The Importance of Connectedness in Student-Teacher Relationships: Insights from the Teacher Connectedness Project

This book argues for the importance of connectedness in student-teacher relationships during adolescence and advocates a more holistic and proactive approach to wellbeing in education. Combining education, psychology and health promotion perspectives, the book begins by providing an overview of theoretical frameworks in the study of student-teacher relationships and makes the case that good relationships with teachers are essential to students’ well-being in school. The book then goes on to present the concept of connectedness and discusses the main challenges regarding its conceptualisation in school research.
García-Moya draws on qualitative findings from the Teacher Connectedness Project to offer an in-depth examination of the central attributes of student-teacher connectedness, as well as of the links between connectedness and authority from both students’ and teachers’ perspectives. This innovative project uses a synergistic approach to investigate the role of teachers as potential significant adults in students’ lives. The final chapter offers a summary of the key practical implications for teachers and educators and makes recommendations for future research directions in this area.

This book will be a valuable resource for researchers and educators alike, as well as for anyone interested in the ongoing concerns about student wellbeing in schools.


Irene García-Moya is a Ramón y Cajal Senior Research Fellow at the University of Seville, Spain and a Visiting Researcher at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, where she worked as a Marie Curie Fellow and started the Teacher Connectedness Project line of research. She is currently one of the coordinators of the expert group about school in the WHO-collaborative survey Health Behaviour in School-aged Children international network.