Temperament and Language Skills as Predictors of Teacherâ•fiChild Relationship Quality in Preschool

Current educational policy emphasizes “school readiness” of young children with a premium placed on preschool interventions that facilitate academic and social readiness for children who have had limited learning experiences prior to kindergarten (Rouse, Brooks–Gunn, & McLanahan, 2005). The teacher–child relationship is viewed as a critical mechanism for the effectiveness of interventions (Girolametto, Weitzman, & Greenberg, 2003; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2003). The purpose of this study was to determine how children’s temperament and language skills predict teacher– child relationship quality. The sample consisted of 99 at-risk preschool students. Three findings emerged: (a) bolder children with lower language complexity were more likely to have higher levels of conflict in their relationships with teachers, (b) shyer children with greater language complexity were more likely to have dependent relationships with their teachers, and (c) teacher effects accounted for more of the variance in conflictual and dependent teacher–child relationships compared to children’s behavioral inhibition and language complexity. This study shows that teacher–child relationships are multirelational. Individual differences in temperament and language skills affect teacher–child interactions, and ultimately, contribute to the effectiveness of classroom interventions. Such information helps to unpack the complexities of classroom quality by increasing awareness among practitioners of factors contributing to positive teacher–child relationships. The current context of educational policy emphasizes “school readiness” of young children. As such, a great premium is placed on designing preschool Rud as i ll et al. i n Ea r l y Edu c a t i on a nd dE vE l o pmE nt 17 (2006) 272 interventions that facilitate academic and social readiness for school, particularly for children who enter elementary school having had limited learning experiences (Rouse, Brooks–Gunn, & McLanahan, 2005). Most preschool intervention approaches emphasize language enhancement as an essential component to academic success. Considering the substantial individual differences among children in this developmental domain, language interventions have become prevalent mechanisms for “leveling the playing field” for children most at risk for school failure. Within “language-rich” or “language-focused” interventions, the teacher–child relationship is viewed by many experts as a critical conduit or mechanism for the effects of intervention (e.g., Girolametto, Weitzman, & Greenberg, 2003; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2003). Thus, it is critical to consider teacher–child relationship quality as a factor influencing the success of language interventions. To date, few studies have examined such mechanisms, specifically the quality of teacher–child relationships, through which these interventions influence change. Several factors combine to predict the quality of teacher–child relationships. As such, teacher–child relationships are bidirectional, with teacher and child characteristics functioning in concert to influence the quality of this relationship. Both teachers and children, then, bring certain attributes to their relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of specific child attributes on teacher–child relationships. We sought to understand the unique contributions of the child characteristics of temperament (shyness) and language skills (operationalized as language complexity) to the quality of the teacher–child relationship. We address two questions. 1. To what extent do children’s temperament (shyness) and language skills (language complexity) predict the quality of the teacher–child relationship? 2. When controlling for individual differences among teachers, to what extent do children’s temperament (shyness) and language skills (language complexity) predict the quality of the teacher–child relationship? In the following sections, we summarize research in the areas of teacher– child relationships, temperament, and language skills, particularly in relation to the prekindergarten years. TEACHER–CHILD RELATIONSHIPS Positive teacher–child relationships are an important social resource for young children, with clear, positive contributions for child development and acquisition of social and academic skills. Children who have positive relaPR ed i c to R s o f te ac h eR–ch i l d Rel ati o n s h i P Qua li ty i n PR es c h o o l 273 tionships with their teachers are more likely to exhibit competent behavior in the classroom and show signs of readiness to learn (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Pianta, 1999). This view of the importance of relationships is consistent with Vygotsky’s (1962) premise that learning is a social endeavor and occurs most effectively when interactions occur around a child’s zone of proximal development. In other words, when adults are sensitive, responsive, aware of a child’s growing cognitive abilities, and provide scaffolding to appropriately guide development, children learn best. Therefore, it follows that children who have good relationships with their teachers will experience more productive academic and social development than those children engaged in negative teacher–child relationships, an idea that has been supported both theoretically (Pianta, 1999) and empirically (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). Teachers perceive their relationships with children to be positive when there are low levels of conflict and dependency, and high levels of closeness. Specifically, positive relationships are those in which there is a mutual sense of respect and caring between teachers and children, and where children perceive their teachers as trustworthy and secure bases (Pianta, 1999). Research shows that preschool and early elementary age children who have positive relationships with their teachers perform better on achievement tests (Pianta, Nimetz, & Bennett, 1997), on visual and language measures (Lerner, Lerner, & Zabski, 1985), and have better work habits and grades than children with negative relationships (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). Negative relationships, on the other hand, are those where teachers perceive relationships with children to be overly dependent and conflictual. These are relationships where children and teachers experience regular discord or where children are clingy and demanding, showing excessive reliability on the teacher. Children who have negative relationships with their teachers have poor work habits, low frustration tolerance, low school competence, lower achievement test performance, and avoid school and report loneliness more than those who are in positive relationships (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Pianta et al., 1997). Furthermore, teacher– child relationships in kindergarten predict outcomes through middle school (Hamre & Pianta, 2001), indicating the long-term value of early teacher–child relationships. Teacher–child relationships are best considered in terms of bidirectionality, in that relationship quality reflects both teachers’ and children’s characteristics. This bidirectional influence can be viewed in terms of a “goodness-of-fit” paradigm, implying that both teachers and children contribute to the degree to which children are at ease in the classroom. Pianta’s (1999) model of the teacher–child relationship process represents the teacher and child as two separate entities, each with individual developmental history, biological factors, and experiences in relationships. Information exchange processes link the teacher and child and refer to the interactive behaviors between the two. All of these features are integrated within a relationship system between teacher and child (Rimm–Kaufman, 2003). When examining the teacher–child relationship, then, there are two aspects to underRud as i ll et al. i n Ea r l y Edu c a t i on a nd dE vE l o pmE nt 17 (2006) 274 stand: what the child brings to the relationship (child attributes such as behavioral inhibition and language complexity) and what the teacher brings (beliefs, perceptions). Attributes Contributing to Teacher–Child Relationships Teacher–child relationship quality is determined by both teacher characteristics and expectations and child characteristics. There is ample evidence suggesting that teachers’ perceptions of students influence the quality of the teacher–child relationship (Buss, Gingles, & Price, 1993; Evans, 1992, 1996; Saft & Pianta, 2001; Stuhlman & Pianta, 2002). Saft and Pianta found that teachers’ perceptions of their relationships with students are related to both child and teacher attributes. Combinations of attributes, such as child and teacher ethnicity, had the most predictive power over aspects of teacher–child relationship quality. When teacher and child ethnicity matched, teachers had more positive feelings toward students. Zeller (2004) found that teachers’ childhood attachment histories and depression levels were both related to teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationship quality when child attributes were also considered. Specifically, Zeller found that teachers expressing more feelings of depression were also more likely to feel close to their students, indicating that perceptions of relationship quality are colored in part by teachers’ emotional states. Taken together, this research suggests that teacher qualities and characteristics contribute to the quality of the teacher–child relationship. Child characteristics also contribute to teacher–child relationship quality. Certain child characteristics seem to facilitate successful adjustment to school, and teachers may unwittingly award greater academic confidence to those students who respond well to the demands of school (Buss et al., 1993; Keogh, 2003; Lerner et al., 1985). These child characteristics, as they are perceived by teachers, influence the nature of teacher–child interactions, and hence, the quality of the teacher–child relationship (Saft & Pianta, 2001; Stuhlman & Pianta, 2002). Indeed, teachers have ideas about the characteristics of “teachable children,” so children who do not meet these criteria may be at risk socially and academically in the classroom (Keogh). Children with weaknesses, or perceived weaknesses, in communication may be particularly at-risk because they are unwilling or unable to interact with their teachers. This is exacerbated by teachers’ attempts to elicit speech from reticent children who are less likely to speak as the center of attention (Evans, 1992). Because teachers provide the vehicle with which classroom interventions are delivered to children, consideration of the quality of the teacher–child relationship is critical. Specifically, this study is designed to examine how two child characteristics, behavioral inhibition and language complexity, moderate the quality of relationships between teachers and children. PR ed i c to R s o f te ac h eR–ch i l d Rel ati o n s h i P Qua li ty i n PR es c h o o l 275 CONTRIBUTION OF TEMPERAMENT Temperament is a broad, multidimensional construct that can be defined as an individual’s style of response to stimuli in the environment (Rothbart & Bates, 1998). Attributes such as intensity and activity levels, persistence, affect, and behavioral inhibition are temperamentally based child characteristics that may contribute to teacher–child relationship quality. Certain attributes ease children’s adjustment into student roles, and therefore, are likely to affect teachers’ perceptions of their relationships with these children (Entwisle & Alexander, 1998). The purpose of this article is to focus on behaviorally inhibited and uninhibited styles. These characteristics are highly salient and fairly stable over time. Inhibited and uninhibited styles are likely to be important for understanding the degree to which a child approaches or withdraws from novel experiences and people, and, as such, are as or more likely than other temperament attributes to be important in predicting teacher–child relationship quality in early childhood. People who are apprehensive toward new people, events, and things are categorically different from others who approach novelty with ease (Caspi & Silva, 1995; Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 1992). They have a biologically based predisposition to be inhibited. In the general population, approximately 15% to 20% of people are inhibited, about 30% to 35% of people are uninhibited, and the remainder of the population falls somewhere in between (Kagan, 1997; Kagan et al., 1992; Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus, 1998). These classifications remain fairly stable for 60% of children through at least age 9 (Kagan et al., 1998). Children who are inhibited are highly reactive; that is, they show fear in new situations (Kagan, 1994). Kagan and colleagues (1992) reported that children who are uninhibited are low reactive and approachoriented in new situations, and display fewer fears at 9 and 14 months than their high reactive counterparts. Therefore, high reactivity and fear together predict social inhibition in school. When studied at age 4, most children who had been low reactive infants talked, smiled, and engaged in spontaneous speech, whereas high reactive children were more likely to stay alone quietly observing (Kagan et al., 1998). Children’s school experiences vary in part because of their temperamentally based individual differences. The transition to kindergarten is often a tumultuous adjustment for children, putting some at risk socially and academically, and temperament may be one determinant of children’s ease of adjustment. Research shows that bold or uninhibited children are more socially competent and therefore have more interactions with teachers than their less-bold counterparts (Lerner et al., 1985; Patrick, Yoon, & Murphy, 1995; Rimm–Kaufman et al., 2002; Rimm–Kaufman & Kagan, 2005; Skarpness & Carson, 1986). In addition, they seem to adjust more readily to kindergarten and are viewed by their teachers as more verbal and academically competent compared to their shy counterparts (Lerner et al.). On the other hand, inhibited children appear to fit well into student roles because they are Rud as i ll et al. i n Ea r l y Edu c a t i on a nd dE vE l o pmE nt 17 (2006) 276 likely to be more compliant and refrain from speaking out of turn (Keogh, 2003). However, because of their quiet style, they may elicit less attention from their teachers than uninhibited children; additionally, they may receive less conversation and verbal feedback from their teachers, both of which contribute to children’s early learning in the preschool classroom. For purposes of this study, it is useful to consider how children’s shy or bold styles may have implications for the frequency and nature of their interactions with teachers. For example, uninhibited children appear to be more affected than other children by the sensitivity of their teachers, with teacher sensitivity predicting more self-reliance, more positive affect, and fewer negative and off-task behaviors among socially bold children, but not for their wary counterparts (Rimm–Kaufman et al., 2002). These findings suggest that bold children receive more exposure to the teacher than inhibited children. As we seek to understand how teachers operate as a delivery mechanism of interventions, it is important to understand differences in teacher–child relationships between teachers and shy and bold children. THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE Language and communication ability contribute to both academic and social success in preschool and beyond. Learning to read in early elementary school is predicated on early language experiences through which children become exposed to and familiar with letters, phonemes, words, and books, as well as active and varied use of oral communication (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). In his review, Pressley (1998) concluded that children who have high quality oral language interactions at home, such as talking and reading with parents, have more complete understandings of their experiences. They have advantages in general cognitive development and communication skills, and later, at comprehending text. Similarly, Girolametto, Weitzman, and Greenberg (2003) found that children with teachers who have been trained in methods to stimulate language exhibit greater language productivity and complexity. Indeed, preschool children’s early language and literacy skills serve as robust indicators of children’s reading success in early elementary school (Juel, 1988). Because language complexity subsumes both vocabulary and sentence structure, it is often used as a measure of language skills. More to the point, language complexity has been linked to classroom behavior. As language complexity decreases, problem behavior increases; as language complexity increases, engagement in classroom activities increases (Qi & Kaiser, 2004). This suggests that language complexity may be a mechanism through which children have higher quality interactions with peers and teachers, resulting in greater benefit from classroom discourse. Through interactions with peers and teachers, children have richer, more meaningful classroom experiences. Stanovich (1986) calls this the “Matthew,” or “rich-get-richer” PR ed i c to R s o f te ac h eR–ch i l d Rel ati o n s h i P Qua li ty i n PR es c h o o l 277 (p. 382) effect, where early advantages, or lack thereof, influence cognitive and language development for years. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of temperament (behavioral inhibition or shyness) and language skills (language complexity) on the teacher–child relationship, which leads to two questions. First, in what ways do shyness and language complexity predict the quality of the teacher–child relationship? Second, because teacher–child relationships are multiply determined, in what way does controlling for teacher effects change the influence of behavioral inhibition and language complexity on the quality of the teacher–child relationship? Given the importance of communication to classroom discourse and relationship building, we hypothesize that both temperament and language will contribute to teacher–child relationship quality.