Francesca Giovanna Maria Gastaldi

The Pupil-Teacher Relationship and Gender Differences in Primary School

In the perspective of multiple attachment bonds, the teacher-child relationship is considered as one of the fun- damental ways to express a crucially relevant bond for the childs emotive and cognitive development. The contextualist approach underlines how the dynamics of interaction between the individual and micro-sociocultural contexts play a me- diating role on developmental processes. Studies by Pianta, in particular, ascribed to the teacher-pupil interaction a crucial developmental function in the adaptation of the child, both in preschool age children and in the subsequent years of pri- mary school. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of the teacher-pupil relationship when the teacher is male in the primary school setting. There were 310 children involved, equally distributed by gender, with their 52 teachers, of whom 42 were female and 10 were male. The analyses carried out reveal statistically relevant differences between the two groups of teachers on the issue of the way male teachers assess their relationship with female pupils. More than their male colleagues, female teachers tend to evaluate girls in a significantly different way as far as closeness and dependency are concerned. The data that emerges calls for careful consideration of the effect that the gender imbalance marking the teaching population in the early stages of schooling can have on aspects of child development.

Estilo atribucional de niños con o sin Dificultad Específica de Aprendizaje

Introduction. The literature highlights that pupils with Specific Learning Disability (SLD) often reveal a poor meta-cognitive system, with low levels of attribution to internal factors like diligence and personal skills, and high levels of attribution to external factors like ease of task, luck or help from others. Method. This study aims to analyze the attributions expressed in the school context by pupils diagnosed with Specific Learning Disability (N=38; Age in months: Mean=100.24; SD=5.828) and to compare them with those by children without learning disabilities (N=70; 38 of them with the same academic achievements as the pupils with SLD, and 32 with opposite achievement levels). The instruments are the Attribution Test 4-10 years, nationally validated learning tests and the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale. Results. The analysis shows that just the pupils with SLD do not have an attributive style of the “strategic effort” kind, and, among them, the children that obtain the best scores in the nationally validated learning tests are the ones who least often, especially in cases of success, choose the ability factor and most often choose luck as the cause. Considering the teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between the pupils in the sample, the most significant score is related to Dependency: children with SLD are perceived far more dependent than their mates without SLD. Discussion and Conclusion. Results show that SLD do not cause a disadaptive attributive style but it causes an higher level of Dependency on the teacher; these children, in fact, do not have such a strong, stable attributive style with internal locus, and are inclined to attribute their results also to factors outside their own person. As a result, they seem not aware of their potential and search help even when it is not necessary.

Examining Student-teacher Relationship from Students’ Point of View: Italian Adaptation and Validation of the Young Children’s Appraisal of Teacher Support Questionnaire

Received: September 28, 2016 Revised: December 05, 2016 Accepted: December 06, 2016 Abstract: Background: Numerous studies on educational and developmental psychology have concluded that students’ affective relationships with their teachers are crucial for their academic motivation and commitment to school. Frequently the relationship is evaluated from the teacher’s point of view, but the importance of considering the children’s perspective has been highlighted by many authors.

Emotionally Abusive Behavior in Italian Middle School Teachers as Identified by Students

The aim of this article was to estimate the prevalence of psychological maltreatment in Italian middle school students by their teachers, and to test the applicability of surveying instruments for this phenomenon in Italian educational settings. The sample consisted of 105 teachers and 128 middle school students, who were asked about their experiences with emotionally abusive behaviors (i.e., demeaning, discriminating, dominating, destabilizing, distancing, and diverse) in the Italian school system. Teachers did not tend to perceive their behavior as abusive, while the students showed a very high perception of abuse (98%). Males were more likely to be victims of abuse, and they also reported lower scores in the Achievement scale. Emotional child abuse is highly present in Italian educational settings, and there is a strong need for interventions aimed at supporting teacher education, in the hopes of increasing the general well-being in schools.

Pre-K children’s play: different forms of imitation and exploration behaviours

ABSTRACT Playing is essential for the development of higher psychological functions. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that playing constitutes an essential step in children’s socio-cognitive development by describing playtime as the indicator of the gradual overcoming of self-centred thinking, with a view to acquiring new social adjustment strategies. The research activity included 64 children from nursery schools in Italy (average age 4.3) and was based on the direct and video-recorded observation of children’s spontaneous play at school. Two coding systems were applied to analyse variations in ideation, exploration, socializing, and imitation activities. The preliminary results seem to confirm that playing provides a framework within which it is possible to articulate and express the child’s progress in terms of both social development and cognitive skills. The mutual adjustment of the development of these two processes is also shown in the stepwise changing of the way in which conflicts are negotiated.

Parent–teacher meetings as a unit of analysis for parent–teacher interactions

The attempt to establish the decisive factors in psychological research, from an idiographic perspective, firstly involves examining the meanings entailed in this epistemological paradigm. Specifically, our work sets out to assess the possibilities of using this perspective with reference to parent–teacher relationships, as expressed through parent–teacher meetings. Said meetings present their own specific features which distinguish them from all the other kinds of meetings examined in literature (clinical, orientational, educational). Since many studies on this subject (parent–teacher communications; parent–teacher meetings, parent–teacher relationships) have focused mostly on the conversational aspects, it seemed time for a deeper theoretical and methodological examination of the specific characteristics of this instrument. Parent–teacher meetings have some particular features that make them a possible subject of idiographic analysis: firstly, it is a phenomenon that occurs at the dynamic meeting point between the life experiences of different individuals, brought together by their shared focus on the same matter of interest. Here we intend to describe, from a theoretical point of view, parent–teacher meetings as a relevant object of study and a possible context for future interventions.

The graphical representation of the self-image in early development: twins and singletons in comparison

ABSTRACT The construction of self, a fundamental process for development. Twins, as they grow together, may encounter greater difficulties in individuation process. The present study aims to investigate the construction of the image of the self and of the self with its own twin/sibling through the drawing of the human figure and to highlight any differences in these representations between monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, and non-twins. A sample of 105 children aged between 4 and 6 years participated in the research. From the analysis of the drawings of the self and of the self with the sibling, differences in self-representation and representation with the sibling have emerged and can be understood in the light of the separation and individuation process that characterizes the development of the self-image. In particular, greater tendencies have emerged for monozygotic twins to represent themselves differently from the co-twin and for dizygotic twins to show identical figures.