Teacher-child relationships as a developmental issue

Teacher-Student Relationships in Childhood as a Protective Factor against Adolescent Delinquency up to Age 17: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

In this paper we examined the impact of the quality of teacher-student relationships at age 10 on young people's delinquency at ages 13, 15, and 17 utilizing propensity-score matching. The young people were matched based on 105 characteristics, measured at ages 7 to 10. The sample comprised 1483 (49.4% female) adolescents representing around 80 different countries of origin, residing in Zurich, Switzerland. We found that young people who reported a better relationship with their teacher at age 10, engaged in fewer delinquent acts at ages 13, 15, and 17. These findings suggest that when young people perceive a better relationship with their teachers this serves as a protective factor against their engagement in delinquency up to 7 years later.

Teacher-student relationships and academic adaptation in college freshmen: Disentangling the between-person and within-person effects

INTRODUCTION

Adolescents face increased academic demands and lower structure as they move from high school to college. Good relationships with teachers are considered a crucial factor linked with adaptive academic behavior. However, few longitudinal studies have investigated the association between teacher-student relationships and academic adaptation over time in the higher education context, especially focusing on freshmen and separating the between-person and within-person effects. This study aimed to fill the said gaps based on the developmental-contextual perspective of psychosocial adjustment.

METHODS

Participants were 1578 Chinese freshmen who just transitioned from high school to college (M_age  = 18.72 years, SD = 0.92). Data were collected at the 2nd (T1), 4th (T2), and 8th (T3) months upon college entry. Both cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and random intercept, CLPM (RI-CLPM) were used to examine the focal association.

RESULTS

Findings of CLPM revealed bidirectional associations between teacher-student relationships and academic adaptation over time. Findings from RI-CLPM suggested that at the between-person level, teacher-student relationships were significantly related to academic adaptation, echoing the results of CLPM. At the within-person level, however, the findings revealed a unidirectional effect, such that the within-person changes in teacher-student relationships at T2 predicted corresponding changes in academic adaptation at T3. Findings of CLPM and RI-CLPM were robust after controlling for T1 covariates.

CONCLUSION

The association between teacher-student relationships and academic adaptation is due mainly to the stable, trait-like difference between individuals and due partly to state-like variations within individuals. Enhancing teacher-student relationships appears a promising avenue to facilitate academic adaptation among college freshmen.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Habilitating Residential Communities for Unaccompanied Minors during the First Lockdown in Italy: The Educators' Relational Perspective

(1) Background: Italian residential communities for unaccompanied minors suffered a long period of closure during the SARS-COV2 lockdown. Professional educators who work inside these institutions with the aim to habilitate children toward life-span achievements faced a great challenge and responsibility during this period. In this context, the psychological well-being and development of unaccompanied children were at high risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the lockdown on children living in residential communities from the educators’ perspective and to explore whether the educators’ relational lens was related to their perception and sense-making. (2) Methods: We conducted a mix-method study enrolling 21 educators in 10 residential communities who completed an interview and a self-construal scale. (3) Results: The interview was analyzed by a qualitative content method revealing 10 themes (social relationships, stand-by, emotions, new activities, new norms acceptance, end of lockdown, time, space, resilience, and achievements). Moreover, correlation analyses were performed to test the possible association between RISC and themes that emerged from the interviews, showing significant associations with four interview themes. (4) Conclusions: Our study highlights considerable lockdown effects on residential communities and the importance of educators’ relational approach, a tool for habilitating children and a protective factor against emotional overwhelming.

The Impact of Social Belonging on the Development of Competence in Commercial Apprentices

Abstract. While numerous studies have emphasized the importance of social belonging on the development of competence, they focused primarily on compulsory education. This contribution examines the importance of social belonging within the context of vocational schools, using the example of commercial apprenticeship training. In a longitudinal study, 1,153 commercial apprentices were tested three times regarding the development of their civic-economic competence. Further, they were questioned about the quality of their teacher–student relationship as well as class relatedness as two dimensions of social belonging. The findings suggest that the teacher–student relationship is highly relevant to the development of the intrinsic learning motivation in apprentices. Class relatedness was somewhat relevant to the level of the civic-economic value orientation of apprentices. The findings are noteworthy because they point to the importance of social belonging in the context of vocational schools, even though apprentices spend only one or two days per week there and are taught by various teachers.

TEORIA DO APEGO, INTERACIONISMO SIMBÓLICO E TEORIA FUNDAMENTADA NOS DADOS: ARTICULANDO REFERENCIAIS PARA A PESQUISA

RESUMO Objetivo: apresentar e refletir sobre a articulação entre a Teoria do Apego, o Interacionismo Simbólico e a Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados no estudo da formação de vínculos e interação entre cuidadores e crianças institucionalizadas. Método: os dados foram coletados de abril a julho de 2015, por meio de entrevista intensiva, observação estruturada e diário de campo, em um abrigo institucional que acolhe crianças de zero a oito anos, em um município do Sul do Brasil. Participaram da pesquisa 15 cuidadores e seis crianças. Resultados: a Teoria do Apego e o Interacionismo Simbólico possibilitaram compreender as implicações da formação e quebra de vínculos e as estratégias utilizadas pelos cuidadores nesta interação. A Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados conduziu a elaboração do modelo teórico "Percebendo o trabalho/cuidado com crianças institucionalizadas". Conclusão: a articulação entre a Teoria do Apego, o Interacionismo Simbólico e a Teoria Fundamentada mostrou-se consistente para o estudo desenvolvido, contribuindo para o cuidado no contexto do abrigamento infantil.

Teachers' Relationship Closeness with Students as a Resource for Teacher Wellbeing: A Response Surface Analytical Approach

Teachers’ relationship quality with students has been argued to be an important source of teacher wellbeing. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate to what extent teachers’ relationship closeness toward students, combined with attachment security is a resource protecting against teacher burnout. Eighty-three elementary school teachers reported on their most and least attached student’s relationship closeness, their attachment security and levels of burnout, as measured by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Response surface analysis (RSA), enabling researchers to investigate the effect of congruence/incongruence of two predictors on an outcome, revealed that teachers’ depersonalization and emotional exhaustion were lowest when they developed homogenous close relationships toward the students within their classroom and when teachers in general made congruent relationship experiences. No RSA model could be specified for personal accomplishment, even though a correlational analysis revealed that increasing closeness with students fostered teachers’ personal accomplishment. Teachers’ secure attachment experiences were not directly related to burnout, but enhanced their capability to establish close relationships toward their students. Findings suggest that teachers’ relationships toward students are a resource for the teacher’s wellbeing, which highlights once again the importance of student–teacher relationships in education.

Early mother-child attachment and behavior problems in middle childhood: the role of the subsequent caregiving environment

The current study investigated associations between early mother-child attachment, as well as mother-child and teacher-child relationships, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in middle childhood. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were used. Findings from a series of individual growth curve analyses revealed that attachment security was negatively related to internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while insecure/other and avoidant attachment were positively related to internalizing behaviors. In addition, longitudinal associations were found between mother-child and teacher-child relationships and internalizing and externalizing behaviors across middle childhood. Implications for attachment theory are discussed.

Teacher-child relationships from an attachment perspective

This special issue aims to prompt reflection on the mutual contribution of attachment theory, on the one hand, and teacher-child relationship research, on the other, by bringing together conceptual and empirical contributions taking an attachment perspective on teacher-child relationships. In this introductory article, we contend that the teacher can be regarded as an ad hoc attachment figure with a safe haven and secure base function, although for most children the relationship with the teacher is probably not an attachment bond. Furthermore, we explain how attachment theory and research: (1) shape the way in which "high quality" teacher-child relationships are conceptualized and operationalized; (2) highlight the importance of teacher sensitivity to children's needs, as a central proximal determinant of relationship quality; (3) guide research hypotheses regarding the consequences of teacher-child relationship quality and the intervening mechanisms; and (4) inspire the development of interventions to improve teacher-child relationships.