The structure and quality of classroom interaction and the ways in which children learn how to interact appropriately was the initial focus of the research and field work described in this paper. The site was a kindergarten/first grade class in a suburban Boston Title I elementary school with many students from second and third generation…

An investigation of the interaction patterns of Polynesian and Pakeha (New Zealanders of European extraction) children and teachers in school and play areas of Auckland, New Zealand was undertaken to discover possible ethnic differences in modes of social interaction relevant to learning. Observations of children (ages 2 to 11) and their…

The study examined leadership in schools as interaction between principals and teachers. The leadership process was conceptualized as the exercise of influence. The concept of ascriptive status was utilized to describe women as atypical and men as typical principals. Teachers responded to protocols depicting leader influence and cultural status.…

This intensive longitudinal study of mother-infant interaction during the first year of life focuses on the development of attachment. Data on 26 middle-class families were collected by five methods: (1) naturalistic observation of each mother-infant pair during 4-hour home visits, which occurred at 3-week intervals from the infants' 3rd to 54th…

This study was one of four designed to develop the methodological, measurement, and research strategies necessary to begin to define, analyze, and understand cooperative behavior among 4- to 6-year-old children in educational settings. Subjects were 30 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds in a kindergarten program. Each of the 30 children was observed for a…

This paper presents two studies of the development of social competencies in infancy. In the first experiment, the central issue investigated was whether facial configuration or height is utilized by infants to respond differentially to children and adults. Five different strangers, a male and a female child, a male and a female adult, and a small…

The general purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of education or common schooling upon the attitudes of high school students who are socialized in tribal societies and who belong to different sociocultural groups within the total society. The specific problem is to conceptualize the independent variables which can be considered to…

In this study, the status ordering of a four-man group working on a task requiring discussion and decision was predicted on the basis of status characteristic theory. Two of the group members were white; two were black. They were matched as to age, height, and also on a combined index of socioeconomic status and attitude toward school. The…

This paper proposes the establishment of subsystems such as legitimized committees or departments to prepare school organizations for innovation and to make the transition to a changed mode of operation smoother. The subsystems are to be primarily composed of school district personnel attempting new patterns of action. The district subsystems…

The expanding complexities of American society and the demands placed upon educating American youth are causing the trainers of teachers to give increasing attention to developing innovative methods for improving teacher education. Since there is a lack of information concerning cognitive processes in the classroom and the effects of cognitive…

This book is devoted to a systems analysis of the teaching process in a single slum school classroom in which the teacher was a participant-observer researcher. The research approach used in the study is termed the "microethnography of the classroom" and is derived from social and behavioral theory. Chapters are devoted to the methodology of this…

This preliminary report discusses a study designed to test whether improved organizational problem solving could be produced in a school faculty by training in interpersonal communication skills. The training intervention, in a junior high school, used exercises designed to increase awareness of interpersonal and organizational processes. Rather…

A number of characteristics distinguish human relations or sensitivity training from other forms of experience-based education, including learning goals, desired outcomes, and assumptions about the learning process. Although research evidence on the effectiveness of human relations training is ambiguous, due to difficulties of research design and…

This summary report to the families of the subject children involved in the Pre-School Project outlines in a non-technical manner the methods and category systems used to examine the information gathered and to interpret the findings drawn from the data. The two major interests of the Pre-School Project were: (1) the moment-to-moment experience of…

This paper is concerned with issues related to reasons why some early childhood intervention programs may not have lived up to expectations. By intervention is meant the introduction of planned programing deliberately timed and arranged in order to alter the anticipated or projected course of development. Although an intervention program should be…