Teacher-student relationships in multicultural classes: Reviewing the past, preparing the future

Abstract

This contribution reviews research that links students’ and teachers’ ethnic background to students’ perceptions of teacher interpersonal behavior, teacher treatment of individual students, and student achievement and subject-related attitudes. The review mainly includes studies from the United States, Australia and the Netherlands and a few Asian countries (Singapore, Brunei and Taiwan). The literature revealed that ethnicity is consistently associated with students’ perceptions of their teachers, that the way teachers communicate varies according to the ethnicity of their students, and that teacher interpersonal behavior may be more important for immigrant minority students’ outcomes than for their indigenous peers. The article finishes off by offering suggestions for future research.