Error climate and alienation from teachers: A longitudinal analysis in primary school

Background: Dealing with errors in the classroom is a crucial aspect of instructional quality and has multiple consequences for students' own dealing with errors, their learning and their achievement. The available literature on error climate indicates a paucity of research on the effects of perceived error climate on social aspects such as student-teacher relationships.

Aims: The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationship between error climate and alienation from teachers.

Samples: We conducted a study with two measurement points in primary school (Grade 5 in 2017 and Grade 6 in 2018) and two samples (N = 406 students in 29 classes in Switzerland and N = 345 students in 39 classes in Luxembourg).

Methods: For scrutinizing the effect of error climate at T1 on alienation from teachers at T2, we used hierarchical linear modelling (students nested within classrooms).

Results: For both samples, the results indicated that a positive error climate at T1 predicted less alienation from teachers at T2. We also found an effect of the shared error climate on alienation from teachers.

Conclusions: The findings provide empirical evidence of the importance of improving how errors are handled in the classroom to prevent students' alienation from their teachers.