Exploring the Associations Between Family–Teacher Cocaring Relationships and Teacher–Child Relationships in Single-Parent Families

Abstract

Family–teacher partnerships in early care and education (ECE) have critical implications for children’s development and may be particularly important for families facing greater adversity. This study focuses on cocaring relationships in infant and toddler classrooms and how these cocaring relationships are associated with teacher–child (T-C) relationships depending on different family characteristics. ECE teachers (n = 39) of 85 families completed questionnaires about their cocaring relationships with individual families and the levels of closeness and conflict they perceive with the family’s child. Using multi-level modeling, we explored the moderating effect of single-parent status in the associations between cocaring relationships and T-C relationships and examined whether single-parent status and family characteristics jointly interact with cocaring relationships to predict T-C relationship quality. Research Findings: We found no moderation effect of single-parent status. However, we found (1) joint interaction effects among cocaring relationships, single-parent status, and family characteristics (i.e. parental working status and education level) in predicting the level of T-C closeness and (2) joint interaction effects among those (i.e. parental working status) in predicting the level of T-C conflict. Practice or Policy: This study highlights aspects of teachers’ perceived partnerships with young children’s families, with attention to the different family characteristics.