Teacher–child relationships as dynamic systems

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine factors associated with the quality of the teacher–child relationship from first through fifth grade using data from phases I, II and III of the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a prospective study of 1364 children from birth through sixth grade. On average, children evidenced moderately high quality relationships with teachers in fifth grade. However, there was extensive variation in fifth grade relationship quality across children. Children who received more support and stimulation at home and whose parents had higher quality interactions with the school had higher quality relationships. Additionally, children in classrooms with more positive environments and better management had higher quality relationships. Lastly, females, European-American children, children with lower levels of behavior problems and children who had higher quality relationships with their teachers in kindergarten also had higher quality relationships with teachers. On average, children evidenced decreases in the quality of their relationships with teachers from first through fifth grade. Interestingly, children whose parents had more contact with their schools, who were in schools where teachers received higher salaries and in classrooms that had more positive emotional climates and that were better managed evidenced slower rates of decline in relationship quality. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

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.