Teacher–student relationship and students’ social competence in relation to the quality of educational dialogue

Abstract

Teacher–student relationship and students’ social competence were investigated in relation to the quality of educational dialogue. The data consisted of 151 video-recorded Grade 2 lessons. The teachers (N = 50) also rated their students’ (N = 664) social competence and the teacher–student relationship. In terms of teacher–student relationships, closeness associated positively while conflict associated negatively with high quality dialogue. Regarding students’ social competence, cooperation skills and empathy linked positively while disruptiveness linked negatively with high quality dialogue. The findings provide new knowledge on how different student-related factors may support or prevent the building of educational dialogue.