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In this paper, we report an investigation of the possible influence on teachers’ essentialist thinking and efficacy beliefs of category labels used to describe children’s educational difficulties. A 2x2x2 counterbalanced design was employed in which primary school teachers in Finland and the UK were exposed to vignettes that portrayed a child exhibiting difficulties in one of two domains: either behaviour or reading. Vignettes were presented in two versions. In one, the child was labelled as having either ‘ADHD’ or ‘Dyslexia’; in the alternate condition, no such label was ascribed, descriptions were identical in all other respects. Participating teachers were presented with two vignettes, one from each domain and in each condition. Responses to measures of Efficacy and Essentialist beliefs were solicited. Overall responses indicated that category labels evoked stronger essentialist beliefs but did not influence teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Finnish teachers reported stronger essentialist and lower efficacy beliefs than their counterparts in the UK. peerReviewed

This study focuses on the experiences of first-year teacher students in a Finnish teacher education department regarding ways in which studying in stable “home groups” supported or restricted their agency. The findings of the interviews with 22 teacher students suggest that perception of home groups as emotionally safe and offering opportunities to break traditional authority relationship supported teacher students' agency, which was manifested in identity negotiations and active participation. Perception of inequality and tensions within home groups restricted students' agency. The findings underline the need for keen awareness of factors affecting teacher students' agency when applying the home group approach.

The purpose of this article was to examine what education professionals in four countries (England, Finland, Malawi, and Oman) deemed as the critical (i.e., most important for effective teaching) non-cognitive attributes of novice teachers. Results from an iterative comparative case study showed that participants consistently judged certain attributes of novice teachers as critical, i.e., empathy, organization, and resilience. However, there was also differential importance placed on teachers’ relationships with the community, reflecting theorized cultural differences. The findings provide new insight into how national and cultural context are associated with the perceptions of the critical non-cognitive attributes of effective teachers. peerReviewed

This study examined the effect of students' externalizing problems on changes in values that they attach to math across the transition from primary to lower secondary school. Data pertaining to externalizing problems and to intrinsic, attainment, and utility values in math were gathered using the self-ratings of students in Grades 6 and 7. The analysis involved a comparison between students who reported persistent high externalizing problems before and after the transition (n = 63; 59% boys) and those who had low or non-existent externalizing problems before and after the transition (n = 1352; 50% boys). The results of a mixed-design analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed uniformly that students with high externalizing problems had lower intrinsic, attainment, and utility values in math than students with low or no externalizing problems. As the students progressed across the lower secondary transition, the attainment value in math showed a steeper decreasing trend in students with high levels of externalizing problems compared to the declining trajectory of students without such problems. We also found that the utility value decreased across transition, but the declining trend was steeper for students manifesting a high level of externalizing problems, particularly for boys. Overall, the results provide a better understanding of developmental trajectories of achievement values during the transition from primary to lower secondary school. Declining trends in achievement values are pronounced among students with a high level of externalizing problems, and boys with such problems are the most vulnerable group of students. peerReviewed

This cross-national study examined the connections between parental working time patterns (i.e., regular day work vs. nonstandard working hours) and children's socio-emotional wellbeing defined in terms of internalizing and externalizing problems and prosocial behavior. We also examined how the total number of hours worked, changes in work schedules, working overtime at short notice, and having an influence over one's work schedules were linked with children's wellbeing. Data were collected by a web survey from Finnish ( n = 358), Dutch ( n = 200) and British ( n = 267) parents with children aged 3 to 12 years. The results showed, that in all three countries parents working nonstandard hours reported more internalizing problems among their children compared to parents in regular day work. In addition, parents whose work included overtime at short notice reported more internalizing problems among their children compared to parents who did not work overtime. Parental nonstandard working time was related to lowered prosocial behavior in children, as reported by parents, but only in the United Kingdom. Overall, the findings of this cross-national study indicated a universal, although weak association between nonstandard working hours and higher child internalizing problems. However, flexible arrangements both in working life and daycare services may help to promote children's socioemotional wellbeing — such as prosocial behaviors - in families where parents work nonstandard times.

This study examined the developments in children’s externalizing problems and interest in reading during their first four years of school (Grades 1–4) and investigated whether this development predicted the children’s Grade 6 reading skills and educational aspirations. Data comprised (1) teachers’ ratings of externalizing problems and children’s (N = 642; 43% girls) self-ratings of their interest in reading, collected between Grades 1 and 4, and (2) measures of reading fluency and comprehension, and children’s self-reports of educational aspirations, collected at Grade 6. First, latent growth modeling showed that a higher level of externalizing problems in Grade 1 was associated with a lower concurrent interest in reading. Second, a positive association between the initial level of interest in reading and a linear change in externalizing problems indicated that children with a lower interest in reading in Grade 1 were rated by teachers as exhibiting higher levels of externalizing problems, which nonetheless declined over the course of their first four years of school more than among other children. Third, a higher initial level of externalizing problems with a linear change in these problems across Grades 1–4 was a predictor of lower subsequent educational aspirations and poorer reading comprehension in Grade 6. Analysis of the indirect effects indicated that a higher level of externalizing problems was associated with a lower concurrent interest in reading, which, in turn, was related to poorer future reading fluency and lower educational aspirations. The findings imply that problem behaviors are interlinked with academic skill development and motivation across the first six years of school. peerReviewed

This study explored the effects of working time patterns on positive parenting and parenting stress, and the moderating effects of working hours, the unpredictability of work schedules, and autonomy over working time in a European context. This cross-national survey study compared Finnish (n = 337), Dutch (n = 283) and British (n = 317) mothers with children under the age of 13, using structural equation modeling with a multigroup procedure. We found a connection between working time patterns and positive parenting but the nature of the connection differed between countries. In all three countries, no relationship was found between working time pattern and parenting stress, while unpredictable work schedules were associated with both reduced positive parenting and increased parenting stress. The study contributes to our understanding of the role that country-specific socio-cultural context plays in the impact that working time patterns can have on parenting.

This longitudinal study of 562 students (from ages 10 to 13) investigated whether developmental changes in internalizing problems (emotional and peer problems) can be predicted by school grades in mathematics and language arts and whether these predictive relations are mediated by students' self-esteem. The data comprised of teacher-rated internalizing problems, grades in math and language arts, and student self-ratings of self-esteem. The latent change score modeling indicated that math grades positively predicted self-esteem. Furthermore, lower self-esteem was related to an increase in internalizing and emotional problems in the total sample, and to an increase in peer problems in boys. The indirect effect of poorer math grades, via lower self-esteem, on increases in internalizing and emotional problems was significant. The sample included an overrepresentation of children at risk of reading difficulty, but the tested models did not differ between at-risk and not-at-risk children. Overall, the findings revealed that low math grades contribute negatively to students' global self-esteem and predict an increase in internalizing problems in early adolescence. peerReviewed

This study investigated the cross-lagged associations between teacher-student relationships and problem behaviors in a sample of 440 Finnish students (half of them identified as being at risk of reading difficulties). The degree to which these associations were moderated by a child’s gender, academic performance, risk for reading difficulties, parental education, and having the same teacher over 2 years was examined. The teachers evaluated the students’ problem behaviors and reported closeness and conflict with a particular student. The results showed that the higher the students scored on externalizing problems in Grade 4, the more conflict teachers reported 2 years later. Moderator analyses revealed that internalizing problems predicted higher levels of closeness for boys only. Conflict predicted internalizing problems among students who had the same teacher across the 2 years. The results emphasize the importance of investigating the transactional links in different subgroups.

This study used variable‐ and person‐oriented approaches to examine the relationship between personality traits (at age 33) and parenting (at age 36) among 94 mothers and 78 fathers. The SEM revealed that Openness to Experience (O), low Neuroticism (N), and Extraversion (E) were related to parental nurturance; low O to parental restrictiveness; and low N to parental knowledge about the child's activities. Cluster analysis based on the three parenting factors yielded six gender‐related parenting types with distinguishable personality profiles. Authoritative parents (mostly mothers) and emotionally involved parents (mostly fathers), who were high in nurturance and high to moderate in parental knowledge, were high in E and high to moderate in O. Authoritarian parents (mostly fathers) and emotionally detached parents (mostly mothers), who were low in nurturance, high to moderate in restrictiveness, and moderate to low in parental knowledge, were low in O and E. Permissive parents, who were low in restrictiveness and parental knowledge and moderate in nurturance, were high in N, E, and O. Engaged parents, who were high in nurturance, restrictiveness, and parental knowledge, were moderate in all personality traits. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness did not differ between the parenting types. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ninety-nine families with a school-age child participated in this study, aimed at analysing the relationship between parenting and children's help seeking. The parenting data included self-reports on parents' child-rearing principles and behavioural observations during parent–child interactions. To test help seeking, the children were placed in a problem-solving situation and had the opportunity to seek help from the experimenter. For girls, higher levels of parental nurturance were linked to longer thinking times preceding help seeking and to lessened capacity to reuse previously received help. For boys, higher levels of fathers' emotional warmth were related to higher rates of irrelevant help seeking.