Supported by: Government of Indonesia (GoI) and Islamic Development Bank (idb)

Building Rapport 
Building rapport is very important in teaching-learning processes. Building rapport is essential to build 
trust and create secure feeling among students during the lesson. If the students feel secure, they can 
concentrate in the learning and not in thinking about how to get away from it.
You might recall when you were students, your teacher did not care about you and you were de-
motivated. Your teacher did not seem to know your friends’ names, appeared inflexible and took little 
interest in what you and your friends said. You might also remember one of your teachers carried a stick 
and beat the desk every time there was an error and asked students who made an error to stand up or 
stand in the corner. He/she also made comments to the others about a student.
These kinds of teachers are unlikely to have a good relationship with students. One possible reason for 
behaving in a threatening way is that many teachers believe it can help maintain discipline. To some 
extent this might be true, but it comes at the cost of the relationships with the students. Also, most 
research shows that teachers maintain discipline through good classroom management skills and 
selecting appropriate materials and activities, rather than with threats and put downs.
Therefore, it is important to establish and maintain rapport while applying good classroom 
management skills through various methods and techniques.
 
 
Techniques for Good Rapport Establishment 
 
LAPIS-ELTIS (2008a) suggests ways to build rapport successfully. Among the ways are as follows. 
• Smile at your students. Greet them when you enter the class to start a lesson. If you look happy and 
pleased to be in the classroom, you pass on this feeling to your students. 
 
Think back when you were a student 
What kinds of things made you feel embarrassed, de-motivated or afraid? Why do 
teachers sometimes feel the need to behave in this way?
Which teachers gave you confidence in yourself? What did they do that helped you 
feel relaxed and interested in what you were learning?
What do you think your learners expect of you as teachers?
What do you think the ideal relationship between teacher and learners should be 
like?
What do you do to make your classroom learning environment pleasant?
Adapted from LAPIS-ELTIS (2008a) 

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• Find out student’s interests. You can do this by chatting to students outside the classroom, e.g. when 
you meet a student, greet and engage in quick conversation about a student’s interests. Do not talk 
about class, behavior, schoolwork, etc. Try to get the student when peers do not surround him.