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abstract: I examined the role of children's or teacher's effortful control (EC) in children's academic functioning in early elementary school in two separate studies. In Study 1, I tested longitudinal relations between parents' reactions to children's displays of negative emotions in kindergarten, children's EC in first grade, and children's reading or math achievement in second grade (N = 291). In the fall of each school year, parents reported their positive or negative reactions and parents and teachers reported on children's EC. Standardized achievement tests assessed achievement each spring. Results from autoregressive panel mediation models demonstrated that constructs exhibited consistency across study years. In addition, first-grade EC mediated relations between parents' reactions (i.e., a difference composite of positive minus negative reactions) at kindergarten and second-grade math, but not reading, achievement. Findings suggest that one method of promoting math achievement in early school is through the socialization of children's EC. In Study 2, I examined relations between teachers' EC, teachers' reactions to children's negative emotions, the student-teacher relationship (STR), and children's externalizing behaviors or achievement among 289 second-graders and their 116 teachers. Results from mixed-model regressions showed that negative reactions and teacher-reported STR mediated relations between teachers' EC and math achievement. In addition, teacher-reported STR mediated links between teachers' EC and externalizing problems across reporters and between teachers' EC and reading achievement. Tests of moderated mediation indicated that a high-quality STR was negatively associated with externalizing problems and high levels of teachers' negative reactions were negatively related to math achievement only for students low in EC. In tests of moderation by social competence, teachers' reports of high-quality STRs tended to be negatively associated with externalizing problems, but relations were strongest for students not high in social competence. For students low in social competence only, children's reports of a high-quality STR was related to lower reading achievement. These results highlight the utility of considering whether and how teachers' own intrinsic characteristics influence classroom dynamics and students' academic functioning outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2011

The master's theses focuses primarily on creating and a form of teacher's authority. It presents individual types, tries to describe what influences the authority and how easy it is to lose the authority. The master's theses also deals with teacher as a holder of authority and also deals with the issues of autority as a co-creator of discipline in the class. The goal of the practical part is to analyse the issues of authority and discipline in a class in high school. The research has two phases. The first one is a record of observation of 10 lessons taught by beggining teacher in a class that was marked as undisciplined by other teachers. The research is in the next phase completed by questionnaire survey "Evaluation of teacher by the student" (according to Holeček, 2014: p. 203, 204). Thee result of the research says that the the teacher is perceived by the students as a positive authority which makes students interested in his subject and the teacher is also perceived as a responsive person.

In Swedish schools, teachers are expected to aid their students through feedback to help them develop their different abilities. The feedback itself can be provided differently depending on several different factors in and out of teachers’ control. Most commonly, teachers provide input either through written or oral feedback. Today, with the fast progression of digital tools, teachers also have the opportunity to provide feedback digitally. Therefore, it was of interest to conduct a study examining what feedback methods Swedish teachers of English choose and the reason for their choice. It was also of interest to examine if the teachers’ methods could be backed up by current research. To understand the teachers’ perceptions and experiences, a qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with five Swedish upper secondary school teachers who currently teach English. The results showed that the teachers work in different ways regarding feedback on students’ written production. While all respondents work digitally with written comments for shorter assignments, some respondents also print out students’ text to mark by hand regarding confidential essays. Further, results showed that all respondents provide written feedback. However, one teacher provides oral feedback through one-to-one conferences as routine, and an additional three teachers give their students the option to receive oral feedback if needed. Moreover, the most common reasons for the teachers’ methods were student appreciation, gaining a positive student-teacher relationship, and available time. All teachers’ methods could be backed up by current research. What can be concluded from this study is that all methods for feedback are more or less efficient and that efficiency sometimes has to do with factors other than the method. Further, Swedish teachers seem to lack time for feedback, especially oral feedback. / I svenska skolor förväntas lärare att vägleda sina studenter genom återkoppling för att hjälpa dem utveckla sina olika färdigheter. Återkopplingen kan ges på olika sätt beroende på flera olika faktorer inom och utom lärares kontroll. Vanligast är att lärare ger kommentarer genom antingen skriftlig eller muntlig återkoppling. Idag, med den fortlöpande utvecklingen av digitala verktyg, har lärare även möjlighet att ge återkoppling digitalt. Därav var det av intresse att utföra en studie som utforskar vilka metoder för återkoppling svenska engelsklärare väljer att jobba med, och anledningarna till deras val. Det var även av intresse att utforska ifall lärarnas metoder kunde stödjas av relevant forskning. För att förstå lärarnas perspektiv och erfarenheter genomfördes en kvalitativ studie genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem svenska gymnasielärare som nuvarande undervisar i engelska. Resultaten visade att lärarna arbetar olika gällande återkoppling på elevers skriftliga produktion. Medan alla deltagare arbetar digitalt med skriftlig återkoppling för kortare uppgifter, så skriver även vissa deltagare ut elevernas texter och markerar dem för hand när det gäller konfidentiella arbeten. Vidare visade resultaten att samtliga lärare arbetar med skriftlig återkoppling. Dessutom ger en lärare muntlig återkoppling genom individuella samtal som rutin, och ytterligare tre lärare ger sina elever möjligheten att få muntlig återkoppling om så behövs. Vidare var de vanligaste anledningarna till lärarnas metoder elevuppskattning, att bilda en positiv relation mellan elev och lärare, och tillgänglig tid. Samtliga lärares metoder kunde stödjas av relevant forskning. Vad föreliggande studie visar är att alla metoder för återkoppling är mer eller mindre effektiva, och att effektiviteten ibland har att göra med andra faktorer än metoden. Vidare tolkas det som att svenska lärare har brist på tid för att genomföra återkoppling, speciellt muntlig återkoppling.

School engagement has garnered interest in the academic research as a protective factor from many undesirable academic outcomes in high school. Maladaptive engagement patterns may begin to form as early as elementary school, therefore examining early predictors may be helpful in trying to identify and remedy early patterns of disengagement. The current study investigated the significance of early school motivation, academic self-concept and the student-teacher relationship in predicting student-reported school engagement at the age of 15 after controlling for race, gender, socioeconomic status, previous attendance, and previous achievement. This study included participants from the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care (SECC) a comprehensive research database. It was hypothesized that student reported motivation in grade 5 would predict student reported school engagement at age 15, and that English self-concept and math self-concept in grade 6 and at age 15 would mediate this relationship. Findings from the data supported these hypotheses, establishing a relationship between early motivation and later engagement. Additionally, self-concept in both English and math was found to mediate that relationship. Self-concept in English and math at both grade 6 and age 15 had mediating effects on the relationship between motivation and engagement. It was hypothesized that the student-teacher relationship in grade 6 and at age 15 would moderate the relationship between motivation and engagement. The data did not support this hypothesis. Limitations and suggestions for future research on motivation, engagement, and the student-teacher are discussed.

Early childhood adversity, particularly poverty, can be a source of chronic stress that contributes to emotion dysregulation at the start of formal schooling. Children’s reactivity to novel challenges in the classroom is associated with externalizing behavior and subsequent difficulties developing academic and social emotional skills (Blair & Raver, 2015; Hackman, Farah & Meaney, 2010). Research grounded in the “science of feeling safe” (Porges, 2011) and attachment theory demonstrates that sensitive, empathic teachers can foster the development of emotion regulation in at-risk children, leading to more adaptive classroom behaviors (Pianta, Belsky, Vandergrift et al., 2008). This study was designed to help explain the associations between student-teacher relationship quality and externalizing behavior, self-regulation and executive function, and then examine if these associations are moderated by poverty. The results of a multilevel analysis highlight significant correlations both within and between classrooms for closeness/conflict and externalizing behavior and teacher-rated self-regulation. Classroom-level SES was observed to moderate the association of relationship closeness with externalizing behavior. In the discussion of these findings, the needs for more nuanced measures of student stress and teacher sensitivity are examined. Professional development opportunities are also presented for teachers to learn stress management techniques and to build social regulation skills. / Educational Psychology

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The purpose of this study is to explore the different ways parents experience meetings with the preschool and the relationships between themselves and the preschool staff. The purpose is also to explore parents’ views of the shared responsibilities of the children’s formation at home and in preschool. To research this, a qualitative approach with interviews and an interpretative phenomenological analysis method, is applied in order to arrive at a more profound understanding of how the shared responsibility in formation is experienced by the parents. This approach is chosen to get an in-depth understanding of the parents’ understandings and experiences. The theoretical framework applied is Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory of ecological development, chosen for its’s ability to explore different levels of a person’s encounters with a particular environment. The results highlight the complexity of parents’ interactions with the preschool as an organization. Parents have concerns with what happens at an organizational level, which reflects on the staff, and ultimately on the everyday environment of the children. Furthermore, the study shows that a good relationship between parents and preschool staff, and how this relationship is experienced by parents, are affected by aspects such as stability and an understanding of each other.  In the area of child development, parents regard children’s formation as their responsibility, while the formation and socialization that occurs in preschools are group oriented and focused on learning. From the parent’s perspective, the formation that teachers contribute to and work with in a preschool environment are focused on democratic values such as being a good friend, not fighting with each other, help each other and show empathy towards one another. In considering the organizational aspects of preschools, the communication levels between staff and parents have been limited due to the current pandemic, which has had an effect on parent-teacher relationships. The study highlights a need for further understanding and a more developed communication approach between parents, teachers, and management, as well as organizational transparency in an effort to increase parents’ understanding of the aims and works of preschool.

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Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ouers se betrokkenheid by hulle kinders se opvoeding binne ’n vennootskap tussen die huis en die skool het in Suid-Afrikaanse onderwys sedert 1996 toenemend belangrik geword. Ouers is hulle kinders se primêre opvoeders en lê dus die basis vir hul kinders se formele opvoeding. Dit is dus belangrik dat die huis en die skool moet saamwerk as vennote aan die opvoedkundige ontwikkeling van die kind. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet, Wet 84 van 1996, bevestig die belangrikheid van ‘n vennootskap tussen die huis en die skool, sowel as die noodsaaklikheid dat ouers ‘n bydrae moet lewer tot hulle kinders se opvoeding. Ten spyte van die waarde wat ouerbetrokkenheid bied, blyk dit asof daar tans steeds min of geen sprake van ouerbetrokkenheid by sommige ouers is nie, veral diegene wie se kinders voorheen-benadeelde primêre plattelandse staatskole bywoon. Hierdie studie het die navorsing van die mate van ouerbetrokkenheid van veral ongeskoolde, semi-geskoolde en arm, werklose ouers in die opvoeding van hul kinders ten doel. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Parental involvement in learners’ education in the form of a partnership between the home and the school has become very important in South-African education since 1996. Parents are the primary educators of their children and thus lay the foundation for their formal education. It is therefore important that the home and school work together as partners in the learners’ educational development. The South-African Schools’ Act 84 of 1996 confirms the importance of the partnership between the home and the school as well as the necessity of parents to make a contribution to their children’s’ education. Despite the value of parental involvement, there still seems to be no or a limited degree of involvement of some parents whose children attend former disadvantaged, primary schools in rural areas. This study aims to research the levels of parental involvement of especially illiterate, semi-literate, poor and unemployed parents in the education of their children.