1-086 - The Interplay Between Student-Teacher Relationships, Peer Ecologies, and Classroom Experiences

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Classrooms are complex social settings in which teacher-child and peer systems function independently and jointly. Although, teacher-child and peer relationships have long been associated with positive child outcomes, only recently have researchers begun to examine how teacher-child and peer relationships influence one another. Examining the relations between these systems is key to uncovering how classroom based social relationships shape children’s development. In this student paper symposium, we will examine teacher-child and peer relationships in preschool and elementary classrooms. The first paper examines how preschool teachers’ perceptions of children’s peer interactions guide their interactions with children. Although variability existed between classes, children’s negative interactions were positively related to teachers’ use of directive and facilitative strategies. The second paper investigates how the teacher-child relationship mediates the association between peers’ perceptions of children’s emotions and early academic adjustment, showing that the teacher child relationship may be protective against poor peer perceptions in early grade school. The third paper examines how elementary school teachers’ management of social relationships predicts students’ sense of relatedness showing significant associations between teachers’ reported frequency of efforts to manage social relationships and students’ sense of relatedness. The fourth paper examines the effects of an early social-behavioral intervention on the preschool teacher-student relationship showing that the quality of the student-teacher relationship was significantly higher at post-test in the treatment group. Together these papers provide an overview of the complex associations between teacher-child and peer systems and explore how teaching practices shape classroom peer environments and, ultimately, students’ learning and development.

Sub Unit

• Education, Schooling

Chairs

• Kristen Granger, Arizona State University

• Laura D Hanish, Arizona State Univ

Individual Presentations

• Do Peer Interaction Networks Influence Teachers’ Classroom Practices? - Presenting Author: Kristen Granger, Arizona State University; Olga Kornienko, Arizona State University; Laura D Hanish, Arizona State Univ; Richard A Fabes, Arizona State Univ; Carol L Martin, Arizona State Univ

• Teacher-Child Relationships Mediate the Relation Between Peers’ Perceptions of a Child’s Emotions and School Liking and Avoidance - Presenting Author: Rebecca H Berger, Arizona State University; Kassondra M Silva, Arizona State University; Nathan Terrell, Arizona State University; Carlos Valiente, Arizona State University; Tracy L Spinrad, Arizona State Univ; Nancy Eisenberg, Arizona State University; Jody Southworth, Arizona State University, T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics

• Teacher Perspectives on Managing Social Relationships and Student Perceptions of Relatedness in the Elementary Classroom - Presenting Author: Kathleen M Zadzora, Pennsylvania State University; Summer Braun, Pennsylvania State University; Scott D. Gest, Penn State Univeristy

• Effects of an Early Social-Behavioral Intervention on the Student-Teacher Relationship - Presenting Author: Andrea Molzhon, Virginia Commonwealth University; Elvira Barron-Rojas, Virginia Commonwealth Univ; James Algina, University of Florida; Kevin Sutherland, Virginia Commonwealth University; Maureen Conroy, University of Florida