Student-teacher relationships and student self-concept: Relations with teacher and student gender

Research has established that qualities of student–teacher relationships impact children’s self-concept, however, the role of teacher and child gender in these relations is unclear. This study used data from 4169 children aged 10–11 years and 3343 teachers from Wave 4 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine the relationship between child and teacher gender, qualities of the student–teacher relationship and students’ self-concept. A nested structural equation model was constructed to test the concurrent and predictive effects student gender had on student–teacher relationships and students’ self-concept. Moreover, analysis of the model examined the extent to which relationships were mediated by student enjoyment of school and student perceptions of their teacher. For boys, closeness with their teachers did not predict their self-concept although conflict in their relationships negatively affected self-concept. For girls, both closeness and conflict predicted self-concept, with conflict having a greater effect on self-concept than closeness.