Date of Award

6-2017

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Jessica E. Frieder

Second Advisor

Dr. Kent Johnson

Third Advisor

Dr. Stephanie Peterson

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Alan Poling

Keywords

Teacher student relationship, social interaction, elementary school students, elementary school teachers

Abstract

Schools are a social environment. Students are learning how to interact with others, both peers and adults outside their immediate family. The classroom teacher is an important part of academic instruction but also with respect to socialization. Teachers and students form a relationship, the quality of which is both important and varied. Students are an active part of that relationship; their behavior changes the way their teachers perceive and act toward them. Past studies have shown that teacher-student relationships are correlated with academic success, student behavior problems, disciplinary consequences such as suspension and expulsion, and school dropout. The present study examined student-teacher interactions by videoing a classroom and identifying the nature of student-to-teacher interactions and teacher-to-student interactions. The classroom teacher was given a teacher-student relationship scale to identify students with whom she identified as having a close relationship and those whose relationships indicated conflict. Each individual interaction between close and conflict students and the teacher were categorized, and those interactions were examined for patterns to tell us more about the nature and frequency of teacher-student interactions.

Comments

Fifth Advisor: Dr. Ron Van Houten

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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