Student–teacher relationships in elementary school: The unique role of shyness, anxiety, and emotional problems

This study explored the unique contributions of students' self-reported internalizing behaviors (shyness, anxiety, and emotional problems) to teachers' perceptions of the quality of student–teacher relationships (closeness, conflict, and dependency). In total, 269 third-to-sixth grade students (50.9% girls) and 35 teachers (74.7% females) from 8 Dutch regular elementary schools participated in this study. Teachers filled out questionnaires about their background characteristics and the affective quality of their relationship with individual students, and students answered questions about their demographics and internalizing behaviors. Multilevel models revealed significant negative associations of student-perceived shyness with teacher-perceived closeness and conflict in the student–teacher relationship. Additionally, students' anxiety was positively associated with conflict and dependency in the relationship. Students' emotional problems, however, were not associated with student–teacher relationship quality. These findings suggest that different types of internalizing student behavior may play a differential role in the quality of the student–teacher relationship

Young children's social withdrawal and teacher–child relationship quality: A cross-cultural comparison between the Netherlands and China

The present study investigated how young children's (5-to-8-year-olds) social inhibition and solitary behavior were associated with teacher–child relationship quality and whether these associations differed across the Netherlands and China. The Dutch sample included 35 teachers and 201 children (49% girls). The Chinese sample consisted of 19 teachers and 152 children (50% girls). Teachers rated children's social inhibition and solitary behavior, and their relationship (closeness, conflict) with each child. Multilevel linear modeling revealed that in both countries, social inhibition was associated negatively with closeness and solitary behavior was associated positively with conflict. These associations were equally strong in China and the Netherlands. One association differed across countries: Social inhibition was associated negatively with conflict in the Netherlands, whereas this association was not significant in China. As such, cultural values could affect how social inhibition links to teacher–child relationships. Caution is recommended when generalizing findings from one country to another country

Bevoegdheid minister om OMG te verbieden

On Tuesday the 6th of March 2018, a legislative proposal has been submitted for public consultation. The drafters propose to give the Minister for Legal Protection the power to order the ban and dissolution of legal persons that pose a threat to the public order. Drafters believe that the current legal framework on the court ordered ban and dissolution of legal persons with activities that are a jeopardy to the public order are inadequate and ineffective. Authors elaborate on some aspects of the draft proposal