Exploring middle school teachers' perceptions of factors affecting the teacher-student relationships

As a context-dependent phenomenon, the teacher-student relationships (TSR) remain an under-researched field. The purpose of this study was to voice teachers' perceptions of the influential factors affecting TSR. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, we attempted to present a detailed description of teachers' perceived factors influencing TSR. The participants (N = 17) were English language teachers with different professional Backgrounds (M-age = 31.27; experienced = 9, novice = 8) teaching in public middle schools of Iran. Data was collected through intensive semi-structured interviewing and analyzed by a five-step approach applied to phenomenology in psychological research. Data analysis revealed three general themes regarding teachers' perceptions with several components. We found that teachers' effective classroom techniques such as teacher attention and verbal immediacy were perceived as the dominant factors influencing TSR quality. Also, effective contextual factors, as well as participants' attributes and behaviors as the influential factors in TSR, were discussed by the teachers to understand their perceived dimensions of TSR. The findings of this study could be used in teacher education programs to design positive interventions for enhancing teachers' understanding of the factors involved in TSR.