Maintaining Appropriate Teacher–Student Boundaries

In partnership with Model Teaching, an industry leader in supporting educators, this course emphasizes the significance of upholding professional boundaries with your students. Model Teaching's Mission is to improve student performance by directly supporting teachers with quality content and resources.

You will learn about four different types of boundaries and plan for specific ways that you can always maintain professional boundaries in the classroom.

SHARE
3 Months / 15 Course Hrs
Open Enrollment
Offered in partnership with your preferred school

Stephen F. Austin State University

Change School
Learning method

Maintaining Appropriate Teacher–Student Boundaries

Enroll Now

Course code: T14779

This course will teach you how to maintain appropriate and healthy boundaries between yourself and your students. You will learn about four different kinds of boundaries: emotional and relationship, power, physical, and communication boundaries, and you will learn insights into how to maintain the boundaries you already have in place as well as analyze areas you could improve upon. The course will allow you to plan specific methods to foster professional and healthy relationships between yourself and your students.

The course teaches you how to design a plan of action for your classroom and offers you resources and templates ready to support you in implementation.

What you will learn

  • Define the four types of boundaries between a student and teacher
  • Evaluate cases of individuals crossing boundaries, as well as examples of appropriate boundary-setting
  • Analyze methods you can implement to ensure that you maintain health and appropriate boundaries
  • Create a plan of action for your classroom to support you in maintaining boundaries between your students

How you will benefit

  • You will become more confident in identifying appropriate ethics and boundaries not only in yourself but in others as well
  • Your classroom will become more predictable and structured as you model healthy boundaries in a variety of ways to your students
  • Your classroom dynamic will improve, and your relationship with your students and their families will become more positive

How the course is taught

  • Self-Guided, online course
  • 3 Months access
  • 15 course hours
  1. Defining Ethics and Boundaries
    1. The definitions of ethics and boundaries
    2. About real-life cases of boundaries that were inappropriately crossed
    3. The four types of boundaries covered in this course: emotional/relational, power, communication, and physical boundaries
  2. Emotional and Relationship Boundaries
    1. About emotional/ relationship boundaries
    2. Some examples of healthy and unhealthy emotional and relationship boundaries
    3. Some opportunities to analyze boundary examples
  3. Power Boundaries
    1. About the 5 types of power that teachers have
    2. Examples of healthy and unhealthy power boundaries
    3. Some boundary examples to analyze
  4. Communication Boundaries
    1. About verbal and written communication
    2. Examples of healthy and unhealthy communication boundaries
    3. Some boundary examples to analyze
  5. Physical Boundaries
    1. About the four areas of physical boundaries
    2. Examples of healthy and unhealthy physical boundaries
    3. Some boundary examples to analyze
  6. Review and Reflection of Student Boundaries
    1. Participate in a review the four types of boundaries
    2. Analyze examples of each boundary type
    3. Reflect on your own practices in relation to each boundary
  7. Putting it All Together
    1. Using the sample provided, build a plan to improve or maintain positive and healthy boundaries in your classroom.
  8. Applying What you Have Learned
    1. Get ideas on how to implement the concepts into your classroom, find a list of online resources that support blended learning, and read the research behind setting appropriate boundaries.
Self-Study

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

  • This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows 10 or later.
  • Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
  • Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
  • Microsoft Word Online
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.
  • Editing of a Microsoft Word document is required in this course. You may use a free version of Microsoft Word Online, or Google Docs if you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer. Model Teaching can provide support for this.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Your course begins immediately after you enroll.​

You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

A Guide to Blooms Taxonomy and Cognitive ThinkingFundamentalsClaim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) in the Science ClassroomFundamentalsCollaborative Learning in the ClassroomFundamentalsEducating Diverse Populations in Your ClassroomFundamentalsGrowth Mindset in the Gifted ClassroomFundamentalsInspire Family Engagement with Positive CommunicationFundamentalsIntro to Active Monitoring and Data CollectionFundamentalsUniversal Design for Learning (UDL) PrinciplesFundamentals
Fundamentals
A Guide to Blooms Taxonomy and Cognitive Thinking
Fundamentals
Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) in the Science Classroom
Fundamentals
Collaborative Learning in the Classroom
Fundamentals
Educating Diverse Populations in Your Classroom
Fundamentals
Growth Mindset in the Gifted Classroom
Fundamentals
Inspire Family Engagement with Positive Communication
Fundamentals
Intro to Active Monitoring and Data Collection
Fundamentals
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles