Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms

Katharina Rathmann; Max G Herke; Klaus Hurrelmann; Matthias Richter

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189335

Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms

PLoS One. 2018 Feb 8;13(2):e0189335. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189335. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Katharina Rathmann^{1

2}, Max G Herke¹, Klaus Hurrelmann³, Matthias Richter¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.
² Department for Sociology of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Technical University Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany.
³ Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of class-level class climate on school-aged children's life satisfaction. Data was derived from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) using sixth grade school-aged children (n = 4,764, 483 classes). Class climate includes indicators of teachers' care and monitoring, demands, interaction, autonomy, as well as school-aged children's attitudes towards schoolwork at the class- and individual-level. Results showed that individual perceived class climate in terms of teachers' care and monitoring and autonomy was positively related to life satisfaction, whereas school-related demands were related to lower life satisfaction. Besides teachers' care and monitoring at class-level, indicators of class climate were not associated with school-aged children's life satisfaction, while the individual perceived class climate is more important for life satisfaction.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Female
Humans
Learning*
Male
Personal Satisfaction*
Schools*

Grants and funding

The study is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) through the DFG Priority Programme 1646 (Education as a Lifelong Process. Analyzing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) (Grant DFG-RI 2467/3-1) to MR.