Abstract:
This study investigated the effect of teacher-student relationship on student performance in West Nairobi School. Through the study, the researcher sought to assess the relationship between teachers and students by finding out the effect of consistent communication of students' performance; establishing the role of emotionally safe learning space on students' performance; identifying the effect of mutual respect, trust and feedback on student performance; and to finding out the effect of true equity on students' performance. The researcher used a descriptive case study method of research which involves a detailed examination of teacher-student relationship and how it affects students' performance in West Nairobi School. A mixture of probability and non-probability sampling techniques were used for this study. The researcher used stratified random sampling method in order to ensure that all the teachers and students had equal chances of king selected and those selected were a representative of the strata. A total of 12 teachers and 38 students filled the questionnaires and the data that was collected was used to guide the study. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was employed to aid in the analysis of statistics. The study concluded that consistent communication has an effect on student performance in West Nairobi School. The quality, clarity and simplicity of the message coupled with consistent communication helps students' to make the right choices and perform better academically. The research found out that an emotionally safe learning space, though considered important by the teachers, was not provided to majority of the students because they felt that classrooms were not organized in a way that made them relax. This can easily hinder their ability to perform better because their minds are not fully focused on studies. Though teachers consider mutual respect top on the agenda, most students could be affected by other factors like challenges at home that hinder their capacity to treat others with respect. Equally though teachers treated all students equally, most of the students felt that they did not have equal access to resources and opportunity to develop themselves. This could easily hinder the capacity of the students to develop themselves fully. The study recommended that West Nairobi School needed to look at ways of harnessing communication by seeking feedback from the students to establish areas that may need clarity. This will help improve communication which would lead to improved performance. West Nairobi School needs to find ways of further enhancing relationship between teachers and students especially when it comes to building confidence so that students can find it easy to confide in teachers in times of need. This is necessary considering that students are in their formative years where they are discovering themselves. The school would do well to involve parents in the academic and character development of the students so that there is consistency in behavior at home and in school. This will help students establish values that will build their character and eventually lead to improved academic performance. The need for equal treatment is paramount in schools. West Nairobi School will need to deal with problems that make students feel that they are not treated equally. This can be done by involving the student leadership in decisions that directly affect the welfare of the students. However, the school is on the right track in ensuring that students are holistically developed to face the challenges of our times.