Interrelation between close teacher-student relationships and engagement : the case of Finnish preschools

2016

The study examined the interrelation between positive teacher-student relationships and teacher-reported level of engagement in Finnish preschool settings. Fifty preschool teachers working in Jyväskylä city area answered questionnaires in which they de-scribed 50 randomly selected students from their class (28 girls and 22 boys), one stu-dent for each teacher. Questionnaires consisted of two parts and measured the quality of teacher-child relationships and the level of children’s emotional and behavioural en-gagement. The results showed that quality of teacher-child relationships in the context of Finnish preschools is closely interrelated with the level of children’s engagement into the le…