A Course on Effective Teacher-Child Interactions

Abstract

Among 440 early childhood teachers, half were randomly assigned to take a 14-week course on effective teacher-child interactions. This course used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as the basis to organize, describe, and demonstrate effective teacher-child interactions. Compared to teachers in a control condition, those exposed to the course reported more intentional teaching beliefs and demonstrated greater knowledge of and skills in detecting effective interactions. Furthermore, teachers who took the course were observed to demonstrate more effective emotional and instructional interactions. The course was equally effective across teachers with less than an associate's degree as well as those with advanced degrees. Results have implications for efforts to improve the quality of early childhood programs through the higher education system. Keywords: early childhood education | professional development | teacher-child interactions | randomized-control trial | coursework Article: Despite substantial investments, the promise of early childhood education in the United States is not being realized-poor children continue to enter kindergarten far behind their more well-off peers (Jacobson-Chernoff, Flanagan, McPhee, & Park, 2007;Johnson, 2002; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2000). Although there are many reasons, recent evidence suggests that the mediocre quality of teacher-child interactions within early childhood settings plays a significant role, particularly in relation to children's development of literacy and language skills

Teachers' contribution to the social life in Finnish preschool classrooms during structured learning sessions

“…For instance, as van 5 Teaching style has been used as a key concept in educational research, particularly regarding education for older children and adults during the 1980s and 90s (e.g., Conti, 1985;Goudas, Biddle, Fox, & Underwood, 1995). During the first decade of the 21 st century, the topic of teaching practices has become more prevalent and its focus has increasingly been on teacher-child classroom interaction (e.g., Hamre et al, 2012;Pianta, 1999), considering both parties in the teaching process. In this study, the term practices refers to a teacher's systematic, conscious activity, which is also affected by the teacher's personal values and his or her conception of the child as a learner; hence, referring to teachers' practices as taking place in the interactive system of preschool classrooms (Greeno et al, 1998).…”

“…Concrete teachers' practices that have been associated with classroom organisation include for instance the use of proactive discipline strategies, showing consistent behavioural expectations, minimising downtime, and using a variety of strategies and modalities during instruction (Pianta, La Paro, et al, 2008). In addition, teachers' efficient use of time, giving children more opportunities to learn, has been found to enhance organisationally supportive interactions (Hamre et al, 2012;Howes et al, 2008).…”

Turkish Early Childhood Educators’ Perceptions of Child Development and Education in the Preschool Years

“…Afterwards, researchers and program makers will be able to design programs pertaining to needs of support in teachers' areas of educational and developmental experiences of children, and importance to children's learning outcomes in early childhood. Considering early child is an important period where children develop important developmental and learning outcomes, supporting teachers in their scaffolding of children's learning and development could be an essential part of the early childhood education (Curby et al, 2009;Hamre et al, 2012;Fantuzzo et al, 2012;Pianta, 1999).…”

“…In sum, teachers are important agents of the development and education of young children (Pianta, 1999), because children's academic, social, emotional, and linguistic growth during preschool period is greatly CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION IN THE PRESCHOOL YEARS 37 influenced by the teacher related issues, such as the quality of teacher-child interactions (Curby et al, 2009;Hamre et al, 2012;Fantuzzo et al, 2011), teacher qualifications, and teacher-students ratio in classrooms (Gorey, 2001). Main characteristics of teachers regarding child development and education are classroom management, teaching strategies, emotional, organizational, and instructional support (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) and teacher-student interactions are quite important for student learning .…”

Adult-Child Relationships in Preschool: Perceptions, Contributors to Change, and Associated Child Outcomes

“…Thus, four groups were created by crossing the Phase I Course/Control groups with the Phase II Coaching/Control groups. A full description of the intervention, study design, sample, and results can be found in Hamre et al (2012) and Downer et al (in press). …”