Students' Perceptions of Teachers' Behaviors of Social-Emotional Support and Students' Satisfaction with the Classroom Atmosphere

Problem Statement: Teaching demands both academic and relational responsibilities. Teachers' support in one dimension without the other may lead to failure in both attempts. Research indicates that students' affective characteristics explain a considerable amount of variance in classroom learning. Therefore, teachers are advised to boost their students' morale while instructing. Good teachers are to consider their students' affective needs and plan their lessons accordingly. Purpose of the Study: This study aimed to identify how teachers' behaviors of social-emotional support interact with their students' perceptions about the classroom atmosphere. It is hypothesized that students enjoy their time when they are socially and emotionally supported in class and that teachers' different patterns of social-emotional support lead to varying levels of student satisfaction with the classroom atmosphere. Methods: A questionnaire was used to measure teachers' behaviors of social-emotional support and students' levels of satisfaction with the classroom atmosphere. The data gathered from over 1200 students of 58 teachers' behaviors of social-emotional support were analyzed. Findings: Factor analysis and tests of reliability indicated that the 12-item questionnaire could be used as a one-factor scale to measure students' perceptions of teachers' social-emotional support. Regression analysis indicated that teachers' behaviors of support strongly predict students' satisfaction with the classroom atmosphere. It was also found that teachers differ in terms of their behaviors of social-emotional support; some teachers exercise certain behaviors of social-emotional support more often than others. Finally, teachers whose students have differing levels of satisfaction exert statistically different behaviors of social-emotional support. Conclusions and Recommendations: It can be concluded that certain teacher behaviors can be used to predict students' satisfaction with the learning environment and that when teachers support their students socially and emotionally, students feel more satisfied with the classroom atmosphere. Therefore, teachers can be advised to provide social and emotional support to their students in class. It is advised to study in an experimental or quasi-experimental design whether teachers' behaviors of social-emotional support interact with actual learning.