Adaptive constructive support in teacher-student interactions: differences in support duration depending on individual student characteristics

This paper examines teachers’ constructive support in dyadic teacher-student interactions and explores interindividual differences in teacher support depending on student characteristics. We developed an observational tool that assesses the duration and valence of teachers’ constructive support according to two facets: socioemotional and instructional support. Observational and survey data from 192 third- and fourth-grade students from 14 classes in 5 award-winning elementary schools in Germany were analyzed. The results show that 74% of the students were involved in teacher-student interactions during the observed 30-minute period of teacher-assisted learning time, with interactions lasting 30 s on average. Moreover, Bayesian multilevel analyses revealed that students with special educational needs received less constructive teacher support than their peers. Bayesian mediation analyses indicated that this association was partly explained by students with special educational needs requesting support less often. The findings on interindividual differences in dyadic teacher-student interactions provide insights into how teachers’ constructive support is differentially distributed across students in dyadic interactions.