Unpacking the nuances of teacher-child interactions: Direct and indirect effects on child outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

While the quality of teacher-child interactions often demonstrates small effects on preschool children’s development (e.g., Hamre et al., 2014), other studies identify null associations (e.g., Gordon & Peng, 2020). It is critical to unpack the ways in which these interactions influence development for young children in order to best inform professional development and educational supports. This symposium aims to investigate ways in which teacher-child interactions have a direct effect and interact with child characteristics to predict child outcomes.

The first paper investigates how child characteristics (e.g., exposure to trauma), teacher-child interactions (e.g., Emotional Support [ES]) and child-engagement influence children’s cortisol levels at preschool. Results indicate that individual-level engagement, and not classroom-level quality, influences children’s cortisol. Our second paper investigates, over a 6-month period, if the association between teacher-child interactions and child development varies as a function of initial child characteristics. Results show few direct associations between teacher-child interactions and children’s development, yet there are some conditional effects that vary by classroom quality (e.g., ES) and child characteristics (e.g., low impulse control). The final paper focuses on ways that executive function (EF) is related to individual child engagement in public preschools across the year. Findings suggest EF is a leading indicator of later engagement with peers and tasks, an association also evident for engagement with teachers in the presence of higher quality teacher-child interactions.

The discussant will focus on ways to further hone the field’s investigation of classroom- and individual-level interactions in ways to best support preschool children and teachers.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Bridget E Hatfield, Oregon State University - Corvallis

Discussant

• Andrew J Mashburn, Portland State University

Individual Presentations

• Classroom, teacher, and peer interactions: Associations with preschool children’s salivary cortisol - Presenting Author: Bridget E Hatfield, Oregon State University - Corvallis; Non-Presenting Author: Shannon Tierney Lipscomb, Oregon State University; Non-Presenting Author: Aubrey Sills, Oregon State University-Cascades

• Do teacher-child interactions matter the same for every child? - Presenting Author: Tatiana Plata, Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes); Non-Presenting Author: Carolina Maldonado-Carreño, Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes)

• Bidirectional links between executive functioning and behavioral engagement across the preschool year and under different conditions of classroom interaction quality - Presenting Author: Jason Downer, University of Virginia - Charlottesville; Non-Presenting Author: Khara Lynn Pence Turnbull, University of Virginia - Charlottesville; Non-Presenting Author: Amanda P Williford, University of Virginia - Charlottesville; Non-Presenting Author: Kevin John Grimm, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Kathryn R. Smith, University of Virginia - Charlottesville; Non-Presenting Author: Danielle Rodgers, Arizona State University