Assessing Child - Teacher Relationships

Abstract

Understanding and documenting how young children negotiate their relationships with their teachers is crucial, considering that early teacher–student relationships have important long-term implications for children’s school success (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). However, the existing studies on teacher–child relationships focus primarily on the teacher’s perception of the relationship and have predominantly relied on the STRS, a 28-item teacher self-reported Likert-type (5-point) scale developed to assess a teacher’s feelings about her or his relationship with a particular student, her or his beliefs about the student’s feelings toward the teacher, and a student’s interactive behaviors with the teacher (Pianta, 2001; Saft, 1994). The majority of the evidence about the teacher–student relationship comes from studies conducted in the United States (e.g., Birch & Ladd, 1998; Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Pianta & Nimetz, 1991).Therefore, an examination of the cultural sensitivity of assessment methods of child–teacher relationships is crucial. This review of the literature focuses on methodologies used to assess or measure child–teacher relationships and the effects of culture on the assessment of this significant relationship during the elementary and primary school years.

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