Child, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschools

<p>Three dimensions of child–teacher relationships (derived from the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale) <i>closeness</i>, <i>conflict</i> and <i>dependency</i> have been conceptualized and investigated. In individualistic cultures a close relationship has b...

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Main Authors: Šumatić, M, Malmberg, L-E, Gregoriadis, A, Grammatikopoulos, V, Zachopoulou, E
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023
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author Šumatić, M
Malmberg, L-E
Gregoriadis, A
Grammatikopoulos, V
Zachopoulou, E
author_facet Šumatić, M
Malmberg, L-E
Gregoriadis, A
Grammatikopoulos, V
Zachopoulou, E
author_sort Šumatić, M
collection OXFORD
description <p>Three dimensions of child–teacher relationships (derived from the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale) <i>closeness</i>, <i>conflict</i> and <i>dependency</i> have been conceptualized and investigated. In individualistic cultures a close relationship has been associated with children's academic performance and behavioural adjustment, conflictual relationships have been associated with maladjustment and externalising behaviours, and the dependency dimension has been negatively associated with closeness. We expand previous studies by first investigating the factor structure of the STRs amongst 2,130 preschool children and their 267 teachers in a collectivistic culture, Greece. Second, we investigated effects of <i>child</i> (gender, age, country of origin and special educational needs), <i>teacher</i> (teacher gender, age and affective well-being), and <i>preschool characteristics</i> (school-type, number of children, observed quality using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R), on STRS.</p><br> <p>Using exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) adjusting for differences between preschools we replicated the three-factor solution of the STRS. Consistent with previous studies in collectivistic cultures, closeness and dependency were positively (not negatively) associated. Children's gender and teachers’ affective well-being were found to be consistently associated with all three dimensions of the STRS. In conclusion, the STRS can capture the relationship accurately in a Greek early years setting, and the analysis has demonstrated that the three STRS dimensions are associated with different child and teacher characteristics.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:c40eb468-a7ad-4afe-940f-f99d46b9b8ac2023-09-05T11:30:35ZChild, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschoolsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c40eb468-a7ad-4afe-940f-f99d46b9b8acEnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2023Šumatić, MMalmberg, L-EGregoriadis, AGrammatikopoulos, VZachopoulou, E<p>Three dimensions of child–teacher relationships (derived from the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale) <i>closeness</i>, <i>conflict</i> and <i>dependency</i> have been conceptualized and investigated. In individualistic cultures a close relationship has been associated with children's academic performance and behavioural adjustment, conflictual relationships have been associated with maladjustment and externalising behaviours, and the dependency dimension has been negatively associated with closeness. We expand previous studies by first investigating the factor structure of the STRs amongst 2,130 preschool children and their 267 teachers in a collectivistic culture, Greece. Second, we investigated effects of <i>child</i> (gender, age, country of origin and special educational needs), <i>teacher</i> (teacher gender, age and affective well-being), and <i>preschool characteristics</i> (school-type, number of children, observed quality using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R), on STRS.</p><br> <p>Using exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) adjusting for differences between preschools we replicated the three-factor solution of the STRS. Consistent with previous studies in collectivistic cultures, closeness and dependency were positively (not negatively) associated. Children's gender and teachers’ affective well-being were found to be consistently associated with all three dimensions of the STRS. In conclusion, the STRS can capture the relationship accurately in a Greek early years setting, and the analysis has demonstrated that the three STRS dimensions are associated with different child and teacher characteristics.</p>
spellingShingle Šumatić, M
Malmberg, L-E
Gregoriadis, A
Grammatikopoulos, V
Zachopoulou, E
Child, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschools
title Child, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschools
title_full Child, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschools
title_fullStr Child, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschools
title_full_unstemmed Child, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschools
title_short Child, teacher and preschool characteristics and child-teacher relationships in Greek preschools
title_sort child teacher and preschool characteristics and child teacher relationships in greek preschools
work_keys_str_mv AT sumaticm childteacherandpreschoolcharacteristicsandchildteacherrelationshipsingreekpreschools
AT malmbergle childteacherandpreschoolcharacteristicsandchildteacherrelationshipsingreekpreschools
AT gregoriadisa childteacherandpreschoolcharacteristicsandchildteacherrelationshipsingreekpreschools
AT grammatikopoulosv childteacherandpreschoolcharacteristicsandchildteacherrelationshipsingreekpreschools
AT zachopouloue childteacherandpreschoolcharacteristicsandchildteacherrelationshipsingreekpreschools