The Particularities of Teacher-Child Relationship That Supports Socio-Emotional Development of Preschool Children

Abstract

The development of preschooler`s socio-emotional skills depends, on the one hand, on the personal factors of the child (as temperamental, motivational and even cognitive factors) and on the other hand on the quality of the two primary social backgrounds of the child (amily and kindergarten). Socio-emotional learning begins in the first year of life, under the influence of parental educational practices. The impact that family emotion socialization has on the emotional and social development of the child can be observed and modeled in the context of formal educational actions in the kindergarten. Here, the most important factor for the socio-emotional development is the relationship between the educator and the child. Recent studies highlight the fact that socio-emotional development is favored by a complex of characteristics of child-teacher interaction, known under the heading "emotional support to students". This study presents ways to investigate the quality of the educator-child relationship, carried out in the context of a broader research aimed at exploring the role of certain intrapersonal factors of the educator on the socio-emotional development of the child. The presented tool was built based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System developed by Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre in 2008, and aimed at measuring those characteristics of the relationship between educator and children that could especially influence the children socio-emotional intelligence. These characteristics are organized on several variables: the teacher's responsiveness to the child's needs (if he/she identifies and responds to these needs), an open attitude towards the child's own perspective, the absence of negativity, the assurance of the sense of security and the state of mood. The constructed instrument has a broader implication in assessing early education quality and also, in supporting a reflexive professional development.