Build relationships

At a glance

Explore practical strategies for building relationships with and between students to foster a sense of belonging in your classroom. Find approaches for introducing yourself, connecting students with each other and with the content, and encouraging student voice and choice.

Relationships play a significant role in a student's higher education experience and can influence key educational outcomes such as changes in values and attitudes. Making friends and feeling like they belong in a new community is often a top concern for students transitioning to higher education (Stone, 2019). Providing opportunities for students to form meaningful friendships and build a sense of belonging is crucial for their academic achievement and well-being. This particularly applies to first-year and international students who may need to establish a new social network.

Educators can create opportunities for positive peer relationships to form in their classroom through a variety of strategies. These can include the following:

Introducing yourself

1. Icebreakers
Icebreakers provide opportunities for students to get to know you and one another, and also help students familiarise themselves with the technological tools or platforms that you might often use in your class (e.g., discussion boards, polls, collaborative documents, etc.).
Social icebreakers often occur at the beginning of the semester; however, using icebreaker activities throughout the course allows students to continue building connections over time.
2. Forums
Use the Forum in Moodle to have students introduce themselves and connect in their own time. A fun way to get to know one another at the beginning of the semester is to ask students to pick a photo from the 10 most recent photos on their phone with a few lines of explanation (or not). Lead the way by starting off the forum with your own entry. These types of activities give students an opportunity to practise embedding a photo in Moodle as well as to meet their cohort and instructors.
3. Use teamwork
Encourage collaboration and teamwork by designing activities and assignments that require students to work together in small groups or pairs. Make your way through Group and Peer Assessment for some strategies you can use for creating collaborative group assessments.
Find ways to bring the subject to life in ways students can relate to – you might use an example of a current event or issue in the field and get them to prompt discussions. Help them imagine themselves as a professional in the field from the start. Explain how their learning relates to being a professional in their discipline.
To ensure that all students have an opportunity to participate, teachers should provide regular and interested interventions and strive to create a fair and transparent learning culture
Foster a sense of inclusiveness and support by demonstrating that each student's contributions are valued, regardless of whether they align with others.
Help students to understand the reasoning behind your teaching strategies. Seek feedback and be willing to change strategies if they are not effective.
By giving students some control over their learning experience, teachers can foster a sense of ownership and agency in the classroom. This can be achieved through activities such as choice-based assignments or student-led discussions. Learn more about how to engage student voice in the classroom.
By using language and practices that are inclusive of all students, regardless of their background or identity, educators can create a sense of belonging and acceptance in the classroom. Explore Inclusive Teaching Practices for strategies and opportunities on how to achieve an inclusive learning experience for your students.

Your feedback matters

Let us know how we can improve this resource.

Next: Strengthen your teaching presence

Draw inspiration

Global Classrooms in Higher Education

Supported by the Monash-Warwick Alliance and created by students and staff through shared pedagogies, resources, ideas, and experiences, this website is designed to be used by staff as an internationalisation resource to inspire new practice.

Inclusive teaching

Through several case studies of inclusive teaching practice across the university, this module examines some of the ways educators can modify learning activities and improve communication with students to embed the principles of inclusive teaching.

Designing hybrid collaborative activities

Watch Ari Seligmann explain how hybrid collaborative activities were developed in an architecture class to integrate offshore and remote students into this very interactive unit.

Digital me in online learning

Digital me is the identity created by a student’s connections with educators, peers, external community and curriculum.

Keeping large student cohorts engaged online

Through in-class polling, weekly choice polls and mid-semester surveys, we continuously modified our teaching practice based on the formative feedback we received to keep students engaged throughout the semester.

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Build relationships

At a glance

1. Icebreakers

2. Forums

3. Use teamwork

Your feedback matters