Objectives: To assess teachers' emotional expression about pupils using the Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) and coding procedures for parental expressed emotion (EE). To compare EE for disruptive and non-disruptive pupils.
Method: Twenty-one teachers provided speech samples for both a disruptive and a non-disruptive pupil in their class selected using standard behaviour rating scales.
Results: Teachers' emotional expression was reliably measured using EE codings. Teachers displayed no emotional overinvolvement (EOI) and made few critical comments. High EE, characterized by criticism and a lack of positive comments, was associated with children's behavioural difficulties. Multiple regression suggested that conduct problems rather than hyperactivity were associated with high EE.
Discussion: Results support the application of certain elements of the EE construct to teachers' emotional expression about pupils. However, there was an absence of EOI and a lack of association between relationship and other EE categories. The absence of this association suggests that EE might be most usefully considered as a measure of teachers' emotional response to pupils, rather than the emotional quality of the teacher-pupil relationship.