Abstract
Teachers play a key role in creating effective conditions for students to succeed in school. The quality of student–teacher relationships is consistently associated with social, emotional, behavioural and academic adjustment, and this is even more relevant for students with special educational needs (SEN), considering these students’ emotional, social and learning vulnerabilities. This study aimed to examine the associations between students’ externalising and internalising behaviour, social skills and academic performance, and teachers’ perceptions of conflict and closeness in their relationships with students with and without SEN. Data regarding 360 students in Year 3, Year 5 and Year 7 (169 students with SEN) were collected. Teachers (n = 74) reported on the student–teacher relationship and students’ social skills, behaviour problems and academic performance. Special education teachers (n = 38) provided information regarding the diagnosis and profile of functioning of students with SEN. Results showed that teachers’ reports of students’ social skills and externalising problems were the strongest predictors of closeness and conflict. Internalising problems and SEN status also predicted decreased closeness, despite smaller effects. Taken together, findings support the importance of professional development opportunities focusing on facilitating teachers’ relationships with students with perceived challenging behaviour.
Highlights
Teachers play a key role in assuring students’ participation in classroom and school activities and, in creating effective conditions for students to succeed in school (McGrath & Van Bergen, 2017)
Teachers play a key role in creating effective conditions for students to succeed in school
Despite studies consistently showing that positive student-teacher relationships are associated with improved social development and adjustment to school (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Jerome et al, 2009; Pianta et al, 2003), most studies address student-teacher relationships in students without special educational needs (SEN) (Murray & Greenberg, 2001; Verschueren, 2015)
Summary
Teachers play a key role in assuring students’ participation in classroom and school activities and, in creating effective conditions for students to succeed in school (McGrath & Van Bergen, 2017). Quality of Student-Teacher Relationships We adopted Pianta’s framework for investigating student-teacher relationship (c.f., Pianta, 1999; Pianta et al, 2003; Sabol & Pianta, 2012) Within this framework, grounded in attachment theory (Bowlby, 1982), the quality of the student-teacher relationship has been defined according to three dimensions: (a) closeness, when the teacher perceives that his/her relationship with the student involves warmth and positive affect, smooth communication, and a sense of comfort when the student approaches the teacher; (b) conflict, when the teacher perceives that his/her relationship with the student is marked with tension and disaffection; and (c) dependence, when the teacher perceives a number of student’s behaviours related to possessiveness and difficulty in moving apart from the teacher. Less conflict and less dependency are assumed to reflect an adequate use of the relationship with the teacher (Verschueren & Koomen, 2012), and as such, a sign of positive student-teacher relationship
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