Teachers' Interactions With Middle- and Lower SES Preschool Boys and Girls

• Published in: Journal of educational psychology 1986-12, Vol.78 (6), p.495-498
• Main Authors: Quay, Lorene C, Jarrett, Olga S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Children & youth; Educational psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Human Sex Differences; Preschool Students; Preschool Teachers; Private School Education; Professional relationships; Project Head Start; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social classes; Social research; Socioeconomic Status; Teacher Student Interaction; Teachers
• ISSN: 0022-0663; 1939-2176
• DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.78.6.495

Private preschool and Head Start teachers' interactive behaviors with children of middle and lower socioeconomic status (SES) and with boys and girls were compared. Significant multivariate analyses of variance ( MANOVA s) and subsequent analyses of variance ( ANOVA s) indicated that teachers of lower SES children had fewer verbal communications with children and more interactions with other adults. A significant MANOVA and subsequent univariate tests also indicated that teachers of middle-SES children had higher rates of positive-neutral teacher initiation to children and higher rates of positive-neutral child initiation to teachers, but neither the sex effect nor the SES × Sex interaction was significant. For negative teacher initiations, an ANOVA indicated that teacher differences were due to a significant SES × Sex interaction. Teachers of middle-SES children had a higher rate of negative initiation to boys than to girls, whereas the rate for teachers of lower SES children did not differ for boys and girls.