Latinx Children’s Approaches to Learning in Kindergarten: The Relevance of the Classroom Emotional Climate

• In Event: Social-Emotional Development and Behavioral Responses

Abstract

We used the ECLS-K:2011 data to investigate the relationship between Latinx kindergarteners’ approaches to learning and their classroom emotional climate. The descriptive analysis indicated essential differences in the classroom emotional climate by immigrant and socioeconomic status (SES). For example, Latinx students from immigrant families are significantly more likely to have a Latinx teacher and experience significantly lower levels of closeness and less conflict (problematic interactions) with teachers than their counterparts. The results from multilevel models show that after controlling for approaches to learning in the fall, three dimensions of the classroom emotional climate were associated with approaches to learning in the spring: teacher-student closeness, conflict, and the teacher’s belief in the importance of socio-emotional skills for kindergarten readiness.

Authors

• Jiehui Zhao, University of Maryland

• Ting-Yu Ariel Chung, University of Maryland

• Margaret Bridges, University of California - Berkeley

• Claudia L. Galindo, University of Maryland