Relationships between teachers and disruptive kindergarten children: An exploration of different methods and perspectives, and the possibility of change

Summary Inspired by social-ecological models of development, scholars have increasingly considered schools as social environments, and learning and development as processes that are embedded in a social context (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Especially proximal factors such as the dyadic processes found in teacher-child relationships are believed to influence children’s school adjustment and development (Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004). From an extended attachment perspective, relationships with teachers are considered to provide children with a secure base from which they can explore novel situations and face social and academic challenges (Pianta, 1992). Conversely, discordant relationships will elicit emotional distress thereby constraining a child’s psychological resources and energy to be devoted to learning activities. In particular, externalizing behavior problems of children appear to put constraints on the development of supportive teacher-child relationships. The overarching goal of the current PhD thesis was to advance understanding of interpersonal relationships between teachers and young children with externalizing behavior in regular kindergarten classrooms. Teachers generally report heightened levels of conflict in relationships with disruptive children (Doumen et al., 2008; Ladd & Burgess, 1999). Importantly, close relationships have been found to buffer behaviorally at-risk children against maladjustment (Ladd & Burgess, 2001; Meehan, Hughes, & Cavell, 2003; Silver, Measelle, Armstrong, & Essex, 2005). Though researchers have given considerable attention to relationships between teachers and disruptive children, there are several limitations to our knowledge. This thesis addressed four issues that were introduced in Chapter 1.1: General introduction 2: Teachers’ assessment of antisocial behavior in kindergarten : physical aggression and measurement bias across gender 3: Teachers’ assessment of physical aggression with the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire : a multi-trait multi-method evaluation of convergent and discriminant validity 4: Young children’s perceptions of teacher-child relationships : an evaluation of two instruments and the role of child gender in kindergarten 5: Widening the view on teacher-child relationships : teachers’ narratives concerning disruptive versus non-disruptive children 6: Supporting teachers’ relationships with disruptive children : the potential of relationship-focused reflection 7: General discussion References Summary Samenvatting (summary in Dutch) Dankwoord (acknowledgement) Curriculum vitaestatus: publishe