Association between the teacher–student relationship and teacher visual focus of attention in Grade 1: student task avoidance and gender as moderators

Abstract

This study investigated associations between quality of the teacher–student relationship (closeness and conflict) and teachers’ (N = 48) visual focus of attention in Grade 1 classrooms in fall and spring, and it explored to what extent students’ (N = 650) gender and task-avoidant behaviour moderated the associations. Results showed first that teacher–student closeness was positively associated with teachers’ visual focus of attention in the fall and spring, whereas teacher–student conflict was positively associated with teachers’ visual focus of attention only in the spring. In addition, the results of multigroup analysis showed that students’ task-avoidant behaviour had a moderating effect on the association between the quality of the teacher–student relationship and teachers’ visual focus of attention in the spring, but gender did not.