Do Teachers Treat Their Students Differently? An Observational Study on Teacher-Student Interactions as a Function of Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement

Eddie Denessen,Linda Van Den Bergh,Annelies Keller,Paul Van Den Broek,Paul S Szalay

doi:10.1155/2020/2471956

Eddie Denessen, Linda Van Den Bergh + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/2471956

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Abstract

Through classroom interactions, teachers provide their students with different opportunities to learn. Some kinds of interactions elicit more learning activities than others. With differential treatment of students, teachers may exacerbate or reduce achievement differences in their classroom. In addition, differential interactions may contribute to teacher expectation effects, with teachers treating their high-expectation students more favourably. This study investigated how differential teacher-student interactions are related to students’ mathematics achievement and teachers’ expectations. In eight fourth-grade classrooms in the Netherlands, interactions between teachers and students (N = 152) were observed in maths lessons. Data regarding teachers’ expectations about their students and mathematics achievement tests scores were collected. Analyses indicated that there were relations between teacher expectations and teachers’ classroom interactions. Teachers gave more direct turns and more directive feedback to their low-expectation students, who were also the students who performed low in maths. After controlling for actual achievement, it appeared that students for whom the expectations were lower than could be expected based on their performance received more direct turns and directive task-related feedback. These results point to the existence of teacher expectation effects.

Highlights

Primary education teachers teach heterogeneous classes in which students differ in numerous aspects, such as their cognitive abilities, their classroom behaviour, and their socioeconomic backgrounds
Adaptive and differentiated teaching is meant to be tailored to specific needs of individual or small groups of students [1, 2]. e adaptation of teaching to the needs of students can be planned as part of the preparation of teaching, for example, in lesson plans in which teachers plan the instruction and assignments for different students
Adaptive and differentiated teaching are seen as pedagogies that optimize learning opportunities for all students, they may unintentionally lead to negative effects for some students, especially those students who are underestimated by their teachers [5, 6]

Summary

Introduction

Primary education teachers teach heterogeneous classes in which students differ in numerous aspects, such as their cognitive abilities, their classroom behaviour, and their socioeconomic backgrounds. One way to do so is to provide adaptive and differentiated teaching. E adaptation of teaching to the needs of students can be planned as part of the preparation of teaching (proactive differentiation), for example, in lesson plans in which teachers plan the instruction and assignments for different students. Adaptive and differentiated teaching are seen as pedagogies that optimize learning opportunities for all students, they may unintentionally lead to negative effects for some students, especially those students who are underestimated by their teachers [5, 6]. As well as reactive, differentiation can trigger these negative effects of adaptive teaching for these

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