Relational Teaching: Youth Development, Number 137

Explore the complexity of teacher-student relationships in secondary school settings and learn how these largely unscripted relationships function for students and teachers in their learning and socioemotional development. For teachers, the relationships provide a foundation for pedagogical and curricular endeavors and lead to their increased investment in students’ growth, development, and academic success. Students who have such relationships feel more comfortable in their learning environments, interested in the material, and motivated to perform well. We discuss what these relationships look like from the perspectives of teacher and student. Topics The voices of teachers and students in this volume show how much young people want to feel known and engage with teachers and how much teachers feel rewarded and invigorated by taking the step to connect with students on this level. This is the 137 th volume of New Directions for Youth Development , the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series dedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helping young people, including scholars, practitioners, and people from different disciplines and professions.