Teacher-student relationship and executive functions in early adolescence: A New Zealand context

Abstract

This thesis investigated associations between teacher-student relationships (TSR) and executive functions (EF) in a sample of intermediate school students (N = 71, mean age 11.81 years) in Auckland. Children’s EF skills were measured using the National Institute of Health (NIH) Toolbox Cognitive Function Battery (Zelazo et al., 2013), administered via iPad. Three EF components were assessed: Working memory, with the List Sorting Working Memory Test; inhibitory control using the Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention Test; and cognitive flexibility with the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS). Eight teacher participants reported their perceptions of their relationship with each participating student in their class using the 15-item Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) (Pianta, 2001), which consists of two scales student-teacher closeness and student-teacher conflict. The mean scores indicated a high level of working memory skills, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility across all children in the sample, compared to the NIH Toolbox nationally (USA) representative sample. There were no significant differences between boys and girls on the three EF tasks. Mean teacher ratings on the STRS showed that student-teacher relationships were characterised by moderately high teacher perceived warmth and open communication with the child and low levels of negativity and discordance. There was a small negative correlation between student-teacher conflict and cognitive flexibility. There were no significant associations between student-teacher closeness, student-teacher conflict and the EF dimensions of working memory and inhibitory control. Overall, the study made a new contribution by examining all three EF dimensions in relation to student-teacher conflict and closeness. The study also addressed a gap in the research by examining these relationships in a sample of early adolescents. The finding on the negative associations between conflict and cognitive flexibility, adds to the literature by supporting previous research and extending the results to a sample of early adolescents. The study identified future research directions for investigating relationships between student-teacher relationships and executive function skills.