Journal Article

Are Effective Teachers Like Good Parents? Teaching Styles and Student Adjustment in Early Adolescence

Wentzel, Kathryn R.

2002

Overview

This study examined the utility of parent socialization models for understanding teachers' influence on student adjustment in middle school. Teachers were assessed with respect to their modeling of motivation and to Baumrind's parenting dimensions of control, maturity demands, democratic communication, and nurturance. Student adjustment was defined in terms of their social and academic goals and interest in class, classroom behavior, and academic performance. Based on information from 452 sixth graders from two suburban middle schools, results of multiple regressions indicated that the five teaching dimensions explained significant amounts of variance in student motivation, social behavior, and achievement. High expectations (maturity demands) was a consistent positive predictor of students' goals and interests, and negative feedback (lack of nurturance) was the most consistent negative predictor of academic performance and social behavior. The role of motivation in mediating relations between teaching dimensions and social behavior and academic achievement also was examined; evidence for mediation was not found. Relations of teaching dimensions to student outcomes were the same for African American and European American students, and for boys and girls. The implications of parent socialization models for understanding effective teaching are discussed.

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Inc,Blackwell Publishers,Blackwell,Oxford University Press
• Subject: Academic Achievement / Academic motivation / Adaptation, Psychological / Adjustment / Adolescence / Adolescent / Adolescents / Aspirations (Psychology) / Biological and medical sciences / Child / Child development / Children / Classroom communication / Educational psychology / Educational Status / Family / Family, School, and Community / Female / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Grade 6 / Humans / Imitative Behavior / Internal-External Control / Male / Middle School Students / Middle Schools / Motivation / Negative feedback / Nurturance / Parent-Child Relations / Parenting - psychology / Parenting Skills / Parents / Parents & parenting / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychology. Psychophysiology / Pupil and student. Academic achievement and failure / Reinforcement, Social / Role Models / School adjustment / Schools / Social adaptation / Social Behavior / Social behaviour / Socialization / Student Adjustment / Student Behavior / Student Motivation / Students / Students - psychology / Teacher / Teacher Competencies / Teacher motivation / Teacher Role / Teachers / Teaching / Teaching Skills