Facilitating children's self-concept: A rationale and evaluative study

This study reports on the design and effectiveness of the Exploring Self-Concept program for primary school children using self-concept as the outcome measure. The program aims to provide a procedure that incorporates organisation, elaboration, thinking, and problem-solving strategies and links these to children's multidimensional self-concept. The results of this research support the notion that teachers and guidance counsellors need to establish a nonthreatening framework that allows them to discuss with children a range of relevant issues related to peer pressure, parent relations, self-image, body image, gender bias, media pressure, values and life goals, in a systematic, objective and cooperative manner. Within the paper, notions associated with self-concept maturation, 'crystallisation' of self-concept beliefs, cognitive differentiation and self-concept segmentation are reviewed

Applicability of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) in the Greek educational setting

The present study examined the applicability of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) within the Greek cultural context. Sixty-seven kindergarten teachers filled in a Greek version of the STRS concerning 403 kindergarten students. Exploratory factor analysis showed that a 26-item version of the STRS could be considered as a valid and reliable instrument to measure Closeness (alpha = .86), Conflict (alpha = .87) and Dependency (alpha = .79). Findings further indicated that teachers described young boys as having more conflictual relationships with their teachers and young girls as having closer and more dependent relationships with them. In contrast with previous studies, the Dependency subscale was positively correlated with the Closeness subscale (r = .34) and did not associate with the Conflict subscale. These findings might be attributed to the different cultural background of the Greek kindergarten teachers or their differentiated interpretation of the notion of dependency

Classroom effects on children's achievement trajectories in elementary school

This nonexperimental, longitudinal field study examines the extent to which variation in observed classroom supports (quality of emotional and instructional interactions and amount of exposure to literacy and math activities) predicts trajectories of achievement in reading and math from 54 months to fifth grade. Growth mixture modeling detected two latent classes of readers: fast readers whose skills developed rapidly and leveled off, and a typical group for which reading growth was somewhat less rapid. Only one latent class was identified for math achievement. For reading, there were small positive associations between observed emotional quality of teacher-child interactions and growth. Growth in math achievement showed small positive relations with observed emotional interactions and exposure to math activities. There was a significant interaction between quality and quantity of instruction for reading such that at higher levels of emotional quality there was less of a negative association between amount of literacy exposure and reading growth

Validating the student-teacher relationship scale: testing factor structure and measurement invariance across child gender and age in a Dutch sample

The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is widely used to examine teachers' relationships with young students in terms of closeness, conflict, and dependency. This study aimed to verify the dimensional structure of the STRS with confirmatory factor analysis, test its measurement invariance across child gender and age, improve its measurement of the dependency construct, and extend its age range. Teachers completed a slightly adapted STRS for a Dutch sample of 2335 children aged 3 to 12. Overall, the 3-factor model showed an acceptable fit. Results indicated metric invariance across gender and age up to 8 years. Scalar invariance generally did not hold. Lack of metric invariance at ages 8 to 12 primarily involved Conflict items, whereas scale differences across gender and age primarily involved Closeness items. The adapted Dependency scale showed strong invariance and higher internal consistencies than the original scale for this Dutch sample. Importantly, the revealed non-invariance for gender and age did not influence mean group comparisons

A Mulit-systemic school-based approach for addressing childhood aggression

School-based approaches to addressing aggression in the early grades have focused on explicit curriculum addressing social and emotional processes. The current study reviews research on the distinct modes of aggression, the status of current research on social and emotional processing relevant to problems of aggression amongst young children, as well as the social-relationship processes that occur in schools that hold transformative potential for children\u27s aggression and behavioural development. A framework incorporating peer-to-peer, teacher–child, and teacher-parent relationship components within a social–emotional curriculum is outlined to inform a multisystemic approach to addressing young children\u27s aggression