Teacher-child interactions and kindergartners' task behaviors:Observations based on interpersonal theory

The present study examined how teachers' interpersonal behaviors (control, affiliation) and complementarity tendencies (i.e., return low control with high control and high affiliation with similar affiliation) were related to children's task behaviors (engagement, performance). Furthermore, we investigated whether the strength of these associations depended on children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Our sample included 48 teachers and 179 kindergartners (94 boys; mean age=66.75 months) who were selected to represent a variation of externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Independent observers rated teachers' interpersonal behaviors and children's task behaviors. Teacher control was negatively related to both children's task engagement and performance, whereas teacher affiliation was not associated with children's task behaviors. Furthermore, associations between teachers' complementarity tendencies on control and children's task performance depended on the level of control that children displayed themselves. To conclude, teachers should be made aware that controlling behaviors could be detrimental for children's task behaviors

Changes in total cerebral blood flow and morphology in aging

In this thesis the reproducibility of new methods using MRI for measuring total cerebral blood flow and cerebrovascular reserve capacity was assessed. We used these methods to show that NO is an important factor in the hypoxia induced vasodilatation of vessels in the brain. It was shown that basal total cerebral blood flow in the elderly, in contrary to the young, is dependent on the NO pathway. White matter hyperintensities are seen in almost every elderly subject. We showed that besides the white matter hyperintensities there are also change because of aging in the normal appearing white matter. This was demonstrated with the use of magnetization transfer imaging. The appearance of the white matter hyperintensities seems to be independent of the changes in the normal appearing white matter which gives rise to the idea that both entities have different aetiologies. Using this technique we also showed that not all white matter hyperintensities are the same but that differences exists between white matter hyperintensities periventricular and in the deep white matter. Also, differences between frontal and occipital located periventricular white matter hyperintensities exists. Finally, we found that cognitive decline in the elderly is associated with a diminished total cerebral blood flow.Pathofysiologie, epidemiologie en therapie bij verouderin

The role of affective teacher-student relationships in adolescents’ school engagement and achievement trajectories

This longitudinal study investigated the role of teacher-student closeness and conflict in adolescents' school engagement trajectories, and how school engagement dimensions predict achievement trajectories. A sample of 5,382 adolescents (Mage.wave1 = 13.06, SD = 0.51; 49.6% boys) were followed from Grade 7 to 9. Yearly measures included student reports on school engagement dimensions, teacher reports on closeness and conflict, and standardized tests for math achievement. Latent growth models revealed that closeness positively and conflict negatively predicted students' school engagement. Furthermore, adolescents' behavioral and emotional engagement, and disaffection in particular, played an important role in predicting achievement within the same schoolyear. Moreover, increases in behavioral disaffection and emotional engagement aligned with reduced and steeper increases in achievement between Grade 7 and 9, respectively. In general, this study underscores the importance of adolescents’ affective teacher-student relationships for their engagement in school, and the role of school engagement in predicting achievement

Fostering teacher–student relationship-building competence: a three-year learning trajectory for initial pre-primary and primary teacher education

It is widely acknowledged that high-quality teacher-student relationships contribute to both student and teacher well-being. However, research shows that building these relationships can be challenging for teachers and signals opportunities for teacher education to better prepare them for building high-quality teacher-student relationships. As teachers’ relationship-building competence allows them to establish high-quality relationships with students, even those typically at-risk for conflictual relationships, we propose a learning trajectory targeting teachers’ dyadic relationship-building competence to be implemented in initial teacher education. Such a learning trajectory allows for progressively deepening the level of understanding and self-reflection throughout the three-year initial education program. To address teachers’ relationship-building competence in teacher education, relevant competencies, selected in previous research by an independent expert panel, were translated into specific learning goals, learning activities, and materials in close collaboration with partner university colleges. An overview of planned quantitative and qualitative data collection is presented. The learning trajectory could strengthen initial pre-primary and primary teacher education programs in supporting pre-service teachers’ relationship-building competence

The impact of an interaction-based classroom program on executive function development in low-SES preschoolers: first support for effectiveness

Studies have shown that children from a low socioeconomic status (SES) family are likely to have lower academic scores, indicating an SES-achievement gap. This inequality already starts in preschool and persists throughout children’s lives. Since executive functions (EFs) have been put forward as contributing factors in this SES-achievement gap, it is crucial to target early EF development to remediate the adverse effects of poverty. In this quasi-experimental study, a classroom program delivered by teachers (i.e., “Put your EF glasses on”) was implemented to strengthen preschoolers’ EFs, consistent with the idea that well-developed EFs can foster school readiness and prevent school failure. The program aimed to boost children’s EFs through high-quality teacher-child interactions, EF-supporting activities (e.g., games), and a supportive classroom structure. Teachers (n = 24) and children (n = 224, Mage = 52.61 months) from 8 Belgian schools participated in this quasi-experimental pilot study and were divided into experimental and control groups. Teachers in the experimental group carried out the program (receiving materials and coaching to support implementation), whereas teachers in the control group practiced teaching as usual. Before and after the program, all teachers filled out the BRIEF-P, a questionnaire about daily executive problems in preschool children. We compared the effect of the classroom program in low-SES versus middle-to-high-SES children on EF problem scores. Results revealed that all low-SES children started with significantly higher EF problems (total problem score, working memory, inhibition, and planning and organizing) scores than middle-to-high-SES children. A positive effect of the program was found among low-SES children. More specifically, EF problems (total problem score, working memory, shifting, and planning and organizing) remained stable over time in the low-SES group in the experimental group, but there was no program effect on emotional control and inhibition. In the control group, these EF problems increased for low-SES children, expanding the gap between low and middle-to-high-SES children. There were no program effects for middle-to-high-SES children. These results show that a teacher-mediated classroom program can support EF development, especially in preschoolers at sociodemographic risk