Abstract
Interactions with teachers and peers are critical for children’s social, behavioral, and academic development in the classroom context. However, these two types of interpersonal interactions in the classroom are usually pursued via separate lines of inquiries. The current study bridges these two areas of research to examine the way in which teachers influence child-perceived peer social support and peer victimization for 2,678 children within 183 classrooms in preschool through grade three. Two levels of teacher influence are considered, namely teacher–child closeness and conflict relationships at the child-level, and teacher management of interpersonal interactions at the classroom-level. Results of multilevel regression models showed that teacher–child closeness was associated with the growth of child-perceived peer social support from fall to spring, whereas teacher–child conflict and teachers’ behavior management practices were associated with the change in child-perceived peer victimization across the academic year. These associations were unique and above and beyond the influence of children’s actual peer social interactions, including reciprocal friendships and the collective classroom reputation of peer victimization. Collectively, findings highlight the multi-faceted teacher roles in shaping children’s perceptions of their peer social experiences during the earliest years of schooling.
Highlights
Children’s interactions with their teachers and peers are both salient features of the classroom environment and figure prominently in theories concerning children’s development and learning (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006)
The current study examined the interplay among teachers, children, and peers as actors in the classroom social ecology during early school years
We focused on the influences of teacher–child closeness and conflict and teacher’s classroom social management on child-perceived peer social support and peer victimization
Summary
Children’s interactions with their teachers and peers are both salient features of the classroom environment and figure prominently in theories concerning children’s development and learning (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006). Studies find that positive interactions with teachers and with peers and the way in which teachers manage interpersonal interactions in the classroom influence children’s concurrent and long-term social, emotional, and academic development (e.g., Kochenderfer and Ladd, 1996; Jerome et al, 2009; Hosan and Hoglund, 2017; Ladd et al, 2017). Teacher Influences are above and beyond children’s actual peer social interactions. The current study examines multiple levels of teacher influences, including teacher–child relationships (i.e., closeness and conflict) at the child-level and teachers’ classroom management of interpersonal interactions at the classroomlevel, on two aspects of peer social experiences from children’s perspective: peer social support and peer victimization
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