The Role of Teacher-Student Relationships in Enhancing Students’ Academic Performance in Advanced Level Secondary Schools in Moshi Municipality

The role of teacher-student relationships in shaping academic achievements has become a subject of global interest. However, a critical gap emerged in the context-specific understanding of these relationships and their impact on academic performance. To address this gap, this study aimed to explore secondary school students' attitudes towards the influence of teacher-student relationships on academic performance and to examine the extent to which teacher-student relationships affect academic performance. The study was guided by attachment theory. A cross-sectional survey research design was employed, utilizing a questionnaire to collect data from 92 students in Moshi municipality. Purposive sampling was used to obtain schools, and Simple random sampling was used to get students. Data were coded, entered, and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Descriptive statistics were used to examine students’ attitudes, reporting means, and percentages. The independent t-test was used to determine differences by gender and school ownership. The findings reveal that students generally hold a positive attitude towards the teacher-student relationship, and 80.3% revealed that teacher-student relationships enhanced academic performance. A gender-based analysis indicated significant differences (t (90) = -3.455, p = 0.001), with females holding more positive attitudes (mean = 4.1186, SD = 0.57992) than males (mean = 3.6449, SD = 0.71620). School ownership, however, did not yield statistically significant differences (t (90) = 1.494, p = 0.139) between public (mean = 3.9973, SD = 0.62915) and private schools (mean = 3.7782, SD = 0.72742). The study concludes that teacher-student relationships enhanced academic performance, and that female students exhibited more positive attitudes towards them than male students. The study recommends that teachers be equipped with guidance and counselling skills to respond to students' needs by creating a conducive atmosphere within and outside the classroom.