Building rapport with our students is a vital part of our roles as teachers, and once successfully established can make behaviour management seem almost effortless - most days!
It's not something that is ever really taught when we are training to teach, which I think is a crying shame... but don't worry, Teachers Resource Force is coming to the rescue! Sometimes this can come naturally to people, but if you're one of those who may need a hand with it, relax, it is a science and can be taught!
It's not something that is ever really taught when we are training to teach, which I think is a crying shame... but don't worry, Teachers Resource Force is coming to the rescue! Sometimes this can come naturally to people, but if you're one of those who may need a hand with it, relax, it is a science and can be taught!
Firstly, it's important to note that we build rapport with others by finding things in common with one another. Now, obviously the first thing that probably comes to mind here is having a conversation, right? Well that's all well and good, but that can be tricky when you have 30 bodies in the room and you have a lesson plan to get through -there isn't always time to have a chat and find common interests! One tip I have to tap into this though, is to try to modernise your lessons so you are incorporating content they are familiar with and relate to, such as referring to movies, social media, songs etc.
But thankfully, a conversation is not the only way to find commonalities. In fact, it's not even the most effective way, believe it or not. Only 7% of communication is verbal, so by limiting our rapport building with words only, we are missing out on the other 93%!
As you may know, the highest form of communication comes through our body language and that makes up 55%. I think most veteran teachers have mastered "the look" for example...!
But thankfully, a conversation is not the only way to find commonalities. In fact, it's not even the most effective way, believe it or not. Only 7% of communication is verbal, so by limiting our rapport building with words only, we are missing out on the other 93%!
As you may know, the highest form of communication comes through our body language and that makes up 55%. I think most veteran teachers have mastered "the look" for example...!
With your body language, you can keep your body 'open' to the class and avoid crossing your arms for example, as that creates a physiological 'barrier' between you and the students. If you're trying to build rapport with one student in particular who is not keen on talking much, you can use body language to your advantage by using 'mirroring'. This means subtly copying the actions the student is making - subconsciously that helps build a bond as you apparently have the same body language in common! Be discreet though and it doesn't have to be every action, that would be creepy! But it might be that the student wants to stand sideways to you, so you can do the same. It might be that they use a certain hand gesture a lot, so you can try and use the same one when communicating with them. This begins to take effect within minutes and is very powerful. You might notice that soon they are subconsciously mirroring your actions too - that's when you know you're in tune!
Mirroring is very effective at building rapport and then comes naturally when two people are in tune.
Finally we have tone of voice which makes up the final 38%. We all know that if you always address your class with a loud and aggressive tone, when it comes to wanting to get the attention of your class, the students will simply tune your loud voice out. I even overheard a conversation between some 13 year olds the other day who were talking about this same topic - they are definitely aware. Personally, I'm quite softly spoken when I teach - it's not intentional though, it's just my character. What's really interesting is watching the 'mirroring' happen in reverse: I notice the students start to copy me and speak more softly too, which is great for my eardrums! Again, like the body language mirroring, when trying to build rapport with a student you can mirror their tone of voice too - if they are energetic when they speak, you can do the same! If they are really quiet, well... you get the idea!
A bonus tip to remember is that:
people like people who are either like themselves or who they would like to be.
As teachers we have a significant advantage as we are effectively role models to our students, so by being the best person you can be, you can inspire students to be more like you and thus they will just adore you! :)
A bonus tip to remember is that:
people like people who are either like themselves or who they would like to be.
As teachers we have a significant advantage as we are effectively role models to our students, so by being the best person you can be, you can inspire students to be more like you and thus they will just adore you! :)
I hope you have found these tips useful. I encourage you to try some of these out with your students and see how quickly you can begin building rapport with them. If you have tried these or have any other tips to share, please drop a comment below!
