Agency and Communion of Teacher Behavior in Dyadic Interactions with Primary School Children (AC-DYADE)

The aim of the project was to find out how the interpersonal behavior exhibited by the teacher in dyadic interactions with each individual student in the class is related to their motivation, involvement in the peer network and emotional state, taking into account the level of competence that the respective student has in reading and mathematics. A sample of 362 teachers described their behavior toward individual students in the class on eight facets of an interpersonal circumplex, which is spanned on the orthogonal dimensions of communion (e.g., warmth, need satisfaction) and agency (e.g., guidance, competence). In total, the teachers described their behavior towards 4,365 students. A subsample of 1,355 of these students in grades 3 to 6 were also interviewed themselves. To motivate the students, the six qualities according to the self-determination theory, satisfaction and frustration of the needs for autonomy, competence and integration were recorded. Integration into the peer network was recorded using sociometric data on work cooperation. Reading skills were assessed using C-tests adapted to the age groups and possible special educational needs. Mathematics skills were assessed using the BEFKI. The survey also included: Thriving, school satisfaction, school burnout, agentic engagement, communal self-concept, ability self-concepts in math and reading, self-regulation skills, performance expectations in math, math anxiety, growth and fixed mindsets on intelligence, dealing with mistakes and subjective experience of exclusion. The teachers also provided information on the following variables: Teacher emotions, emotional work, assumptions about the changeability of teacher-child relationships, enthusiasm, thriving, emotional exhaustion, math anxiety, math brilliance beliefs, self-efficacy for teaching heterogeneous classes. The teachers also described group characteristics of the students that allow the agency and communion of teacher behavior to be described comparatively at the class level: First language, special educational needs, diagnosed giftedness, exemption from teaching aids. A sub-sample of teachers was also surveyed longitudinally on selected constructs. (IQB)

  • Research Design: Oberservational Design
  • Sample: Teachers (N=362); Students from grade 3 to 6 (N=4.365)
  • DOI: 10.5159/IQB_AC-DYADE_SUF_Off-site_v1
  • Restrictions: Yes

  • Individual and Institutional Background
    • Socio-demographic Background
      • Migration Background Free text:
        • Primary language
      • Individual Characteristics Free text:
        • Sex
        • Age
    • Personal Characteristics
      • Self-Related Attitudes Free text:
        • Self-efficacy
      • Learning and Performance-related Attitudes Free text:
        • Relationship mindset
        • Math anxiety
        • Domain identification Mathematics
      • School-related Attitudes and Behaviors Free text:
        • Enjoyment of teaching
        • Feelings about work
        • Emotional exhaustion
    • Professional Background
      • Occupational Situation Free text:
        • Class management
        • Subjects taught
        • Educational status
      • Pedagogical Content Knowledge Free text:
        • Additional qualifications
      • Professional Experience Free text:
        • Years of instruction in this class
        • Years as a teacher
    • Institutional Characteristics Free text:
      • Type of school
      • School Location Free text:
        • Federal state (Bundesland)
      • Organization of Teaching Operations Free text:
        • Co-class leadership
      • Learning Opportunities Free text:
        • Grading
      • Composition of the Student Body Free text:
        • Grade level
  • Teaching-Learning Arrangements
    • Lesson Design/ Teaching Practice
      • Use and Variation of Different Teaching Methods
    • Class Management
      • Professional Support/ Individual Support Free text:
        • Teacher behavior
      • Student Orientation/ Social Support Free text:
        • Dyadic teacher-student relationship
        • Teacher emotions
        • Student behavior
    • Learning Atmosphere in the Classroom and in the Class Group
      • Composition of the Student Body Free text:
        • Class Size
        • Gifted children
        • Children with special needs
        • Socioeconomic background of children
        • Children's grades
  • Individual and Institutional Background
    • Socio-demographic Background
      • Migration Background Free text:
        • Language activity
        • Age at start of German language learning
      • Cultural Capital Free text:
        • Possessions at home
        • Books in the household
        • Use of technical devices
      • Individual Characteristics Free text:
        • Age
        • Sex
    • Personal Characteristics
      • Learning and Performance-related Attitudes Free text:
        • Experience of autonomy
        • Experience of competence
        • Motivation - enthusiasm for physical research
        • Self concept mathematics
        • Performance expectations in mathematics
        • Math anxiety
        • Mindset intelligence
        • Fear of making mistakes
        • Self concept reading
      • School-related Attitudes and Behaviors Free text:
        • Integration into class structure
        • Teaching behavior
        • Cooperative peer network
        • Self-regulation skills Peers
        • Communal self-concept
        • Affective social exclusion
        • School Burnout Inventory
        • Thriving children
        • School Satisfaction

  • Domain-Specific Cognitive Competencies
    • Linguistic Competence
      • Test Instrument Language
        • C-Test
  • Cross-Domain Cognitive Skills Free text:
    • Logical thinking
    • Test Instrument Intelligence
      • BEFKI - Berliner Test zur Erfassung fluider und kristalliner Intelligenz Free text:
        • 5-7 (Mathematik)
Data Set Published on
July 31, 2025
Current Version Available Since
July 31, 2025
Survey Period
2023, 2024
Sample
Teachers (N=362); Students from grade 3 to 6 (N=4.365)
Survey Unit
  • Teachers
  • Students
Measured Competencies
Reading, Mathematics
Region
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia
Principal Investigators
  • Hannover, Prof. Dr. Bettina
Data Producers
  • Hannover, Prof. Dr. Bettina
Funded by
Suggested Citation
Qualität schafft Chancen-Konsortium (2025). Agency und Communion des Verhaltens der Lehrkraft in dyadischen Interaktionen mit Grundschulkindern (AC-DYADE) [Agency and Communion of Teacher Behavior in Dyadic Interactions with Primary School Children (AC-DYADE)] (Version 1) [Data set]. Berlin: IQB – Institut zur Qualitätsentwicklung im Bildungswesen. http://doi.org/10.5159/IQB_AC-DYADE_SUF_Off-site_v1
Restriction Notice
A restriction notice (Sperrvermerk) exists with regard to the data of this study, i.e., some topics and variables have been blocked by the data producer(s) in order to protect ongoing research and publication projects of members of their institution(s). If you wish to apply for access to these data and would like further information on the restriction, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Blank data sets

For a first overview of the data set and its variables, dummy data sets containing the variables used and the value labels relating to them are provided for download here.

Documentation

Here you can find further documentation:

Literature

Selected literature is listed here.

2026

Frühauf, M., & Hannover, B. (2026). Teaching Anxiety in Mathematics: Associations with Teacher Agency and Communion in Teacher-Student Dyads. AERA Open, 12, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584261466670

2025

Frühauf, M., & Hannover, B. (2025). Korrelate der Matheangst von angehenden und praktizierenden Lehrkräften. WTM-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.17877/DE290R-25896

Frühauf, M., Koeppen, K., Kreutzmann, M., & Hannover, B. (2025). A Circumplex Approach to Identify Complementarity in Dyadic Teacher Behaviors Depending on Student Communion and Competence. Psychology in the Schools, 62(5), 1550–1566. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.23416

Koeppen, K., Kreutzmann, M., Roswag, M., Frühauf, M., Valcárcel Jiménez, M., & Hannover, B. (2025). How teacher agency adapted to child competencies and teacher communion relate to student needs fulfillment and motivation. Learning and Individual Differences, 119, 102663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2025.102663

2024

Kreutzmann, M., Frühauf, M., Hannover, B., & Koeppen, K. (2024). Communal and agentic teacher behavior in teacher-child dyads. A new self-report scale based on a circumplex approach. Frontiers in Education, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1397936

2022

Hannover, B., Koeppen, K., & Kreutzmann, M. (2022). Die Qualität des Lehrkraftverhaltens in Lehrkraft-Kind-Dyaden. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 36(1-2), 65–84. https://doi.org/10.1024/1010-0652/a000327