The associations between teacher-child relationships and academic skills: A longitudinal study among Chinese preschool children

The current study followed a sample of 656 Chinese preschool children to examine reciprocal associations between teacher-child relationships and children’s academic skills by testing three cross-lagged models: the relationship-driven model, the child-driven model, and the reciprocal model. Fifty-nine head teachers reported teacher-child relationships, and children’s academic skills were assessed at three time points during the 2nd and 3rd preschool year. Results showed that the reciprocal model was the best fit in explaining the associations between teacher-child relationships and children’s academic skills (math achievement, character recognition and executive function), and the child-driven model was the best fit in explaining the relation between teacher-child relationships and children’s receptive vocabulary. The results contribute to understand the dynamic relations between teacher-child relationships and children's academic skills in the Chinese preschool context. Implications for educational practices are discussed.