An important feature of inclusive schools is that students feel a sense of belonging. A student feels like they belong when they’re respected, supported, socially included, and can be themselves (Allen et al., 2021).  Dimension 2 of the Great Teaching Toolkit — Creating a Supportive Environment — highlights this.

A supportive environment is characterised by relationships of trust and respect between students and teachers, and among students. We believe that great teachers demonstrate their respect for their pupils in lots of ways, such as caring about who their students are as people and valuing what students contribute, and they ensure students know that this respect is not contingent on being a ‘perfect pupil’, but is something they all deserve and will be afforded.

Anonymised data from student surveys, peer surveys, and self-reflections among users of the Great Teaching Toolkit paints a positive picture of respect within GTT schools. Let’s take a look at three indicators from these surveys and reflections that relate to teachers’ respect and care for their students.

Respecting students for who they are

From the start, teachers’ self-reflections show a perception of feelings of respect. A notable 98% of 259 teacher respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they respect their students for who they are. We’re especially pleased to see that this culture of respect can be felt within classrooms! 83% of 63,606 student respondents agreed that they felt respected by their teacher, and 98% of teachers’ peer respondents agreed that their colleague respected their students.

Interestingly, while students feel respected for who they are, it doesn’t necessarily translate to feeling accepted. Whilst 96% of teacher responses agreed with the statement

‘My pupils can be themselves and know that I accept them’,

only 77% of students agreed. While this number is still high, it’s worth exploring the gap here — how can we ensure that students feel their unique qualities are embraced, rather than simply tolerated?

Caring for all pupils

An additional factor in a students’ sense of belonging is feeling that they are respected and cared for by those around them. If teachers only cared for high performers or students’ whose behaviour is easiest to manage, it would be no surprise if the others felt excluded from the classroom community! In our sample of self-reflections, over 97% of teachers reported that they care for all students in their class, not just the clever or well-behaved ones, with only a single respondent in our sample disagreeing.

When we consulted their peers, 98% agreed this was the case for their colleagues, suggesting they demonstrate this care in a way others can see.  When students were consulted, however, only 78% of students agreed that this was the case in their classrooms. Put another way, over 1 in 5 students felt there were some students their teachers didn’t care for in their class!

Respecting students’ contributions

We know that an inclusive classroom values the contributions of all students, rather than just a select few. Students feel like they belong when they see that what they say matters to the people around them, and they may be more likely to offer answers or add to discussions if they know their contributions will be respected. The vast majority of teachers in our sample — about 95% — agree that they respect their students’ ideas and suggestions. Like with the items above, not all students agreed, but a positive 84% of our student sample indicated that they felt this respect.

What comes next

I was unsurprised, but particularly happy, to see that these three survey items were strongly correlated for students — students who agreed their teachers respected them for who they are were more likely to feel their ideas were respected and that all students were cared for. This shows that these are not individual actions or dispositions, but rather that they represent a wider culture of respect within a classroom. These findings paint a positive of teacher respect in classrooms, but also highlight the difficulties in displaying that respect in ways that students notice and understand.

We’re going to continue exploring these concepts of respect, care, and a supportive environment in classrooms. In the next blog, my colleague CJ Rauch is writing about what teachers can do to build this culture of respect that students’ also perceive. And in my next blog for this series, we’ll explore what the data say about students’ respect for each other, and what that means for creating inclusive classrooms.

If you’re interested to find out more about belonging and developing an evidence-informed inclusion strategy, you can read more from EBE’s Stuart Kime here.

What do you think your students answers to those questions be? Gather feedback on your classroom environment with student surveys within the Great Teaching Toolkit. Book a demo to see what the Toolkit can do for you.