Researchers have long been interested in the links between children's socioemotional functioning at school and their academic success (McKinney, Mason, Perkerson, & Clifford, 1975). Historically, much of this work has focused on children who either display prosocial and other positive behaviors (e.g., Caprara, Barbaranelli, Pastorelli, Bandura, & Zimbardo, 2000), or children prone to externalizing problems, such as aggression and inattention (e.g., Hinshaw, 1992). However, in recent years, researchers have begun to examine the unique academic and social challenges faced by shy children at school (Evans, 2010). Shyness is a temperamental trait characterized by wariness, fear, and self-consciousness in social situations (Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009). Goldsmith et al. (1987) provided a seminal definition of temperament as consisting of "relatively consistent, basic dispositions inherent in the person that underlie and modulate the expression of activity, reactivity, emotionality, and sociability" (p. 524). Contemporary views of temperament acknowledge that it results from interactions between biological and environmental factors (e.g., Shiner et al., 2012). Temperamental traits, including shyness, tend to be relatively stable across time-particularly from the preschool years and onward (Karevold, Ystrøm,

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Children's learning and development are directly and indirectly influenced by teachers' beliefs and pedagogical strategies toward child behaviors. This cross-sectional study explored elementary preservice teachers' attitudes and pedagogical strategies for working with hypothetical children demonstrating temperament-based shy, exuberant, and average behaviors in the classroom. A secondary goal was to compare attitudes and pedagogical strategies at the beginning and end of teacher training program. A total of 354 participants responded to three vignettes describing children frequently displaying these behaviors. Results indicated preservice teachers were more likely to use social-learning strategies with shy children and high-powered strategies with exuberant children. Participants were more likely to show warmth to shy children, but believed they would be less academically successful. Participants at the end of the program reported higher self-efficacy and more warmth toward all children compared to those beginning the program. Results are discussed in terms of their educational implications.

This study examined teacher-child conflict as a possible mediator of the effects of temperamental anger and effortful control on subsequent externalizing behavior. Reciprocal influences between teacher-child conflict and externalizing behavior were also examined. Participants were 1,152 children (49% female; 81.6% non-Hispanic White) from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Multivariate growth curve modeling revealed that greater effortful control at age 54 months indirectly predicted lower levels of, and subsequent changes in, externalizing behavior from kindergarten to Grade 6 through reduced teacher-child conflict. An alternative model, in which greater effortful control predicted lower teacher-child conflict through lower externalizing behavior, received less support. Within persons, greater-than-expected teacher-child conflict predicted greater-than-expected teacher-reported externalizing behavior concurrently and over time.

This study explored the socio-emotional characteristics and school adjustment of shy/socially withdrawn youth and examined the properties of the Extended Class Play (ECP), a common peer measure of shyness/withdrawal and other social behaviour with Russian early adolescents (n ¼ 106; mean age 12.5). Associations between the ECP scores and teacher-and self-reports of adjustment (e.g. internalising problems) provided evidence supporting use of the ECP with Russian adolescents. Similar to North American studies, results also indicated that shy/socially withdrawn Russian youth tended to be more excluded, report greater internalising problems and were also more asocial than a comparison group. No differences were found between shy/socially withdrawn and non-withdrawn adolescents in victimisation/exclusion and academic performance. The discussion emphasises the need for further examination of potential role of teacher-directed social interactions and classroom norms across the cultural contexts.