The Impact of Acquaintance Meetings on Children’s School Adjustment and Teachers’ Burnout in Preschools

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of introductory meetings conducted in preschools on children’s school adjustment and teacher burnout. The study included 110 children in the treatment group and 109 children in the control group. A total of 24 participating teachers, with thirteen in the treatment group and eleven in the control group, were involved in the research. Teachers in the treatment group planned and implemented a one-on-one meeting day with children and parents, lasting approximately half an hour. Six weeks after the schools opened, teachers evaluated the children’s school adjustment levels using the School Adjustment Teacher Rating Scale and assessed teacher burnout using the Teacher Burnout Scale. Additionally, they responded to open-ended survey questions probing the impact of the school adjustment process on children, parents, and teachers. The results indicated that teachers conducting introductory meetings received significantly higher scores in all sub-dimensions of the School Adjustment Scale, including school avoidance, school liking, cooperative participation, and self-directiveness, compared to teachers who did not conduct introductory meetings. There was no significant difference in teacher burnout data between the groups. Open-ended responses data further emphasized that teachers who implemented the practice perceived it as effective in facilitating the school adjustment process.