Quality of Children´s Interactions in Preschool

Studies have confirmed the influence of interactions of children in preschool for the development of childrens linguistic, cognitive and socio-emotional competencies. The quality of interactions of children in preschool is of special interest with regard to educational disadvantages especially of children from families with migration background. There is evidence that the characteristics of the children, the preschool teachers, the activity settings and the preschool classes affect interaction quality of children in preschools. However, only very few studies focus on the interaction quality of children in preschools. That is, interaction quality has mostly been examined on the preschool class level; thus, information about interactions on the individual level of children is not available. Moreover, there is little known about the development of interaction quality of children over preschool time. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the interaction quality of children in preschools on the individual level of children in the first and second year of preschool. Theoretical assumptions and research have indicated three main components of high-quality interactions of children in preschool: interactions with preschool teachers, interactions with peers, and task orientation. These components are associated with personal characteristics of the children and the preschool teachers, activity settings, characteristics of the preschool classes, more distal characteristics, and time. In a sample of 360 children from 90 preschools in Austria (Tyrol), the quality of the interactions of the children with their preschool teachers and peers, as well as their task orientations in preschools will be investigated cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In addition, we will analyze how childrens interaction quality is related to personal characteristics of the children and the preschool teachers, characteristics of the activity settings and the preschool classes as well as other characteristics. As educational disadvantages have been found especially for children with a Turkish migration background, we focus on these children as well as on children without a migration background. To investigate the quality of interactions of preschool children, we will use the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS). The inCLASS has recently been used in international studies. The expected gain in knowledge will provide a better understanding of childrens interactions in preschools, which can be used to enhance the interaction competence of children, especially children with a Turkish migration background.