Facts In Action

Teacher-child interactions are most developmentally appropriate when the teacher responds quickly, directly and warmly to children, provides a variety of opportunities to engage in two-way communication, and identifies and elaborates on the feelings, interests, and activities of children. Teachers who engage in sensitive and responsive interactions with children are more likely to develop nurturing relationships key to children's security, increasing the likelihood that children will explore their environment, giving them more opportunities to learn.

Researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill observed and rated the teacher-child interactions of 63 center-based toddler teachers. The researchers were interested in determining whether teachers tend to interact with children in ways that are responsive to children's interests or in ways that are more controlling, and whether specific types of interactions are related to child engagement and overall child care quality.

In terms of the relationship between teacher-child interaction and quality measures, the study found that teachers who are more controlling score significantly lower on their classroom quality measure than teachers in other groups. These teachers engage in brief, task-directed interactions in which they try to control the children's activities. This type of interaction resulted in fewer children in these classrooms being actively engaged compared to any other classroom.

The study suggests that personnel preparation, practice guidelines, supervision, and teaching itself should focus on the achievement of sensitive/responsive practice and avoidance of overly controlling behaviors. Teachers who had training received more positive ratings in observations and were less punitive and detached with children. In addition, classrooms with lower child-adult ratios were found to have teachers who were less harsh, less detached, and more sensitive in their interactions with the children in their care. The study suggests that teachers should be encouraged to be more responsive with children, improving the quality of the caregiving environment and increasing the percentage of children who are more engaged.

Source:
"Classification of Teachers' Interaction Behaviors in Early Childhood Classrooms," R.E.L. De Kruif, R.A. McWilliam, S.M. Ridley, and M.B. Wakely, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Volume 15, Number 2, 2000.

Facts in Action, February 2001