Teacher–child relationship quality: The roles of child temperament and teacher–child interactions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2008.12.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Young children's relationships with teachers predict social and academic success. This study examines contributions of child temperament (shyness, effortful control) and gender to teacher–child relationship quality both directly and indirectly through the frequency of teacher–child interactions in the classroom. Using an NICHD SECCYD sample of 819 first grade children, four findings emerged: (a) children's shyness, effortful control, and gender contributed directly to teacher–child conflict and closeness; (b) children's shyness contributed to the frequency of child-initiated teacher–child interactions, and children's effortful control contributed to the frequency of teacher-initiated teacher–child interactions; (c) shyness related to teacher–child closeness indirectly through the frequency of child-initiated teacher–child interactions; (d) the frequency of child- and teacher-initiated interactions contributed to each other. Results inform practitioners and researchers of characteristics that put children at risk for failure to form positive relationships with teachers.

Section snippets

Theoretical framework

Two theoretical models guide this study: the Transactional Model of Development (Sameroff & Fiese, 2000; Sameroff & MacKenzie, 2003), and the Ecological and Dynamic Model of Transition (Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 2000). The Transactional Model places emphasis on the bi-directional nature of interactions between person and environment. At the core of this model is the idea that neither the individual nor the environment alone accounts for individual outcomes. Rather, it is the interplay between

Teacher–child relationships and children's outcomes

Positive teacher–child relationships appear to operate as protective factors for children's social and academic development (Baker, 2006; Birch & Ladd, 1997; Pianta, Steinberg, & Rollins, 1995; Pianta et al., 1997; Valiente, Lemery-Chalfant, Swanson, & Reiser, 2008). Such relationships are those perceived by teachers to be low in conflict and dependency and high in closeness (Pianta, 1999). In addition, they are marked by respect and caring, with children seeing their teachers as sources of

Temperament

Temperament is an individual's general style of responding to stimuli in the environment. It is a biologically based, multi-dimensional construct that begins to emerge during infancy and childhood, is molded by environmental forces, and provides the foundation for personality traits in older children, youth, and adults (Kagan & Fox, 2006; Rothbart & Bates, 2006; Thomas & Chess, 1977). Temperament has been found to be somewhat stable through early elementary school (Kagan, Resnick, Snidman,

Research questions

This study combined research in the areas of child temperament (shyness and effortful control) and gender, and teacher–child interactions in order to extend our understanding of the predictors of children's relationships with teachers. Our research questions and hypotheses follow.

  • 1.

    To what extent do children's temperament (shyness, effortful control, measured at 54 months) and gender directly contribute to teacher–child relationship quality in 1st grade? We hypothesized that children's shyness,

Participants

Participants were children and their first grade teachers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). In 1991, new mothers were recruited for participation in this study from hospitals in regions near the following cities: Little Rock, AK; Irvine, CA; Lawrence, KS; Boston, MA; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Charlottesville, VA; Morganton, NC; Seattle, WA; and Madison, WI. Of the 8,986 mothers delivering in

Descriptive analyses

We conducted descriptive analyses of children's scores on temperament attributes and teacher–child relationship quality. On average, children showed moderate to high levels of attentional focusing and inhibitory control, and moderate levels of shyness. Teacher–child relationship quality was high for this sample, such that children's relationships with teachers were characterized by relatively low scores for conflict and high scores for closeness. In terms of teacher- and child-initiated

Discussion

Findings emerging from this study were primarily consistent with our hypotheses. As expected, children's shyness, effortful control, and gender predicted teachers’ perceptions of the quality of their relationships with children. In terms of shyness, we found lower levels predicted more teacher–child conflict and more teacher–child closeness. For effortful control, children with lower levels were more likely to have conflict with teachers, and children with higher levels were more likely to have

Acknowledgments

The work reported herein was supported in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care (U10-HD25449), NICHD R21-43750, and by the University of Virginia Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Program in Education Sciences, Institute of Education Sciences U.S. Department of Education Award #R305B040049.

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