Implications for Elementary School Teachers
Teachers of young children can have a profound effect on their emotional development, fostering resilience and helping children overcome the adverse effects of high-risk environments. The relationships between children and teachers, while not parental, should reflect the same kind of sensitive, responsive interactions that are the hallmarks of a healthy attachment between parents and children, say researchers Pianta and Walsh (1996): "The combination of felt security in a relationship with an adult and freedom to explore the world in a competent manner is a hallmark of the parent-child relationship; it appears to also operate within the teacher-child relationship" (p.161).
In a longitudinal study of a multiracial cohort of 698 infants on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, Werner and Smith (1992) identified children who, despite multiple risk factors, were able to lead productive lives, exhibiting competence, confidence, and caring. One of the key protective factors for these children was the availability of persons who provided them with a secure base for the development of trust, autonomy, and initiative. Among the most frequently encountered positive role models in the lives of the children of Kauai, outside of the family circle, was a favorite teacher. For the resilient youngsters, a special teacher was not just an instructor for academic skills, but also a confidant and positive model for personal identification. Other researchers have found:
Pianta and Walsh (1996) conclude:
- In a recent study of more than 400 children, Pianta, Steinberg, and Rollins (1996) found that teacher-child relationships in kindergarten were predictive of children's competence and behavioral adjustment in the first three years of school.
- In a case study of a first grade teacher, Pederson, Faucher, and Eaton (1978), show the impact of a teacher who formed relationships with students that supported independence, made them feel worthwhile, motivated them to achieve, and provided them with support to interpret and cope with environmental demands. This teacher's students differed on dropout rates, academic achievement, behavioral competence, and adjustment in the adult world.
- Pianta and Steinberg (1992) found that children who were at risk for retention were less likely to be retained if they developed a positive relationship with their teacher during the year.
- The relationship between students and their teachers remains important for children throughout their school years. In a study of high school students living on American Indian reservations, over a third of the dropouts from Montana and almost half of the Navajo and Ute drop outs felt their teachers didn't care about them (Dehyle, 1992). When asked about good teachers, students consistently explained that a good teacher was "one who cares."
Social and affective interaction taking place in classrooms is of primary importance in determining who succeeds and who fails, especially for students whose background characteristics are indicative of lack of social and affective resources. . .These processes, not socioeconomic status, may be fundamental to understanding the school as a context for development (p. 161).Promoting healthy development. While most children enter school expecting to succeed, research shows that some children's attitude towards school often declines steadily as they go through school, as does their academic self-image (Entwisle, 1995). Failure begins early, and by third grade educational trajectories are often fixed (Bowman, 1994). Slavin and his colleagues conclude that while success in the early years does not guarantee success throughout the school years and beyond, "failure in the early grades does virtually guarantee failure in later schooling" (1993, p. 11).
What are the conditions that promote healthy development of young children? Research on school restructuring has identified a number of commitments and competencies that lead to improved outcomes for children, including:
- High expectations for all children (Newmann, 1993; Benard, 1993; Nieto, 1994)
- A commitment to learn from and about children, building on the strengths and experiences that children bring to school (Bowman, 1994; Delpit, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Meier, 1995)
- Working collaboratively with families and the community
- The development of schools as a caring community (Lewis, Schaps, & Watson, 1995, 1996; Meier, 1995; Newmann, 1993)
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