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Child-perceived teacher emotional support, its relations with teaching practices, and task persistence

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Abstract

This study examined relations between child-reported teacher emotional support, teaching practices, and children’s task-persistent learning behaviour. The study was carried out in Estonia, where a students’ first teacher advances with his/her students and teaches all primary subjects in the first 3 years of schooling. In total, 660 sixth-grade children reported about their first teacher’s emotional support. Teachers’ child-centred and teacher-directed practices were observed with the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM); results included 38 teachers in Grade 1, and 37 in Grade 3. Within the same grades, teachers reported on their affection for students, as well as their behavioural and psychological control over students. Teachers also evaluated each of their student’s task persistence. As shown by ECCOM results, retrospective student-reported teacher emotional support tended to be positively related to child-centred practises, and negatively related to teacher-directed practises in Grade 3, while also negatively related to teacher-reported psychological control in Grade 1. Although higher perceived emotional support was related with more persistent learning behaviour on an individual level, general task persistence was predicted primarily by teacher-reported practices at the classroom level.

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Funding

This work received financial supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (grant no. IUT 03-03).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Narva mnt 25, 10120, Tallinn, Estonia

    Eve Kikas

  2. Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, PL 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 5A), 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Xin Tang

Authors
  1. Eve Kikas
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  2. Xin Tang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eve Kikas.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Eve Kikas. School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Narva mnt. 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia; Email: eve.kikas@tlu.ee

Current themes of research:

Children’s development and learning in kindergarten and school. The role of individual characteristics and contextual factors (e.g. teaching practices, parental support) in students’ learning, considering varying skill levels and ages.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Peets, K., & Kikas, E. (2017). Teachers’ promotion or inhibition of children’s aggression depends on peer-group characteristics. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 46, 848–857. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1079778

Kikas, E., Pakarinen, E., Soodla, P., Peets, K., & Lerkkanen, M.-K. (2017). Associations between reading skills, interest in reading, and teaching practices in first grade. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2017.1307272

Kikas, E., Silinskas, G., Jõgi, A.-L., & Soodla, P. (2016). Effects of teacher’s individualized support on children’s reading skills and interest in classrooms with different teaching styles. Learning and Individual Differences, 49, 270–277. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.05.015

Kikas, E., & Mägi, K. (2016). Does self-efficacy mediate the effect of primary school teachers’ emotional support on learning behavior and academic skills? Journal of Early Adolescence, 37, 696–730. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431615624567

Kikas, E., Silinskas, G., and Soodla, P. (2015). The effects of children’s reading skills and interest on teacher perceptions of children’s skills and ndividualized support. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39, 402–412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025415573641.

Kikas, E., Peets, K., and Hodges, E. (2014). Collective student characteristics alter the effects of teaching practices on academic outcomes. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35, 273–283.

Kikas, E. (2004). Teachers’ conceptions and misconceptions concerning three natural phenomena. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41, 432–448.

Xin Tang. Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland; E-mail: xin.tang@helsinki.fi

Current themes of research:

Teaching practices. Reading development. Motivation and engagement.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Tang, X., Pakarinen, E., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Kikas, E., Muotka, J., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2017). Validating the early childhood classroom observation measure in first and third grade classrooms. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 61, 275–294.

Tang, X., Kikas, E., Pakarinen, E., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Muotka, J., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2017). Profiles of teaching practices and reading skills at the first and third grade in Finland and Estonia. Teaching and Teacher Education, 64, 150–161.

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Table 2 Constructs, labels, instruments, number of items, and reliabilities of the measures
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Kikas, E., Tang, X. Child-perceived teacher emotional support, its relations with teaching practices, and task persistence. Eur J Psychol Educ 34, 359–374 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-018-0392-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-018-0392-y

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