Praise, Reprimands, and Directives: Associations Between Teachers' Observed Social-Emotional Teaching and Classroom Profiles

• In Event: Measuring Social-Emotional Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Classrooms

Abstract

Children’s social-emotional development (SED) in early childhood is consistently and positively associated with later academic achievement (Denham & Brown, 2010; Carlton & Winsler, 1999; Denham, 2005, 2006; Raver, Garner, & Smith-Donald, 2007). Despite such knowledge, fostering SED via social and emotional teaching practices (SETP) is often referred to as the “missing piece” of teacher education. Although SED is inextricably linked to academic success, it has not traditionally been a focus of teacher preparation or curricula. Teachers overwhelmingly report limited training and confidence in responding to students’ behavioral needs and struggle to balance competing demands for both academic and social emotional learning (Reinke, Stormont, Herman, Puri, & Goel, 2011; Walter, Gouze, & Lim, 2006; Schonert-Reichl et al., 2016).
When considering the importance of SED, it is essential to look at SETP as early as possible. Children’s trajectories, although not unchangeable, do stabilize early in life. Therefore, strong SETP should receive increased attention in preschool classrooms. These early childhood classrooms are especially dynamic environments when the behaviors of one or two children have potential to greatly influence the behaviors of their peers and teachers. Further, associations between child and teacher behaviors are especially important to examine in early education settings that serve children with the highest academic and behavioral needs.
The current study examines specific profiles of three- and four-year-old classrooms, and the transactional relationship between these profiles and teacher behaviors. Classroom-level profiles were created based on several variables, including demographic information and academic and behavioral data. Teacher behaviors include event sampling of the frequency of specific praise, general encouragement, directives, reprimands, and pre-corrections. Researchers also examined the types of lessons (academic, social-emotional, approaches to learning) to evaluate the potential for an association between instructional priorities and the profiles of children within the classroom. These analyses seek to answer the following broad research question: Are differences in the frequency of and type of teachers’ observed behaviors (specific praise, general encouragement, directives, reprimands, and pre-corrections) associated with the demographic, academic, and behavioral makeup of their classrooms?
Data were collected over the 2016-2017 school year across 56 classrooms (112 teachers) in 10 public charter preschools located in Washington DC (n = 1000 children; Male = 50.4%, Free lunch = 83%, Dual Language Learners = 14%, and Special Education = 8.5%). The frequency of teacher-level data collection was scheduled according to teacher professional development tracks. Teacher’s tracks were determined at the beginning of the school year based on teachers experience, their previous year's formal classroom quality observations, and academic performance for their previous cohort of students. Student demographic data were collected in the fall through parent report. Academic data collection occurred five times per year, based on an established assessment calendar. Behavioral data collection occurred informally on a daily basis, as well as formally through classroom observations and teacher report.

Authors

• Abby Carlson, AppleTree Institute For Education Innovation

• Chavaughn Brown, AppleTree Institute For Education Innovation

• Leah Dowling, AppleTree Institute For Education Innovation

• Daniel Friel, AppleTree Institute For Education Innovation