How the teacher-student relationship is associated with the proportions of male and ethnic minority students in class and teachers’ emotions

Abstract In this study, we investigated how the proportions of male and ethnic minority students in a class are related to students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the teacher-student relationship. This relationship is strongly related to teachers’ emotions, which we assessed from the students’ perspective. In a sample of 344 classes in German vocational schools, we employed the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). We found that, in classes with a larger proportion of ethnic minority students, students’ and teachers’ perceptions of teachers’ opposition were higher, indicating a more negative teacher-student relationship in these classes. Multiple regression analyses showed that the teacher-student relationship also predicted students’ perceptions of teachers’ emotions. Again, teachers’ opposition turned out to be important. With higher opposition in teachers, students’ perceptions of positive emotions in teachers (e.g., enjoyment) were lower, whereas perceptions of negative emotions (e.g., anger, anxiety, and boredom) were higher. Our study emphasizes the need to disentangle positive and negative teacher interactional behavior and to inform teachers that their negative behavior in class may have an impact on students’ perceptions of teachers’ emotions.