Through the teacher's mind Understanding and improving teacher-child relationships in elementary school

Many researchers and practitioners have stressed the importance of dyadic teacher–child relationships in elementary school. Positive teacher–child relationship quality, indicated by closeness, warmth, and open communication has been positively linked to children’s school adjustment, whereas negative teacher–child relationship quality, marked by conflict, disrespect, and lack of trust, has been related to unfavorable school outcomes. Negative teacher–child relationships have also been associated with teachers’ negative affect, poor self-efficacy beliefs, and stress in school. Given the significant influence of teacher–child relationships on various outcomes, it is vital to uncover how teacher–child relationship quality develops over time, which factors contribute to relationship quality and how teacher–child relationships can be improved.
The studies in this dissertation advance our understanding of teachers’ perceptions and mental representations of dyadic teacher–child relationships in several ways. First, subgroups of children with an increased risk of developing poor-quality relationships with their teachers throughout elementary school were revealed, as well as the consequences of poor relationships for children’s school adjustment in sixth grade. Second, teachers were found to perceive more negative feelings in case of children’s conduct problems, whereas they have more positive feelings and sensitive practices in case of hyperactivity or inattention. Third, a teacher-based coaching intervention (Leerkracht-Leerling Interactie Coaching in Dutch), in which teachers are stimulated to reflect on relationships with individual children, was found to be promising to improve teachers’ student-specific self-efficacy beliefs and relationship perceptions