A Quantitative Exploration of Two Teachers with Contrasting Emotions: Intra-Individual Process Analyses of Physiology and Interpersonal Behavior

Although the association between teacher-student relations, teacher emotions, and burnout has been proven on a general level, we do not know the exact processes underlying these associations. Recently there has been a call for intra-individual process measures that assess what happens from moment-to-moment in class in order to better understand inter-individual differences in emotions and burnout between teachers. This paper explored the use of process measures of teachers’ heart rate and their interpersonal behavior during teaching. Our aim was to illustrate different ways of analyzing and combining physiological and observational time-series data and to explore their potential for understanding between-teacher differences. In this illustration, we focused on two teachers who represented contrasting cases in terms of their self-reported teaching-related emotions (i.e., anxiety and relaxation) and burnout. We discuss both univariate process analyses (i.e., trend, autocorrelation, stability) as well as state-of-the-art multivariate process analyses (i.e., cross-correlations, dynamic structural equation modeling). Results illustrate how the two teachers differed in the nature of their physiological responses, their interpersonal behavior, and the association between these two process measures over time. Along implications and suggestions for further research, it is discussed how the process-based, dynamic assessment of physiology and interpersonal behavior may ultimately help to understand differences in more general teaching-related emotions and burnout

Looking to relate: teacher gaze and culture in student-rated teacher interpersonal behaviour

Abstract: Mobile eye-tracking was used to investigate the link between teacher gaze and student-rated teacher interpersonal behaviour. Teacher gaze was recorded for 10 min during a teacher-centred part of a naturally occurring lesson. The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction was then administered to assess how UK students evaluated their teacher interpersonally in that lesson. Teachers conveyed greater dominance (or interpersonal agency) through increasing eye contact while asking questions (‘attentional gaze’). Teachers conveyed more interpersonal friendliness (or communion) through increasing eye contact while lecturing (‘communicative gaze’). Culture did not affect the way gaze was associated with students’ interpersonal perceptions

The Role of Defending Norms in Victims’ Classroom Climate Perceptions and Psychosocial Maladjustment in Secondary School

Victims of bullying are at increased risk of developing psychosocial problems. It is often claimed that it helps victims when others stand up against the bullying and when defending is typical (descriptive norm) or rewarded with popularity (popularity norm) in classrooms. However, recent work on the healthy context paradox suggests that victims – paradoxically – tend to do worse in more positive classrooms. Therefore, it is possible that defending norms are counterproductive and exacerbate victims’ adjustment difficulties, possibly because social maladjustment is more apparent in classrooms where everybody else is doing well. The current study examined whether descriptive and popularity norms for defending predicted victims’ classroom climate perceptions and psychosocial adjustment. Using data of 1,206 secondary school students from 45 classrooms (Mage = 13.61), multi-level analyses indicated that descriptive norms for defending increased rather than decreased negative classroom climate perceptions and maladjustment of victimized youths. In contrast, popularity norms for defending positively predicted all students’ classroom climate perceptions and feelings of belonging, except victims’ self-esteem. Interventions may benefit more from promoting popularity norms for defending rather than descriptive norms for defending in secondary schools

Looking to relate: teacher gaze and culture in student-rated teacher interpersonal behaviour

Abstract: Mobile eye-tracking was used to investigate the link between teacher gaze and student-rated teacher interpersonal behaviour. Teacher gaze was recorded for 10 min during a teacher-centred part of a naturally occurring lesson. The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction was then administered to assess how UK students evaluated their teacher interpersonally in that lesson. Teachers conveyed greater dominance (or interpersonal agency) through increasing eye contact while asking questions (‘attentional gaze’). Teachers conveyed more interpersonal friendliness (or communion) through increasing eye contact while lecturing (‘communicative gaze’). Culture did not affect the way gaze was associated with students’ interpersonal perceptions

Using heart rate to tap into motivational and emotional processes during teaching and learning

A current ambition of research into motivation and emotion in teaching and learning is to investigate motivation and emotion in more holistic ways and to dive deeper into the dynamics of motivation and emotion processes in the classroom setting. Physiological measures have the potential to reach these goals by moving beyond between-person comparisons of habitual, often self-reported, levels of motivation and emotion. For a long time, tracking physiology was only possible in lab settings, which is problematic for studying authentic processes as they occur during teaching and learning. But recent technological innovations have enabled physiological measurement in ambulatory settings, such as the classroom. For many educational researchers interested in motivation and emotion, dealing with these measures can be challenging. This chapter provides a basic introduction to physiological measures in general and heart rate in particular. We also discuss the conceptual meaning of heart rate in studies on motivation and emotion. Furthermore, we present concrete tips for collecting heart rate data (i.e. study preparation, data cleaning, and data analyses). An important conclusion is that physiological measures open up some new aspects of human functioning to educational researchers and can complement (but not replace) behavioural and self-report measures of motivation and emotion

Effective interpersonal relationships: On the association between teacher agency and communion with student outcomes

This chapter reviews research that has investigated the link between teacher-student interpersonal relationships and student outcomes. First, prior research reviews investigating the relationship between these two sets of variables is discussed. Such research overwhelmingly shows the importance of warm and supportive relationships for both cognitive and affective outcomes, with affective outcomes also acting as an intermediary between the other two variables. Next, interpersonal theory is discussed, that conceptualizes interpersonal relationships from a systems perspective and distinguishes between the communion and agency dimensions of relationships. At the end of the contribution, research is reviewed that has used interpersonal theory as its leading framework and that has mapped students' perceptions of interpersonal relationships with one particular instrument, the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Findings show that both interpersonal dimensions are positively related to cognitive as well as affective outcomes, either jointly or separately, with agency being more strongly related to cognitive outcomes and communion being more strongly related to affective outcomes

Testing how teachers’ self-efficacy and student-teacher relationships moderate the association between bullying, victimization, and student self-esteem

This study investigated how teachers’ self-efficacy for intervening in social dynamics and teacher-student relationships directly impact students’ self-esteem, and indirectly buffer the negative association between both bullying and victimization and students’ self-esteem. Teachers play a key role in shaping the peer relations in the classroom, and they might also be able to lessen the negative impact of bullying and victimization on students’ self-esteem. Multilevel regression analysis on a sample of 59 Dutch teachers and 1,490 of their 5th grade students indicated that student-reported bullying and victimization were negatively related to students’ self-reported self-esteem. Better student-perceived student-teacher relationships were related to higher self-esteem for all students, with additional increases in self-esteem for victims but decreases in the self-esteem of bullies. Teacher-reported self-efficacy was only related to lower self-esteem in bullies. Implications of these results and suggestions for further research are discussed

Discussing controversial issues in the classroom: Exploring students' safety perceptions and their willingness to participate*

Discussing controversial issues is an important means to support secondary school students' democratic citizenship. Using questionnaires, we investigated how students' (N = 284) willingness to participate in such discussions is associated with their safety perceptions (identity threat, classroom opinion climate, teacher interpersonal behavior) and personality traits (extraversion). We used the controversial Dutch tradition of Black Pete as a case. Exploratory network analysis showed that students’ willingness to participate increased when they experienced identity threat. Our findings suggest that teachers can encourage student participation in discussions about controversial issues by creating a safe classroom environment