Background and Context
My personal experiences in the classroom inspired the inquiry question. Prior to practicum I underestimated the value and necessity of relationship building between teachers and students. I entered practicum with a surface understanding that relationships were pivotal to teaching, but I did not know what those relationships would (or should) look like. Stemming from this I had an intuitive sense that the relationships teachers developed with students had affects on both parties. However, I did not know what exactly those benefits were or the extent to which they are key in an individual’s learning.
As my practicum progressed I began to feel the impact of relationships I cultivated with my students, and see glimpses of ways in which my students themselves were positively impacted. While I had my experiential knowledge that mainly lead to a hunch that there was something going on with farther reaching consequences than I knew, I was not entirely sure what those consequences concretely were. Thus, when given the opportunity to commit to an in-depth exploration via the GRIP, I choose to focus on what my niggling curiosity directed me to: student-teacher relationships and what benefits those relationships would yield for the high school student.