Social‐emotional Classroom Climate in Child Care, Child‐Teacher Relationships and Children’s Second Grade Peer Relations

Abstract

We used a five-year longitudinal study of children's teacher-child relationships and social-emotional competence to examine the relative contributions of preschool social-emotional climate and early individual child-teacher relationships and behavior problems in predicting second grade social competence with peers. Three hundred and seven children (152 girls) had complete second grade data on peer social competence. We used the Peer Play Scale to measure the climate of peer social competence in preschool classrooms. We used the Classroom Behavior Inventory to measure behavior problems and the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale to measure childteacher relationship quality at both the classroom and individual level. Children's second grade social competence with peers could be predicted by preschool classroom social-emotional climate, four-year-old behavior problems and child-teacher relationship quality, and contemporary child-teacher relationship quality. The particular pattern of these predictors differed by aspect of social competence with peers.The quality of children's early relationships with their teachers in child care is emerging as an important predictor of children's social relations with peers as older children (Howes, Matheson, & Hamilton, 1994; Howes & Tonyan, in press). Much of the work on child-teacher relationships is nested within an attachment theory perspective (Howes, 1999;Pianta, 1998). That is, children are assumed to use their teacher-child relationships to organize their school activities. When children have warm or secure child-teacher relationships they can use their teachers as resources for other social relationships including their peer relationships. In this work we broaden the attachment theoretical perspective to include the social context of the classroom (Boyce, Frank, Jenson, Kessler, Nelson, Steinberg, and the Mac Arthur Network on Psychopathology and Development, 1998; Howes, in press;Pianta, 1998). According to this perspective, individual child-teacher relationships, and teacher perceptions of individual children's behavior problems are constructed within the context of the classroom social-emotional climate.

Child and Family Predictors of Child-Teacher Relationship Trajectories during the Transition from Preschool to School

“…These findings add further evidence corroborating previous research [5], [7], [13], [24]. Whilst factors indicative of socioeconomic disadvantage were more common for children in the moderate/declining trajectory, these factors tended to only significantly influence trajectory outcomes when considered alone -once other factors such as parenting and child skills were adjusted for, their effects frequently disappeared.…”

“…Children with more prosocial behavior skills have also been found to experience better quality relationships with teachers, including more closeness and less conflict [7], [13]. Of all factors previously examined, there is the most substantial evidence implicating early mental health problems as influential on children"s quality of relationships with teachers.…”

“…High quality child-teacher relationships characterized by close supportive interactions and low conflict contribute to children"s academic development, engagement in learning, social-emotional development, and mental health (e.g., [1], [2], [7]- [11]). As such, early interventions designed to improve the quality of child-teacher relationships have the potential to improve the psychosocial and educational development of children [3].…”

“…Boys tend to have poorer quality relationships with teachers than girls [7], [8], and children with disabilities often experience poorer quality relationships with teachers [12]. Children with better quality relationships with their parents (including more secure attachments) tend to have better quality relationships with their teachers [12]- [15].…”

48-60 Aylik Çocuklarin Öğretmen Kavramina Yöneli̇k Algilarinin Çi̇zi̇mler Araciliğiyla İncelenmesi̇

“…Olumlu sınıf atmosferinin bileşenlerinden birisinin de öğretmen-öğrenci etkileşimi olduğu düşünüldüğünde, erken yıllarda kurulan öğretmen-öğrenci etkileşiminin kalitesi, ileride yaşanabilecek sorunların ya da başarıların tahmincisi olabilmektedir (Howes, Matheson, ve Hamilton, 1994;Hamre ve Pianta, 2001, Kıldan, 2011. Çocuklar öğretmenleri ile sıcak ve olumlu ilişkiler kurarsa arkadaşlarıyla ve diğer yetişkinlerle de bu şekilde etkileşime girmek isterler (Howes, 2000). Bu nedenle öğretmenlerin çocuklarla iyi ilişkiler kurarak onlara iyi örnekler olmaları gerekmektedir (Tuğrul, 1993).…”