Early education teachers’ conceptualizations and strategies for managing closeness in child care: The personal domain

Abstract

This study investigated teachers’ experiences of closeness during interactions with children in child care. Structured interviews were conducted with 24 female teachers who were teaching children between the ages of three and five (mean age = 3.9) regarding their conceptions of closeness, and their perceptions of their own and the child’s contributions to close interactions. Qualitative analyses of the interviews revealed a relational model of teacher—child relationships that included a professional domain, an attachment domain and a personal domain, with the personal domain as most dominant in teachers’ perceptions. The personal domain was interpreted as consistent with Weingarten’s (1991) theory of intimate interactions and adds a new perspective on affective dimensions of caring (Goldstein, 1999). Teachers viewed relationships with particular children as a personal two-way relationship where both contributed either solely or mutually in their desire to be close. Teachers described intentional strategies for managing the close relationship that made use of the past history and the anticipated future of the relationship.