Fostering Teacher and Student Relationships with PBIS Rewards

How PBIS Rewards Foster Teacher-Student Relationships

Fostering Teacher and Student Relationships with PBIS Rewards

Every child deserves to learn in an environment that nurtures them academically, emotionally, and socially. These important relationships between teachers and students significantly influence classroom engagement and overall student success. Rather than focusing on punishments for misconduct, teachers can reap greater rewards through positive encouragement. Paying more attention to the positive helps students become more engaged in the lesson, improves concentration, and leads to better academic outcomes. PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) Rewards tools can effectively facilitate this process and accelerate student success.

How do PBIS Rewards Help Foster More Profound and Beneficial Teacher-Student Relationships?

The Connection Between Teachers and Students Plays a Critical Role in Shaping the Learning Journey

Teacher-student relationships serve as linchpins in the educational journey, fundamentally shaping academic and social development. Often cultivated through mutual respect, understanding, and open communication, these relationships create conducive learning environments. Meaningful connections between teachers and students also play a significant role in instilling curiosity, and critical thinking skills. 
Nurturing these relationships is often considered an integral part of the pedagogical process, with some experts believing that positive teacher-student relationships even lead to better teaching. This has profound implications for students’ overall educational outcomes and their lifelong relationship with learning.

The Role of PBIS Rewards in Enhancing Teacher-Student Relationships

PBIS is a proactive approach to establishing the behavioral supports and social culture needed for all students to achieve social, emotional, and academic success. It places significant emphasis on creating positive learning environments by reinforcing positive behaviors. This can be done in various ways, including verbal affirmation, rewards, and recognition, which are crucial in establishing strong teacher-student relationships.

PBIS Rewards, as a system, provides an opportunity for teachers to catch students being good. By providing positive feedback and rewards, teachers encourage the repetition of those behaviors. The regular and consistent use of PBIS Rewards leads to improved student behavior, which in turn nurtures a more robust relationship between the teacher and the student. Furthermore, these rewards provide students with instant feedback about their actions, helping them understand the connection between positive behavior and positive outcomes.

Establishing Consistency and Fairness in PBIS Rewards is Essential

Fairness is critical in positive reinforcement and reward systems. It’s important to have a consistent standard for what behavior warrants a reward (or a consequence). If some teachers give rewards freely, like for merely being on time, while others rarely do so, it creates an imbalance. This inconsistency can demotivate students who don’t interact with the more generous teachers, as they might feel their efforts go unnoticed. Meanwhile, students who regularly encounter generous teachers might get rewards more easily. Such discrepancies can undermine the system’s fairness, leading to disengagement and diminished efforts from students. Therefore, it’s vital to establish and maintain equitable reward criteria to ensure all students feel their efforts are equally valued.

Peer Recognition is an Excellent Motivator for Positive Behavior

As children progress through school, their social circles widen, and peer approval becomes increasingly important. This desire for social acknowledgment can be channeled constructively within through PBIS rewards. When students are publicly recognized for good behavior or academic achievements, it not only validates their efforts but also encourages them to continue the positive behavior. Additionally, it can inspire their peers to emulate such behaviors, fostering a conducive learning environment built on mutual respect and positive reinforcement. Take this up a notch and create teams that can earn points collectively to build essential collaboration skills. While most students enjoy earning points for rewards, as they grow older, their focus shifts – often with maturity, peer recognition becomes more valued than personal gains, making social acknowledgment an effective motivator for positive behavior.

Building Communication and Trust with PBIS

PBIS Rewards not only help manage classroom behavior but also foster open communication between students and teachers. It creates a system of transparency where students know what is expected of them and what behaviors will earn rewards. This understanding builds trust and mutual respect, further strengthening the teacher-student relationship. When students trust their teachers, they feel safer in expressing their thoughts, fears, and aspirations, creating a supportive and engaging learning environment.

Empowering Students with PBIS Rewards

PBIS empowers students by making them active participants in their behavioral growth. By engaging with the PBIS Rewards system, students can track their progress, set behavioral goals, and experience the satisfaction of reaching them. This sense of empowerment enhances student engagement, motivation, and builds their confidence, which can further improve the teacher-student relationship.

PBIS Rewards Help to Cultivate a Positive Classroom Culture

The implementation of PBIS Rewards contributes to creating a positive classroom culture. It encourages students to engage in positive behavior not just for the rewards but because it fosters a happier, more harmonious learning environment. A classroom with such an atmosphere is likely to be more collaborative, nurturing, and supportive, which greatly helps in building strong teacher-student relationships.

PBIS Rewards can be a powerful tool for fostering meaningful teacher-student relationships. By setting clear expectations, rewarding positive behavior, promoting open communication, and cultivating a positive classroom culture, PBIS not only improves student behavior but also significantly contributes to the overall emotional and academic success of students.


Minga offers a Behavior & Rewards module that enhances student accountability through a PBIS rewards-based system. Click here to book a time with a Minga Solutions Expert to learn more.

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