Teacher–child relationships as dynamic systems
Introduction
A robust literature demonstrates that high quality teacher–child relationships contribute to children's social and cognitive skill development in elementary school (e.g. Hamre and Pianta, 2001, Howes et al., 1994, Pianta, 1999). Supporting children in the development of high quality relationships is thus vital. Our understanding of how to foster high quality relationships between children and teachers in elementary school, however, is limited as little research exists on the developmental trajectories and correlates of teacher–child relationship quality during this developmental period.
Researchers speculate that the quality of the teacher–child relationship is determined by complex interactions between individual and environmental factors, and have recommended the use of dynamic systems and ecological models to identify specific factors associated with the quality of teacher–child relationships over time (Kontos, 1992, Mantzicopoulos, 2005, Pianta, 1999). According to dynamic system models, relationships are constantly changing due to alterations in the environments in which relationships exist and changes in the individuals within the relationship. According to ecological models, children develop over time within interrelated systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, Pianta and Walsh, 1996). Pianta and Walsh's (1996) Contextual Systems Model (CSM), which is rooted in both dynamic systems and ecological models, was used as a framework for the current study, as it provides a theoretical model of factors within the child, teacher, family and school environments associated with the quality of the teacher–child relationship during elementary school.
Teacher–child relationships in early and middle childhood have many of the properties and functions of parent–child attachment relationships (Pianta, 1999, Wentzel, 1996). High quality relationships are defined by high levels of closeness and low levels of conflict between the teacher and child. Positive correlations in the quality of children's relationships with teachers have been found between kindergarten and first grade (O'Connor & McCartney, 2006). Some variation, however, exists in the quality of children's relationships with different teachers across the elementary school years (Jerome, Hamre, & Pianta, 2009). For example, in a study of children from first through third grade, there was evidence of only moderate stability in relationship quality across different teachers (O'Connor & McCartney, 2007).
Examining factors associated with change in relationship quality is important, as even small changes in quality have implications for child outcomes. For example, in one study, a small decrease per year in relationship quality across the first three years of elementary school was associated with significantly lower levels of achievement at third grade (O'Connor & McCartney, 2007). The CSM outlines various factors that may be associated with change in relationship quality.
Section snippets
Contextual systems model
The CSM posits that children develop within the family and school environments. These environments are composed of various systems, or related factors, that exist at levels distal and proximal to the child. The family environment is composed of the systems of family resources and functions. Family resources include a family's socio-economic supports. Family functions are more proximal to the child than family resources and are actions within the family that regulate children's behavior and
Participants
The current study was conducted using data from the first three phases of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD), a prospective study of children from birth through adolescence. In 1991, 1364 women and their newborn children in or near 10 urban and suburban sites in the United States were recruited through a conditional random sampling plan to participate in the NICHD SECCYD (for detailed recruitment and sampling details, see NICHD Early Child Care Research
Quality of the teacher–child relationship
The 15-item Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS; Pianta, 1992) was used to assess teacher perceptions of the quality of the teacher–child relationship at first, third and fifth grade. Items on the STRS were developed based on behaviors used in the classification of parent–child attachments and the Attachment Q-set (Waters & Deane, 1985), as well as through observations of teachers and children interacting in the classroom and teachers' descriptions of children's behaviors towards them (
Descriptive statistics
Means and standard deviations for continuous variables and percentages for dichotomous variables are presented in Table 1. Descriptive statistics revealed that the average quality of the teacher–child relationship decreased over time and that there was considerable variation in family, school, classroom, child and teacher characteristics.
Individual growth modeling
The results for the unconditional means model shown in Eq. (1) are presented in the second column of Table 2. Results showed a significant grand mean STRS
Discussion
Although teacher–child relationships have been shown to be important contributors to children's social and cognitive skill development, few studies have examined the developmental trajectories of these relationships across the elementary school years. Furthermore, the influences of family and school contexts have received little attention in studies of teacher–child relationships. Research on the quality of teacher–child relationships based in a theoretical framework that considers the multiple
Conclusions and implications
The current findings have both theoretical and practical implications. With regards to theory, findings support central tenets of the CSM that are based in dynamic systems and ecological theories of development. In accord with dynamic systems theory, the significant change in relationship quality overtime demonstrates that teacher–child relationships are open systems that develop through “feedforward” and “feedback” loops. In accord with ecological systems theories, the quality of the
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the investigators in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Research Network for the dataset. I would also like to thank Kristen Bub, Ed Daly, Craig Enders, Robert Pianta and Sandee McClowry for their feedback on this manuscript, the site coordinators and research assistants who collected data, and the families and teachers who continue to participate in this longitudinal study. This project was funded by a grant from the
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