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.
Keywords: alienation from teachers; error climate; error culture; longitudinal study; primary education.
© 2024 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.