Research to Practice Brief - Teacher Connection and Flourishing Among Early Adolescents

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

Research to Practice Brief synthesizes a journal article on how teacher-student connectedness relates to psychological well-being among early adolescents. The brief defines connection through perceived care, respect, and support, and flourishing through six Ryff dimensions including autonomy, mastery, growth, relationships, life purpose, and self-acceptance. Evidence from 33,269 students in 25 countries links higher educator connectedness to greater flourishing while key demographic and family variables do not alter this association.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Key Framework

10 Point Paradigm Connection: Educator/Student Connectedness

What Connection Means

Who the Study Focuses On

Sample and Demographics

How the Study Was Conducted

Outcomes and Measures

Major Findings

Conclusion

February 2025 Research to Practice Brief: Teacher Connection and Flourishing Among Early Adolescents This brief summarizes the following article: Whitaker, R. C., Dearth-Wesley, T., Herman, A. N., Benz., T. L., Saint-Hilaire, S. A., & Strup, D. D. (2024) . The association between teacher connection and ﬂourishing among early adolescents in 25 countries. Journal of Early Adolescence, 44(5), 600-623 . [https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316231190828](https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316231190828) 10 Point Paradigm Connection: Educator/Student Connectedness Establishing genuine connections among educators and students is a key element of healthy school environments. These connections are not just surface-level interactions; they are deep, meaningful relationships that reﬂect educators’ commitments to understanding and supporting each student’s unique background, strengths, and challenges. The highlighted research evaluates the strength of connectedness among educators and students in relation to students’ abilities to ﬂourish in adolescence. The results support the necessity of these authentic connections to support the psychological well-being of students. What Connection, or connectedness, is summarized as student perceptions of closeness, empathy, interest, support, and warmth demonstrated by their educators. This may look like a student whois understood and valued by educators, creating an environment where they are comfortable expressing their thoughts and emotions. Such connection includes emotional encouragement and the assurance that students have someone to turn to in times ofjoy and difﬁculty. It also looks like an educator who is able to recognize and respond to their students’ emotional and academic strengths and needs, encouraging a sense of being cared for beyond their academic performance. Furthermore, doing so with a friendly and approachable demeanor can help students feel at ease in their educational environments and promote open communication. Students who feel a connection with their educators have a greater sense of stability, safety, and being nurtured while interacting in educational settings. Who Data from a random sample of 33,269 students, ages 11 to 13 years, was gathered from the International Survey of Children’s Well-Being ( ISCWeB) . These students attended mainstream schools across 25 countries. Of the sample, 51% were girls, 79% of the students lived with both parents, 56% reported medium-high to high connections with their parent/caregiver(s) , and, although 81% reported always having sufﬁcient access to food, only 34% reported never having family ﬁnancial worries. How Researchers did not put a new practice into place for the purposes of this study. Instead, students were surveyed in a multi-year project and the highlighted research used a relevant portion of that project to determine how connected those students felt to their educators. Two outcomes were evaluated through statistical analyses of the survey data: teacher-student connection and student ﬂourishing. The researchers described teacher connection as the students’ response level to the following three domains: ● Care – “My teachers care about me.” ● Respect – “My teachers listen to me and take what I say into account.” ● Support – “If I have a problem at school my teachers will help ” me. The researchers described ﬂourishing as the students’ level of psychological well-being, as deﬁned by Carol Ryff ’s six dimensions: ● Autonomy – “the ability to live in alignment with their personal beliefs,” ● Environmental Mastery – “success in managing their life across contexts,” ● Personal Growth – “use of their gifts and potential,” ● Positive Relationships – “deep connection with signiﬁcant others,” ● Purpose in Life – “a sense of meaning and purpose in their life,” ● Self-Acceptance – “knowledge and acceptance of who they ” are. Major Findings The key ﬁnding of the study indicated that student

FAQs

How does the brief define teacher-student connectedness?

It summarizes connectedness as students’ perceptions of closeness, empathy, interest, support, and warmth shown by educators. It includes emotional encouragement and responsiveness to students’ emotional and academic strengths and needs.

What does “flourishing” mean in this research?

Flourishing is students’ psychological well-being as defined by Carol Ryff’s six dimensions: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relationships, purpose in life, and self-acceptance.

What are the major findings about connectedness and well-being?

Students reporting the highest levels of connectedness to their educators were more likely to demonstrate positive psychological well-being (“flourishing”). The relationship held even after controlling for factors such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, family dynamics, and country of origin.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai