Teachers can inspire students -- but also vice versa.

What is it about?

We explored whether and how enjoyment in class can be transmitted from teachers to students and vice versa. We found that indeed, students who are taught be teachers who report to enjoy teaching, experience those teachers as more enthusiastic in class, and those students show favorable developments of class enjoyment over the course of a schoolyear. This is the less surprising finding of this research: For a long time, teachers have been seen as the "drivers" in class, and are even socially expected to "inspire" their students. The more interesting part of this research therefore pertains to the converse direction of "inspiration". We could also show that teachers of classes who report relatively high average levels of enjoyment at the beginning of a schoolyear are experienced by their teachers as being more highly engaged, and these teachers show a more favorable development of their own teaching enjoyment across the schoolyear.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Our findings are important as they underline the relevance of teacher-student interactions being a two-way rather than a one-way street. Students exert just as much influence on their teachers as vice versa. Positive feedback loops can be kicked off in classrooms at the beginning of the schoolyear -- but classroom atmospheres can also spiral down when teachers and classes don't manage to find shared values and positive emotions.