This master’s thesis examines the role of teachers in developing and fostering prosocial behaviour among elementary school students, with a particular focus on the importance of their relational competence. Prosocial behaviour, which includes actions such as helping, sharing, cooperating, empathy, and caring for others, is an important factor in children’s social and emotional development and contributes to a positive classroom climate and a more effective learning process. Teachers play a key role in this, as they can significantly influence students’ behaviour through their example and the way they build relationships.
In the theoretical part of this paper, I first present the fundamental principles of prosocial behaviour, including a definition of the concept, the motives for prosocial behaviour, and its significance for mental health. I then describe the factors influencing the development of prosocial behaviour in children and adolescents, with a special emphasis on the role of the school environment. I subsequently place prosocial behaviour within the school context, where social relationships in school are examined in greater detail. I dedicate a separate chapter to the role of teachers in fostering prosocial behaviour, in which I describe in detail the model of a prosocial classroom, social and emotional competencies, and teachers’ relational competence as one of the key competencies for high-quality teaching.
In the empirical part of the thesis, I investigated the perception of students’ prosocial behaviour and teachers’ relational competence from the perspectives of students and teachers, as well as the importance of teachers’ relational competence in fostering students’ prosocial behaviour. The research was based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research approaches, utilizing a questionnaire for students and semi-structured interviews with teachers, which provided a more comprehensive insight into the topic under consideration.
The results of the study show that students and teachers most frequently perceive prosocial behaviour in the form of academic assistance and sharing notes. Correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between perceived aspects of teachers’ relational competence and perceived forms of students’ prosocial behaviour. Teachers perceive their relational competence primarily through responding to students’ individual needs, establishing authority in the classroom, and expressing genuineness and authenticity, while emphasizing the importance of reflecting on their relationships with students. At the same time, they emphasized that support from colleagues, counselling services, and school administrators is crucial for the development of their relational competence, while also expressing a need for more systematic forms of support. The findings confirm that teachers’ relational competence significantly contributes to fostering prosocial behaviour in students and underscore the importance of its further development in the school setting.
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