Early Childhood Research Quarterly 22 (2007) 55–71 Children’s drawings provide a new perspective on teacher–child relationship quality and school adjustment Linda J. Harrison a,∗ , Leanne Clarke b , Judy A. Ungerer b a Charles Sturt University, School of Teacher Education, Bathurst, NSW 2795, Australia b Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Received 18 August 2006; received in revised form 28 October 2006; accepted 29 October 2006 Abstract A growing literature points to the importance of children’s relationships with their teachers as a factor influencing attitudinal, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of school adjustment. However, such data may be confounded when the same teacher rates school adjustment as well as relationship quality. The present study sought to address this problem by investigating direct (self- reported feelings about the teacher) and indirect (representations through drawings) procedures to assess children’s perspectives on the relationship. Self-report questions were adapted from measures of school liking and maternal acceptance. Drawings applied Fury’s system for describing relational negativity in child–family drawings. Results, based on a sample of 125 six-year-olds, showed significant associations between children’s reports/drawings and teacher-rated relationship quality and school adjustment. Negativity in child–teacher drawings was a particularly salient correlate, suggesting that children’s representations of relationships can provide a useful independent means of identifying relationship or adjustment difficulties at school. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Teacher–child relationship; School adjustment; Children’s perspectives 1. Introduction A growing literature points to the importance of children’s relationships with their teachers as a factor influencing children’s early school adjustment and subsequent social and academic outcomes (Birch & Ladd, 1996, 1997; Howes, 2000; Pianta, Nimetz, & Bennett, 1997; Pianta & Steinberg, 1992; Pianta, Steinberg, & Rollins, 1995). The consensus from these reports is that a relationship that is characterized by more positive qualities, such as closeness, affection, and open communication, and fewer negative qualities, such as conflict and dependency, has benefits for children’s personal, social, and academic adjustment in the early years of school. Furthermore, longitudinal studies are beginning to show that early relationship quality is important in laying the groundwork for children’s future school career (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). Closer, less conflicted relationships with teachers have been associated with children having more positive feelings toward school (Birch & Ladd, 1997), fewer problem behaviors (Pianta et al., 1995), fewer discipline problems (Hamre & Pianta, 2001), less aggressive and asocial peer interaction (Ladd & Burgess, 1999), better social skills (Pianta & Steinberg, 1992), better work habits (Hamre & Pianta, 2001), better academic performance in visual and language skills (Birch & Ladd, 1997), basic concepts (Pianta et al., 1997), basic skills, language arts, and mathematics ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 63384872; fax: +61 2 63384418. E-mail address: lharrison@csu.edu.au (L.J. Harrison). 0885-2006/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.10.003