As I haphazardly made my way through the British school system, I was heavily influenced , in one way or another, by all of the teachers who were in involved in my education.

I don’t remember noticing at the time, certainly not in the beginning, but now that I’m more or less a grown up, I can look back and understand.

While each educator had an influence, there were varying degrees of the positive and the negative. The teachers who understood their students, who could relate to them, who established a solid rapport, are the ones I really learned from.

On the other hand, there were teachers who held firmly to their authoritarian code, seemingly preferring to control a mass of people, rather than teach us.

A good rapport is based on understanding, on empathy, respect and trust. It comes from a genuine understanding on the teacher’s part. Archaic discipline and a silent, formal classroom are not conductive to learning. This should be referred to only in the past tense.

The rarer, more genuine teachers I encountered truly wanted to help their students through involving them in the lesson, and interacting on a human level. Rapport is not necessarily an innate ability, it can be learned And developed, like any other social skill.

Establishing rapport allows for an open classroom environment where the teachers know the students and the students understand the teachers.

This is because rapport allows for laughter in the classroom, and usually it’s at a reasonable level since students want to learn and to listen, as opposed to simply waiting for a lesson to end. That connection is key. The enthusiasm to provide knowledge with full participation of the students breaks down barriers like confidence, pride, or even ability.

When I encountered teachers who did not bother to establish a rapport, I was, simply, uninterested in what they were saying and why they were saying it. I just took it for granted that they weren’t saying it to me until they started shouting. They were, by and large, the kind of teachers who needed a class to conform to their idea of what a good student should be. Lessons were a chore and were not engaging.

Teaching without rapport, without enthusiasm, can give students the impression that they are simply an obstacle to be overcome so that the teacher can go home.

Another big reason that rapport is important, is that, ultimately, students learn not from books, or even from teachers, but from themselves. An established rapport enables a teacher to bounce ideas around the class in order to engage otherwise shy students who have found their confidence. If students want to listen, if they’re shown something interesting, then they will, and in listening they will learn. Beyond that, in communicating with other students and asking questions, they’ll develop a good base knowledge of the given subject, available for them to access at will.

The importance of rapport in the classroom is that it can be used to build the foundation of a lesson, and hold the attention of students. Without it, lessons lack a verve, and students will never see what their teacher wants them to.

Jonathan Gowland