The effect of teacher style on interactive engagement of preschool-aged children with special learning needs

Many of the instructional practices that have been used with preschool-aged children with disabilities are predicated on the belief that children with disabilities need adult direction to engage in meaningful learning activities. This study investigated the effects of directiveness and other elements of teacher style on the participation of children with disabilities in dyadic play and instructional interactions. The sample included 49 teacher-child dyads. Children ranged in age from 17 to 71 months and had identified disabilities. Two episodes of teacher-child interaction were coded with global and turntaking measures of the participation of teachers and children. Results indicated that teacher interactive style accounted for a significant portion of the variability in children's engagement. Teacher directiveness was negatively associated with children's initiations, while teacher affective involvement correlated positively with both children's attention and initiations. These results are discussed in terms of constructivist educational practices for preschool children with disabilities.