Investigating the impact of teacher-student relationship and teaching practices on the emotional well-being of young elementary students

pdf (ελληνικά)
Published: Dec 20, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/dial.37844
Keywords:
emotional well-being, protective factors, teacher- student relationship, instructional learning practices, young elementary students
Vasiliki Galousi
Ministry of Education, Religion and Sports
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0142-8896
Christina Karela
Hellenic Open University
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5240-0039
Abstract

The school environment can contribute to the promotion of psychosocial adjustment and resilience of students by providing the appropriate tools to them. Among the actors that appear to have a significant impact on children's emotional and academic development are the quality of the teacher-student relationship, the provision of support, positive/realistic expectations, a positive learning climate and the teaching practices adopted by teachers. This paper aims to research the emotional wellbeing of primary school students during the first and second grade, according to the protective factors of attention/concentration, self-control, initiative, social interaction and school-family cooperation and the possible differences between gender and school performance. In addition, the relation between teacher-student relationship, as well as the instructional practice using in the classroom were studied in terms of students' emotional well-being. The sample consisted of 160 primary teachers from Attica and the rest of Greece who answered the survey questionnaire providing information about their students. The results indicated significant differences in well-being as concerned to gender and school performance, with girls and high-achieving students showing higher levels of emotional well-being. In addition, it was found that teacher-student proximity relationships and learning-oriented teaching practices were positively related to emotional well-being factors, while conversely, conflictual relationships and performance-oriented teaching practices were negatively related. This paper aims to contribute to the enhancement of teachers' role and the formulation of positive educational policy, especially for early school-aged children.

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