their place in evolving views of gender.

The Role and Involvement of Dads in the Lives and Education of Their Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities within an Early Intervention Context

This literature review prefaced a research project that explored dads’ role and involvement in the lives and education of their children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEN/D) within the context of early intervention (EI) (see Ren & Mc Guckin, 2022). We present a comprehensive, critical, and analytical review of the literature regarding the area of dad involvement in EI provided for children with SEN/D and their families. To conduct this review, key terminology was used to search in well-known, widely recognised, and distinguished research databases (e.g., Education Full Text, PsycINFO, Web of Science). The search yielded 112 results, from which 21 final articles were selected for inclusion. To begin, the historical perspective of fatherhood and dad involvement in the childbearing family is reviewed. This provides a necessary context for a deeper understanding of the central issues related to this area. To provide an explanation of the ways in which contemporary dads are influential, the review then explores the role and function of dads and their contributions to their child’s developmental outcomes. Such an exploration leads to a necessary critical review of recent research findings related to dads’ involvement in the lives of children with SEN/D and EI. This comprehensive review extends our knowledge in understanding the role and involvement of dads’ contributions to the outcome of their families and their children with SEN/D, particularly within an EI context.

What Is Meant By ‘Teacher Quality’ In Research And Policy: A Systematic, Quantitative Literature Review

The notion of ‘teacher quality’ is a concept that has dominated education research and policy for decades. While the terminology is widely accepted and used in the literature, it lacks a clear and consistent understanding and application in the field. Furthermore, the underpinning factors relating to ‘teacher’ and ‘teaching’ quality are regularly used interchangeably and often unintentionally. As a result, while the concept of ‘teacher quality’ is widely used and forms the basis of critical policy reform in Australia and internationally, its foundations are compromised due to this lack of clear definition and common intent. Moreover, with such disparate understandings and applications of ‘teacher quality’, assessing the viability and impact of policy and performance and comparing systemic outcomes in this area, in schooling systems, is increasingly difficult. Within this context, this study seeks to draw out, from a critical analysis of the literature, what is meant when the term ‘teacher quality’ is used in research and policy. A deliberate emphasis was placed on the Australian context with the intention of situating the findings in this setting. To achieve this, a Systematic, Quantitative Literature Review (hereafter SQLR) was conducted, adopting the formal methodology of Pickering and Byrne (2013). The SQLR produced 215 articles after exclusion protocols were applied. Forty-four themes emanating from these papers revealed that ‘teacher quality’ as a concept is invariably interconnected with notions of ‘teaching quality’, but the underlying constructs lack consistency and definition, despite an assumption that there is a shared understanding of the meaning. The findings suggest that the lack of clarity around this construct has allowed policy to drive a prevailing narrative, most recently characterised by a measurement and accountability agenda. As a result, professional expertise as well as interpersonal and psychosocial factors shown to impact the quality of teachers and their practice have been marginalised. It appears that what actually matters, in terms of impact in schools and performance of educators, is in the union of these concepts; ‘who’ teachers are and ‘what’ they do.

The Impact of Simulation Training on Student Motivation in Health Studies in France

Simulation is a teaching method that has been insistently promoted in France over the recent period, in particular for the training of health students. Simulation training assigns the students an active role which is intended to strengthen their motivation. Thus, the more motivated students would be during the lessons, the more they would engage in their training, take up challenges, persevere, raise their performance level, and pass exams. Motivation therefore represents a powerful driver of learning that training systems cannot afford to ignore. Taking this into account, and reworking training engineering accordingly, is a challenge for training institutions and trainers. This article examines the links between the use of simulation training and student motivation in health studies in France. Scrutinising relevant education literature and health literature databases led to identify 24 relevant research articles. After analysis, the results suggest that indeed, simulation training does increase motivation in health students. Literature in this field mainly covers two complementary aspects, namely the determinants at work in the simulation-motivation process, and the conditions for implementing simulation training. However, the literature is silent on trainers’ perspective. The results of this literature review are of particular interest to institutions regarding the place to be given to simulation in training engineering, and to trainers as to how to conduct a simulation session.

A Review of Zoom Utilization in Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic stunned the world in 2020 resulting in governmental lockdowns bringing a halt to traditional face-to-face classes in the field of education (Czeisler et al., 2020). Institutions of higher education scrambled to find a means to remotely instruct students and the Zoom Video Communications conferencing tool was found to be a valuable piece of technology with which to do this. Following the transition to online classrooms, a wide array of research has been published regarding the experiences of teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic through Zoom and similar conferencing software. A total of 32 peer-reviewed journal articles were identified as addressing the subject of higher education instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic using the Zoom conferencing tool. These articles were analyzed, and four main areas of investigation were identified: transitioning to the online classroom, comparison of online learning with teaching face-to-face, evaluation of online classroom experiences, and recommendations/best practice. A general theme surrounding the quality of online instruction was also recognized.

Enhancing Learners’ Autonomy With E-Portfolios And Open Learner Models: A Literature Review

This article considers how e-portfolios improve learner autonomy in higher education, especially when using open learner models (OLMs). OLMs are artificial-intelligence-built representations of interactions between learners and instructional environments, where learners have access to data about their interaction patterns. The analysis is based on a review of 24 research articles. Results suggest that e-portfolios improve learner autonomy, especially by strengthening self-reflection capabilities. The review also identifies areas of e-portfolio and OLM research that require further investigation.