Child temperament, gender, teacher-child relationship, and teacher-child interactions

This study examined the relationships between child temperament, gender, teacher-child relationships, and teacher-child interactions. Children's temperament and teacher-child relationships were assessed by teacher ratings. Teacher-child interactions were assessed through natural observations during free play/centers time. The sample consisted of 61 (29 boys and 32 girls) 4- to 5-year-old children who attended one of the four classrooms which participated in the study. The preliminary analyses revealed classroom differences in child temperament, teacher-child relationships, and teacher-child interactions.;The results indicated that the temperament factor, Task Orientation was related to closeness of teacher-child relationship. Children with high task orientation had closer relationships with their teachers, while children with low task orientation, who are more active, distractible and less persistent, had less close relationships with their teachers. Reactivity was the most important temperament factor affecting conflictual relationships.;The findings also revealed gender differences in teacher-child relationships. One of the teachers reported greater closeness in her relationships with girls than boys. Two of the teachers reported more conflict in their relationships with boys than with girls. Furthermore, boys were observed to receive more behavior management interactions from their teachers than girls.;Behavior management was the only teacher-child interaction category that was related to temperament in all of the classrooms. Task orientation was the most important temperament factor affecting behavior management. Other categories of teacher-child interactions' relationships with temperament characteristics indicated classroom differences. The first teacher included more elaborations in interacting with children who had positive temperament characteristics, than with children who had negative temperament characteristics. The second and third teachers initiated interactions more frequently with more reactive children. Reactivity was positively related with child initiated interactions and total interactions, elaborations, and praise in the fourth classroom. Therefore, there might be other factors affecting the relationship between temperament and teacher-child interactions; such as, teacher temperament, classroom structure, and curriculum.;This study demonstrates that differences in temperamental characteristics of preschool children are noticed by teachers and that temperamental characteristics affect teachers' relationships and interactions with children. Therefore, temperament, particularly task orientation factor, may be an important individual difference in preschool children's experiences in a preschool classroom.