ELEMENTARY PUPILS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE CLASSROOM’

JOHN ANTES, DAN ANDERSEN, AND M. VERE DE VAULT

Oberlin University of Wisconsin

The purpose of this study was to examine children’s perceptions of certain aspects of the classroom social-emotional environment. The investigation grew out of the Teacher Education Research Project a t the University of Wisconsin which began in September, 1959 with a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The Teacher Education Research Project was proposed as a study of the effects of different instructional approaches upon college students preparing to teach in ele- mentary schools, with a central concern being the consideration of the kinds of class- room interaction created by differentially prepared teachers and the effects of these interactions upon the mental health of pupils in the classrooms.

Combs and Snygg (1959) propose the fundamental thesis that all behavior is a function of the individual’s perceptions. The important thing to remember about the child in the classroom situation is that it is the perceived situation, the situation as i t appears to the child which influences behavior. Each child, then, has his own, individual way of perceiving and this perception determines his behavior.

To understand the child from his own point of view, attention must be focused on the environment in which the child interacts with others. For purposes of this study the environment was identified as the elementary school classroom social- emotional climate in which the child perceived self and others.

A number of studies have demonstrated that the behavior of significant adults has an effect on children’s emotional health or behavior. Few studies have collected data on ways in which children perceive these adults. As Combs and Snygg (1959) have said, people do not behave according to the facts as others see them. They behave according to the facts as they see them. What governs behavior from the point of view of the individual himself are his unique perceptions of himself and the world in which he lives, the meanings things have for him.

This study of the perception of children was designed to extend our knowledge of teacher behavior which has a relationship and possible influence on pupil behavior affecting mental health of pupils in the classroom. There is a need in teacher cduca- tion for more evidence in this area if we are to prepare teachers who are more cog- nizant of their roles and the influence of their behavior on children’s social and emotional development.

PROBLEM In attempting to derive the children’s perceptual field as i t pertains to the

social-emotional climate in the elementary classroom the following questions wcrc framed. I n each case the perceptual referent is examined as it relates to sex, achieve- ment, and grade level.

‘This study is a part of a larger Pilot Project supported by the n‘ational Institut,e of hfental Health, Grant No. 2M-6624. Many of t,he data presented herein were reported in: .John Antes, Childrens Perceptions oj Teachers, Self, Peers, and School. Unpublished 1’h.U. thcsis, university of Wisconsin. 1963.

42 JOHN ANTES, DAN ANDERSEN, AND M. VERE DE VAULT

1.

2.

3.

4.

What differences in pupils’ perceptions of their teachers are related to sex,

What differences in peers’ perceptions of pupils are related to sex, grade

What differences in pupils’ self-concepts are related to sex, grade level and

What differences in school attitudes of pupils are related to sex, grade level

grade level and achievement?

level and achievement?

achievement?

and achievement?

PROCEDURE Population

Eighteen first year teachers, all graduates of the University of Wisconsin undergraduate ele- mentary teacher education program, in grades four, five, and six with a total select pupil popula- tion of 429 comprised the students for this study. Six teachers were in the Madison, Wisconsin

TABLE 1. ROTATED FACTOR MATRIX O F THE TWELVE ITEMS ON THE My Teacher TEST

Item

Interest in Factors Factual Inter-personal Directive- Relat- Academic Relationships ness ability Orienta-

tion I I1 I11 IV H*

1. Some teachers can give you facts about many things. ,203 - .005 - .009 .332** ,155 Some teachers ask lots of questions about things in school. .420** .261** .026 ,166 ,273

different things so you can

Some teachers are too busy to notice when you need help. .034 .4“9** -- .125 - ,159 .226 Some teachers ask you how you think things should be done. .467** - .359** - ,007 ,070 ,352

exactly what to do. - ,046 .351** - .012 ,095 ,134

2.

3. Some teachers suggest

choose for yourself. .179 - .256** ,138 .184 .151 4.

5 .

6. Some teachers tell you

7. Some teachers make you feel as if they don’t like you. .035 ,176 - .450** - ,152 ,267

8. Some teachers ask you how you think and feel about things. .538** - ,189 ,121 .175 ,370 Some teachers let you know how they think and feel about things. .489** - ,017 ,102 ,110 ,262 Some teachers listen to you when you want to tell them something. ,087 - ,004 .222** .402** ,218

things clearly. ,097 - .098 ,149 .353** .166

9.

10.

11. Some teachers can explain

12. Some teachers make you feel as if they were your friend. .212 ,005 .467** ,107 .275

*Communalities **Items included in factor

ELEMENTARY PUPILS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ENVIRONMENT 43

Public Schools, seven were in Wisconsin schools outside of Madison, two taught in Colorado, two in Ohio, and one each in Illinois and Minnesota. Distribution of the pupil population by grade and sex is reported in Table 1. All reading achievement data scores were converted to percentiles on each set of test norms. Tests were given by the school systems and included: Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Metro- politan Achievement Test, Stanford Achievement Test, Sequential Test of Educational Progress, and the California Achievement Test. These pupils were divided into high, average, and low achievers. The range for high achievers was from the 90th percentile through the 99th; average achievers ranged from the 46th percentile to the 89th; and low achievers were from the 45th percentile down. There were 94 high achievers, 244 average achievers, and 91 low achievers. Data Collection Procedures

The time of testing was in February after pupils had been with their teachers for approximately five or six months.

In the Teacher Education Research Project a battery of nine tests which took approximately two hours was administered to all pupil subjects. That portion of the study reported in this paper was concerned with only four of the tests. At the beginning of the test period, the test administrator passed out booklets and pencils to the students, each booklet was numbered according to a master class roster. Test instruments used in this report were M y Teacher, About Me, Classmates, and What I Think About School. Description of Instruments

M y Teacher. The test M y Teacher was derived from a set of fourteen observational categories which was designed to reflect the teacher-pupil communication interactions in the classroom. This process measure of the patterns of communication represented a modification of the concepts of Bale’s interaction process analysis (1950) and Withall’s analysis of classroom climate (1949). Modifications were made to increase the sensitivity of these categories in reflecting communication behaviors. The fourteen categories were designed to be used either in a live classroom situation or with tape record- ings of a classroom situation.

The M y Teacher test was designed as a paper-pencil test with twelve items (Table 1) to ascertain pupils’ perceptions of their teacher’s communication pattern or behavior. From the twelve items and a sample size of 456, five factors were extracted, four of these were then rotated by a varifax method. A list of factor loadings of the rotated factors appears in Table 2. Factor loadings of .20 or higher were arbitrarily selected as indicating inclusion of items in a factor except in Factor I in which the cut-off point was .40.

The four factors reported in Table 1 were labeled (I) Interest in Interpersonal Relationships, (11) Directiveness, (111) Relatability, and (IV) Factual Orientation.2

Classmates. The Classmates instrument is a variant of standard sociometric procedure, involving the presentation of brief behavior characteristics to a group of children with instructions to assess which members of their peer group fit the description.

The Classmates test used in this study was adapted from a test deTieloped by Lewis (1959), who had analyzed and revised items from earlier studies done by Havighurst, DeHann, Dieterich, Hackamack, Johnspn (1952) and King, and Mitchell (1956).

This is a nine item test, three items describing each of the three constructs: socially acceptable, aggressive, and socially isolated. In order to facilitate the children’s task of responding about their peers and for ease in computation of their responses, a sheet possessing the names of each child in the classroom with an accompanying identification number was presented to each child with the test form. The children were instructed to read each item and respond by putting the numbers (corresponding to the child on the name sheet) of the boys and girls whom they selected as possessing the character- istics of that particular item. This procedure yielded a mean score on each of the three factors: socially acceptable, aggressive, and socially isolated, as derived from the rating given him by all of his classmates.

About Me. The About M e is a nine item test, three items describing each of the three constructs: socially adjusted, aggressive, and socially isolated. These items except for form are similar to the items used in the Classmates report. The About M e permits each child to indicate how strongly he feels he is like or not like the person described. The format of the items is so arranged that each child responds on a scale from YES, yes, no, NO as to where he sees himself on the particular behavior characteristic. This test yielded a score on each of the three factors: socially adjusted, aggressive, and socially isolated for the pupil’s self concept.

About School. The school attitudes test was made up of twelve items to assess children’s percep- tions of their school in several aspects: the classroom, learning, schoolwork, and school in general. The test was developed primarily by the Wisconsin Teacher Education Research Project staff. Ordering of the items was arranged to reduce bias from response set with six negative and six positive items. By prefixing the items with the clause, “Some children say,” it was expected that the attitude expressed

ZFor a more detailed description of the development of these factor scores and the development of other instruments used in this study, the reader is referred to: Anderson, Dan W. Wisconsin Teacher Education Research Project: Design & Instrumentation. Madison : Dept. of Education, Univ. of Wis., Dec. 1963. 177pp.

44 JOHN ANTES, DAN ANDERSEN, AND M. VERE DE VAULT

by each item would be regarded as the “norm” for a set of children and that the respondent would be more willing to express his own negative feelings if he were “agreeing” with this imagined set of peers. The children were instructed to read the items and mark their responses on a scale from YES, yes, no, NO as to agreement with that particular school attitude.

TABLE 2. SIGNIFICANT MAIN EFFECTS REPORTED IN SUMMARY OF ANALYSES OF VARIANCE PROBLEMS FOR 429 FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE PUPILS WITH S E X , GILADE,

AND ACHIEVEMENT

Independent Variables Dependent Variable Sex Grade Achievement

Communication Factors I. Interest in Inter-

personal relations 11. lhectiveness B > G* 4 > 5 > B * * L > M > H *

111. Relatability G > B** IV. Factual Orientation G > B**

Peer Perceptions Aggressive Socially Acceptable Withdrawn

B > G*** 4 > G > 5 *

G > B*** H > M > L** L > H > M*** 6 > 5 > 4**

Self Concept Aggressive Social!!: Acceptable Withdrawn L > €1 > M**

School Attitudes G > B***

* significant a t the .05 level ** significant a t the .01 level

*** significant a t the .001 levcl

SUMMARY Sex

Eleven analysis of variance problems were completed and a summary of these analyses is presented in Table 2. Considering the results of the study by main effects in the order of their prescntation in the table, let us consider the differciiccs between boys and girls. Boys differed from girls in several ways. Boys saw thcir teachers as “directive” more frcqucntly thaii did the girls. Girls, however, pcr- ceived teachers as morc “rclatablc’’ arid as more interested in a “factual oricntation” than did the boys.

Boys mere pcrceivcd by peers diffcreiitly than were girls; bcing morc aggrcssivc and less withdrawn than girls. It is interesting to note, howevcr, that in tcrms of self concept, boys rated themselves as ncithcr morc aggrcssive nor lcss withdraw11 than girls.

Girls’ attitudes toward school wcre significantly morc positive than wcrc boys’ attitudcs.

We can conclude from thc above findings that boys did cxpcricncc a diffcrcnt social-emotional climate in thcir classroom than did thcir fcmalc classmatcs. They perceived thcir teachers differently. Although boys did not pcrccivc thcmsclvcs diff ercritly 011 thcsc instriimcnts, thcy \I crc ccrtainly pcrccivcd difYcrciitly 1)y thcir peers.

ELEMENTARY PUPILS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL ENVIRONMENT 45

Grade Level Turning our attention to our second main effect-grade level, we note that with

increased grade level, the pupils perceived their teacher as less directive. There was a significant difference between the three grade levels with the fourth grade pupils perceiving their teacher as more “directive” than either of the other two grade levels.

When examining grade level differences in peer perceptions it can be noted that fourth graders mere perceived as more aggressive and less withdrawn than either of the other two grade levels. To complete the analysis on peer perceptions, fifth grade pupils were seen as the least aggiessive while the sixth grade pupils were perceived as the most withdrawn of the three grade levels.

There appear to be no significant differences in grade level when children re- sponded on the self concept report. They apparently perceived themselves in a similar manner when viewing the three constructs : agressive, socially acceptable, and withdrawn. Again, there was no difference by grade level when school attitudes mere measured.

A chieveinent Looking now a t the third effect, achievement, we note that in the area of

teacher communication, lorn achievers perceived their teachers as more (‘directive.’’ Of the three achievement groups, those excelling perceived their tkacher as least ‘(directive. ”

When considering how the children were perceived by their peers, it becomes evident that the high achievers were considered the most socially acceptable, with the low achievers rating the least socially acceptable role. The low achievers were also considered by their peers as the most withdrawn and the medium achievers were looked upon as the least withdrawn.

In the area of the self-concept, i.e. how the children perceived themselves, i t can be noted that only with the “withdrawn” construct is there a difference evi- denced betwcen the three achievement groups. In this instance, the low achievers perceived themselves as the most withdrawn. The medium achievers saw themselves as the least withdrawn of the three groups. Interestingly enough, this pattern is the identical one we noted when the children’s peers rated each other on the withdrawn construct.

There was no differentiation on the three achievement levels when the children are asked to respond about their attitudes toward school. Apparently whether the child is achieving in school or not, his attitude toward the school is not appreciably different than the child who is achieving.

IMPLICATIONS The exploratory nature of the present study makes i t imperative that implica-

tions focus on questions which require additional research rather than focusing on specific recommendations for classroom practices. Certainly, a number of questions may be raised. Some concern the differences rcported between the perceptions of boys and those of girls. Sevciitecn of the eighteen teachers in this study were women; all were beginning teachers. Do boys in classes taught by men also perceive their teachers as morc directive tlian girls? Are some of these differences attributable to thc fact that these teachers wcrc young bcginncrs in the profession? Will these

46 JOHN ANTES, DAN ANDERSEN, AND M. VERE DE VAULT

differences follow their efforts throughout their careers? These and other questions must be raised, investigated, and partially resolved if we are to improve the class- room environment boys perceive.

It is interesting to note the decreased directiveness perceived by students in upper grades. In other yet unpublished data of the project, the ideal teacher of primary grade pupils was found to be more directive than that of the intermediate grade pupils. Have we not oftentimes thought of permissiveness as increasingly necessary in the lower grades? How is the role of increased ability to accept re- sponsibility for one’s behavior in the upper grades related to children’s perceptions of their actual and ideal teacher?

In keeping with much that we know about the manner in which most school environments are designed for the middle achievement groups, the middle achieve- ment pupils in this study were perceived both by self and peers as less withdrawn than either the low or high achievement groups. To what extent are tendencies to become withdrawn related to the general “middle” focus of the curriculum and in- structional practices of teachers? How permanent are these withdrawn tendencies? Are they greater in the classes of some teachers than others? Do children in classes grouped by achievement level show similar tendencies?

Finally, we should like to raise the question of the extent to which individual teachers recognize perception differences among pupils in their classes. When teach- ers are aware of individual differences in their classes, how able are they to provide classroom social-emotional climates conducive to greater mental health on the part of all pupils?

REFERENCES COMBS, A. W., & SNYGG, D. Individual behavior: a perceptual approach to behavior. New York:

Harper, 1959. HAVIGHURST, R. J., DEHANN, R. F., DIETERICH, W. J., HACKAMACK, H., JOHNSON, LAVONA, & KING,

R. 1). A community youth development program. Supplementary Educational Monographs, 1952, 59, KO. 75.

LEWIS, W. W. The construct validation of a reputation test. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1959.

MITCHELL, J. The factor analysis of a “guess-who” questionnaire designed to identify significant behavior patterns in children. Journal of Personality, 1956, 24, 376-386.

WITHALL, d. The development of a technique for the measurement of social-emotional climate in classrooms. Journal of Experimental Education, 1949, 17, 347-361.