Job Discussion Forums

[Dr.J]

Just re-reading my old CELTA coursebook; about how to be a great teacher.

It gets noticeably misty-eyed when discussing "rapport", and mutters something about "mutual respect" "understanding" and is altogether not very clear about this most essential of teacher attributes.

What do you think rapport is? Does it exist at all? Can one learn it or is it just a natural part of your personality? Can anything be said about it or is it just an ephemeral phenomenon that depends on the time, place, and 'communicative activity'?

Answers on a postcard please...

[foster]

I think the best rapports come naturally. Some people we meet or work with or teach and we just click. It is easy to be in the same room and talk about whatever needs to be talked about.

You can make one, but I believe that would feel fake and forced. Rapport to me gives the idea that it is natural and easy. Rapport is more than "getting along" and being able to work/teach together. There are people I have met that I eventually got to know and we are 'friendly', but the natural flow of the realtionship seems stilted. There are people I have met that after 2 hours, it has felt like we have known each other forever.

Being that I am not usually a touchy-feely person, I tend to have to work at rapport with people I don't like from the get-go. My first impressions tend to stick and I find it hard to be nice if I didn't like them at first.

Respect is a huge part of rapport. WIthout respect for the other person, the rapport would be more clinical and forced.

[Capergirl]

"Respect is a huge part of rapport." I agree with this 100%, foster! Rapport begins with mutual respect in the classroom.

One thing I always do is "warm up" the students before diving into the lesson. Usually, this just entails a few minutes of friendly conversation. It makes a huge difference in the overall 'tone' of the class. I think that if I were to waltz in and bark, "Turn to page XX in your book" and then proceed with the lesson in a detached manner, there would be no rapport at all. They wouldn't feel comfortable with me nor I with them.

I believe that teachers need to have a relationship with their students. I don't mean that you need to hang out with them or become their good buddies. I merely mean that it is good to have a connection with them - positive feelings all around. Without it, we are less effective in the classroom. JMHO.

[shmooj]

I find that humour goes a huge way to building rapport in the classroom. Some of my best classes are those when I can say "we really have a laugh" - and this is of course not humour at anyone's expense except perhaps my own from time to time.

[foster]

Humour can help build rapport..especially if you can laught at yourself. I know that making a mistake that my students catch can be good at times. It is ok to admit you don't know, just not ALL the time.

[Teacher in Rome]

Plus, trying to understand where your student is coming from. I think you have to get to know your students, so that you can more easily understand why they are learning English, what is important to them, and where their blocks are in the language. This is probably a lot more difficult in large classes, but it works well with individual students and small groups, where building rapport is really crucial for the students to succeed in their language goals.

I've been reading the "touchy-feely" thread with a lot of interest, as it seems to have a lot to do with personal rapport with students. I may get slated for being too "t-f", but individual classes don't work with me - or rather I feel that I'm not giving my best - if I don't have a bond with my students. I can't think of them as customers or clients. In a one-to-one situation, their struggles with English become my challenges too. When a student "gets" something and is able to produce whatever the particular target is, I get an enormous rush of happiness. If I didn't have an emotional bond with the student, I wouldn't care so much...

[leeroy]

I often misinterpret Asian face-saving and deference strategies as simple dishonesty (and/or lack of personality) - there is an element of social mistrust present which hinders any natural rapport which might develop. Students from cultures more similar to my own are much easier to click with.