Student–teacher relationships and teacher induction: Ben's story

Abstract

This is the story of a beginning teacher, Ben. Ben was part of a mixed‐method, qualitative study directed at exploring the student–teacher relationship experiences of beginning teachers. Time, mentor relationships and student–teacher relationships were all found to play an important role in the willingness, longevity, and efficacy of beginning teachers, as exemplified in Ben's story. Following, and using the context of Ben's story, is a discussion of these themes. This article concludes with a number of recommendations for educational stakeholders to consider as they work to potentiate beginning teachers' induction experiences. This includes a recommendation to situate student–teacher relationships more centrally as they consider support mechanisms for these teachers.

Keywords:

• student–teacher relationships
• teacher induction
• beginning teachers
• mixed‐method research