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Preschool Teachers’ Professional Training, Observational Feedback, Child-Centered Beliefs and Motivation: Direct and Indirect Associations with Social and Emotional Responsiveness

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Abstract

Background

Young children’s social and emotional competence is a key predictor of their current and future academic and social success. Although preschool teachers are critical socializing agent of children’s social and emotional development, we know little about factors associated with preschool teachers’ social and emotional responsiveness.

Objective

This study examined how preschool teachers’ educational training and regularity of receiving observational feedback were associated with teachers’ social and emotional responsiveness, as mediated by more personal characteristics such as teachers’ child-centered beliefs and motivation for professional development.

Method

We investigated direct and indirect associations using a national survey of 1129 preschool teachers in the United States.

Results

We found that teachers with an associate degree, compared to those without, were more likely to respond negatively to children’s emotional displays. Taking child development or early education coursework was associated with less negative social guidance. Receiving regular observational feedback was associated with greater encouragement of expressing emotion and with less negative social guidance. We also found significant indirect associations. For example, teachers who received regular observational feedback had greater motivation for professional development, which in turn, predicted more positive social guidance and emotional responsiveness.

Conclusions

More stringent educational criteria for preschool educators and ongoing observational feedback may support teachers’ optimal social and emotional responsiveness. In addition, educational training should incorporate child-centered theory and practices and observational feedback should include information specific to professional development resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Sciences, Ohio State University, 100 H Bevis Hall, 1080 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Sarah N. Lang, Chryso Mouzourou & Cynthia K. Buettner

  2. School of Education, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Lieny Jeon

  3. Human Development and Family Sciences Department, Department of Human, Oregon State University - Cascades, Bend, OR, USA

    Eunhye Hur

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  1. Sarah N. Lang
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  4. Cynthia K. Buettner
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Correspondence to Sarah N. Lang.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board, the Society for Research on Child Development, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Lang, S.N., Mouzourou, C., Jeon, L. et al. Preschool Teachers’ Professional Training, Observational Feedback, Child-Centered Beliefs and Motivation: Direct and Indirect Associations with Social and Emotional Responsiveness. Child Youth Care Forum 46, 69–90 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-016-9369-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-016-9369-7

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