The Personal Touch
Teachers and students agree that a lasting connection makes all the difference

Personal relationships—among and between teachers, principals, parents and students—influence almost everything else that goes on in schools, positive or negative. That’s the bottom line from this year’s edition of the annual "MetLife Survey of the American Teacher."

The report’s subtitle, "Transitions and the Role of Supportive Relationships," highlights the focus of this year’s study, which also looked specifically at the experiences of teachers with five or fewer years of experience. Productive relations with parents are a vital resource for new teachers, yet this is the area that teachers in the survey ranked as least satisfying. For example, 81 percent of new teachers (and 90 percent of principals) strongly agree that effective teachers need to be able to work well with parents. Yet 20 percent of new teachers report a somewhat or very unsatisfying relationship with parents.

The same number (one-fifth) also say that parents cause them the most stress in their jobs. What’s more, almost three-quarters somewhat or strongly agree that "too many parents today treat their children’s school and teachers as adversaries." The negative implication of that attitude on personal relationships is obvious.

"New teachers tell us that working well with parents is a critical component of effective teaching, but also their greatest challenge," says John Geraci, a vice president of Harris Interactive, the firm that conducted the study. "These new teachers rely on the principal and more-experienced teachers at their school for guidance on how to meet this challenge and the others they face during their first years in the classroom."

One problem the survey uncovered is a disconnect between new teachers and principals in this area. While both groups naturally value parental involvement, fewer teachers than principals see it as a priority at their school, and fewer still (39 percent of teachers) strongly agree that their principal provides guidance in this area.

Despite the challenges, new teachers (95 percent, in fact) strongly believe they can make a difference in their students’ lives. And likewise, students who report that they have had teachers who made a difference in their lives have a much more positive experience in school than other students. For students who say they had at least three teachers who made a difference, the benefits include being more interested in classes (36 percent vs. 18 percent for students who didn’t have such connections), feeling safe at school (33 percent vs. 23 percent), saying their teachers care about them (34 percent vs. 16 percent), believing that higher education is extremely important for their future (89 percent vs. 74 percent) and saying their opinion counts at school (20 percent vs. 11 percent).

Personal relationships aren’t just important in promoting better outcomes for students. The survey found a connection between dissatisfaction with school relationships and new teachers’ likelihood of leaving the profession. Teachers who say they plan to leave the profession are more likely than others to be dissatisfied with their relationships with parents (32 percent vs. 17 percent), with their principal (23 percent vs. 8 percent) and with their students (13 percent vs. 1 percent).

In general, new teachers report high job satisfaction: two-thirds are very satisfied with their careers. Their greatest source of satisfaction, not surprisingly, are their students (75 percent of teachers agree). Even so, almost one in five new teachers say they are likely to leave teaching in the next five years.

The complete survey is available online at www.metlife.com/teachersurvey.