Measuring the student-teacher relationship using children's drawings in an Italian elementary school

IntroductionA great deal of literature underlines the importance of the teacher-pupil relationship as a factor affecting aspects of children's early scholastic adjustment and their subsequent academic results. More specifically, in the first years at school, a good relationship with the teacher, marked by positive qualities like closeness, affection, and open communication, with few negative featuresrelated to aspects of conflict and/or dependence, has a decisive effect on the child's socio-emotional development (Cefai & Valeira, 2014; Fraire, Longobardi, Prino, Sclavo, & Settanni, 2013); learning progress (Downer, Rimm-Kaufman, & Pianta, 2007; Pasta, Mendola, Longobardi, Prino, & Gastaldi), and behavior (Meehan, 2004; Kauffman & Landrum, 2012). Numerous research studies have examined the assessment of relationship quality in the educational domain (Longobardi, Prino, Marengo, & Settanni, 2016; Settanni, Longobardi, Sclavo, Fraire, & Prino, 2015). Since any dyadic relationship relies on the "reciprocal representations" of the partners involved in the interaction (Hinde, 1979), both forms of assessment must be taken into account. Most of the studies carried out to assess the teacher-pupil relationship have actually only considered the teacher's viewpoint, thus failing to give a complete picture of the educational relationship and overlooking the pupil's perspective (Longobardi, Gastaldi, Prino, Pasta, & Settanni, 2016; Poulou, 2017). The pupil's perception of the quality of the relationship with the teacher has always been investigated by means of questionnaires, even when involving pupils at pre-school or in the early years of primary school. Many studies show that the graphic method of using drawing, a family mode of expression that is natural and enjoyable for the child, is considered a useful way of communicating the personality, the child's emotional dimension, and the affective tone with which the child "emotionally invests" in the contents represented. Children may be able to express emotions through drawings that they are unable to communicate or feel uncomfortable expressing verbally (Fury, Carlson, & Sroufe, 1997; Goldner, Edelstein, & Habshush, 2015; Kim & Suh, 2013; Pace, Zavattini, & Tambelli, 2015; Malchiodi, 1998). A considerable number of studies have confirmed that children's drawings reveal interactions with affectively significant others, and can be interpreted as emotional indicators of the quality of the relationship between the child and a relational partner (Clarke, Ungerer, Chahould, Johnson, & Steifel, 2002; Pianta, Longmaid, & Ferguson, 1999). Previous studies have revealed positive associations, albeit more evident in elementary school and weaker in kindergarten (Pianta & Nimetz, 1991; Valeski & Stipek, 2001), between the children's perceived feelings towards the teacher, recorded through questionnaires, and the assessment of closeness reported by the teachers. Research studies using the graphic method to investigate the child's perception of relationship quality show significant links with the assessment of the relationship as reported by the teacher, especially with regard to conflict in the relationship (Harrison, Clarke, & Hungerer, 2007). This underlines an aspect reported in other works, namely the identification of conflict as the most salient among the effects of the educational relationship (Mantzicopoulos, 2005; Domitrovich, Durlak, Staley, & Weissberg, 2017). Certain personal characteristics attributable to the child have been seen to have a strong influence on the assessment of the educational relationship. First, the pupil's sex has been identified as an important moderator of both the scholastic results achieved during the early years and the quality of the relationship with the educator, especially with teachers (Gunter, Caldarella, Korth, & Young, 2012; Hamre & Pianta, 2001). …