The Trials of Temperament: A Guide to Understanding and Accommodating Temperament Within a Classroom Setting

In any given environment when a child interacts with peers and adults, temperament affects the way that child is perceived and understood by others. Temperament refers to individual differences in physiological responsiveness (Culpepper, Aldridge, & Sibley, 1996). Early childhood education lays the foundation of a child\u27s attitudes and experiences in school settings; temperament greatly affects those attitudes and experiences. It is prudent that educators understand how environment, teacher responsiveness and attachment affect temperament in order to more effectively teach. When educators understand and accommodate learning environments to varying temperaments challenging behavior decreases and their responses more adequately relate to the individual child and temperament. As classroom sizes increase and student\u27s backgrounds and experiences become more diverse society must rely on the efforts of educators to find a place for all children in their teaching theory and practices. Children who experience harmony between their environments and their individual temperaments learn the skills to be confident, social life-long learners