Förtroendefulla relationer mellan lärare och elev

Abstract

This thesis aims to explain how trustful relationships between teachers and students are expressed in the Swedish compulsory school system, and to explore what a trustful relationship implies for teacher and student. The empirical material presented is derived from field studies. The work of five teachers in five different schools was observed over various periods of time. The material has mostly been collected by means of observations in the classroom but also using interviews and informal conversations. The classroom observations focus on trustful relationships between teacher and student. The interviews with the teachers were conducted both as formal interviews and as informal talks where both the teachers and the students took part. A phenomenological lifeworld approach has been used both when collecting and interpreting the empirical material; in particular, Lögstrup’s theory about the ethical demand is used to understand trust. The students’ life and world are intertwined and expressed during the school day, and the teacher has to receive this in a way that leads forward. In the results, four dimensions of trustful relationships are identified. The teachers care about the students; the teachers also listen, set limits and encounter students’ resistance in a trustful way. The dimensions of trustful relationships that are reported in this study can be divided into those that deepen and confirm the trust and those which test and hopefully also confirm the trust. This study contributes to an understanding of what trustful relationships and students’ lived experience can imply for ordinary school work. When the teacher and the students have trust in each other the relationships allow each student to be met in a way that is the best for him or her, i.e. according to each student’s needs. This study also hints that a trustful relationship seems to be necessary in creating opportunities for the student to learn and to believe in his or her own ability.