Peer-reviewed article
Relations between Kindergarten Teachers’ Occupational Well-being and the Quality of Teacher-child Interactions
Viola Penttinen, Eija Pakarinen, Antje von Suchodoletz, Marja‐Kristiina Lerkkanen ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how kindergarten teachers' stress and work engagement affect the quality of their interactions with 6-year-old children in Finnish classrooms. Researchers observed 47 teachers and their classes twice during the school year, measuring emotional support, classroom organization, and instruction. Teachers who experienced higher stress provided lower-quality emotional support and classroom management, while those with greater work engagement delivered better instruction.
Key points
- Teaching-related stress negatively predicted the quality of emotional support provided to children
- Teaching-related stress negatively predicted classroom organization quality
- Teacher work engagement was positively associated with instructional support quality
- Teacher-child interactions were assessed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) in both fall and spring
- Study involved 47 kindergarten teachers and their 6-year-old pupils in Finland
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot establish causation—it is unclear whether teacher stress reduces interaction quality, or whether difficult classroom interactions increase teacher stress. The sample size is relatively small and limited to Finland, which may limit generalizability to other contexts.
Abstract
Research Findings: The aim of this study was to examine associations between two aspects of teachers’ occupational well-being, i.e., teaching-related stress and work engagement, and the quality of teacher–child interactions in Finnish kindergarten classrooms. Participants were 47 kindergarten teachers with their classrooms of 6-year-old children. Teacher–child interactions (i.e., emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support) were observed twice during the kindergarten year (fall and spring), using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). In addition, teachers completed questionnaires on stress and work engagement. The results indicated that teaching-related stress negatively predicted the quality of emotional support and classroom organization while teacher’s work engagement was positively associated with the quality of instructional support. Practice or Policy: The findings can be used to inform teacher education and professional development in order to promote in- and pre-service teachers’ occupational well-being and support them in their work with children in the classroom.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Teacher occupational well-being (specifically managing stress and fostering work engagement) as a means to improve interaction quality
- Population
- 47 kindergarten teachers and their classrooms of 6-year-old children in Finland
Key finding
Teaching-related stress negatively predicted emotional support quality