discussed. Nwerous concepts about interaction in the classroom along

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DOCUMENT RESUME
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AUTHOR
Schmuck, Richard A.; Schmuck, Patricia A.
Group Processes in the Classroom, Second Edition.
TITLE
PUB DATE
75
NOTE
229p.
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DESCRIPTORS
Change Strategies; Classroom Communication;
*Classroom Research; Elementary Secondary Education;
Expectation; Group Behavior; *Group Dynamics;
Inservice Teacher Education; Interaction; Leadership;
Norms; *Peer Groups; Peer Relationship; *Student
Behavior; Student Development; *Teacher Behavior;
Teacher Education
ABSTRACT
How the processes of group interaction combine to
help or hinder cognitive and affective learning in the classroom is
discussed. Nwerous concepts about interaction in the classroom along
with the available research on those concepts expressed in practical
terms are presented. Implications for teachers are emphasized. The
book is designed to be used by preservice teachers in their
curriculum, instruction, or educational psychology courses and by
experienced teachers in in-service training sessions. Chapter one
lays the groundwork for the rest of the book by offering a social
psychological perspective on classroom group processes. Chapter two
discusses an overview of group processes including its history,
current social movements, the sequential stages of development, and
the school organization. The topic of expectations is treated in
chapter three. How expectations develop, teacher expectations and
studenc performance, implications for teachers, and action ideas for
change are examined. Leadership and attraction are the topics of
chapters four and five respectively. Discussions of Lhe bases of
influence, flexible leadership, and classroom liking patterns and
their effects on Academic performance are included. Chapters six,
seven, eight, and nine deal with norms, communication, cohesiveness,
and sequential stages of development. The book concludes with a
chapter on school organization. (Author/RM)
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EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY.
Group Processes
in the
Classroom
Second Edition
Richard A. Schmuck
Patricia A. Schmuck
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON/EUGENE, OREGON
WM. C. BROWN COMPANY PUBLISHERS
Dubuque. Iowa
2
Publishers
Copyright 1971, 1975 by Wm. C. Brown Company
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-78454
ISBN 0-697-06089-6
reproduced, stored
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
by any means,
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any farm or
otherwise, without
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Second Printing, 1976
Printed in the United States of America
3
TO Bob Fox AND AGALN TO Ron Lippitt
4
Contents
xi
List of Figures
xiii
Preface
1
Basic Concepts
1
The Importance of Group Processes / 1
Classroom Life / 3
The Class as a Croup / 5
Group Dynamics Theory / 11
Group Dynamics Theory and the Classroom / 16
19
2 Group Processes: An Overview
History / 19
Current Social Movements / 22
Classroom Climate / 23
Expectations / 25
Leadership / 27
Attraction / 28
Norms / 29
Communication / 30
Cohesiveness / 31
Sequential Stages of Development / 32
The Sch9o1 Organization / 32
5
vii
/
Contents
viii
37
Expectations
3
Achievement, Power, and Affiliation / 37
Expectations and Interpersonal Relations / 39
Self-Expectations / 43
How Expectations Develop / 45
The Circular Interpersonal Process / 51
Teacher Expectations and Student Performance / 55
Implications for Teachers / 59
Action Ideas for Change / 60
64
Leadership
4
Functional Leadership / 65
Bases of Influence / 66
Attempting Leadership / 71
Interpersonal Influence / 74
Coal-Directed Influence / 76
Flexible Leadership / 77
Practical Issues for Classroom Leadership / 78
Individual Control and Responsibility / 79
Croup Control and Responsibility / 80
Implications for Teachers / 81
Action Ideas for Change / 82
89
Attraction
5
Antecedents to Liking / 90
Personal Resources as Antecedents to Liking / 94
The Circular Interpersonal Process / 95
Some Bases of Attraction /
Classroom Liking Patterns / 102
104
Effects of Classroom Liking Patterns on Academic Performance
Teacher Behavior and Classroom Liking Patterns / 105
Implications for Teachers /
106
107
Action Ideas for Change
111
6 Norms
The Nature of Norms / 113
Individual Reactions to Group Norms / 120
jackson's Model for Norms / 124
Peer Croup Norms and Academic Performance / 127
Norms and the Evaluation of Performance / 130
Implications for Teac--ers / 132
133
Action Ideas for Change
6
/
Contents
ix
136
Communication
7
Commtmication as Symbolic Interaction / 136
Communication as Reciprocal Process / 137
Miscommunication / 139
Levels of Communication / 141
Communication Patterns / 142
Communication Skills / 149
Closing the, Communication Gap / 151
Implications for Teachers / 151
Action Ideas for Change / 152
156
Cohesiveness
8
Cohesion and Other Group Processes / 157
Luft's Model of Interpersonal Behavior / 160
Types of Classroom Cohesiveness 7 161
Diagnosing Classroom Cohesiveness 7 163
Implications for Teachers / 164
Actions Ideas for Change / 164
168
Sequential Stages of Development
9
Theories of Group Development / 170
A Practical Guide to Group Development / 177
The School Organization
188
10
External Organizational Characteristics / 189
Internal Organizational Processes / 196
Consultation in Organization Development / 200
Major Stages of Organization Development / 208
211
Index
7
List of Figures
Examples of Classroom Goals
FIGURE 1.1.
10
Circular Interpersonal Process
FIGURE 3.1.
52
Positive Cycle of Interpersonal Relations
53
FIGURE 3.2.
Negatk e Cycle of Interpersonal Relations
54
FIGURE 3.3.
Observation Sheet for Goal-Directed Leadership
FIGURE 4.1.
(Elementuy )
85
Observation Sheet for Goal-Directed Leadership
FIGURE 4.2.
(Secondary)
86
Types of Classroom Norms
FIGURE 6.1.
113
Behavioral Dimensions of Times Participating
FIGURE 6.2.
125
Norm Incongruence
FIGURE 6.3.
128
Reciprocal Communication Process
FIGURE 7.1.
139
Geometric Patterns Used in One-Way
FictmE 7.2.
Two-Way Communication Activity
146
Leavitt's Four Communication Structures
FIGURE 7.3.
148
Observation Sheet for Communication Skills
FIGURE 7.4.
153
Relationship Between Cohesiveness and Performance
FIGURE 8.1.
159
Johari Model of Awareness in Interpersonal
FIGURE 8.2.
Relations
161
How f Feel About This Class
FIGURE 8.3.
165
xi
8
Preface
While we were revising the iirst edition of this book, our son arrived
home after the first day of his kindergarten class to report that the
teacher really was not a teacher after all. He made his observation this
way, "She said that we -yere all the teachers and she would help us teach
one another." The words of our son's kindergarten teacher succcinctly
summed up one of our own perspectives on teaching and learning. Stu-
dents learn from the myriad of interpersonal stimulations and challenges
that occur within the classroom. Teaching is not only carried out by the
adult who is designated formally as teacher. A great deal of teaching and
learning takes place within the interplay of the peer group.
From our point of view, classroom learning constitutes a transactional
process, involving the exchange of a school curriculum between teachers
and students and among the students. Thus, teaching and learning trans-
actions are particular kinds of interpersonal relationships. How students
experience the curriculum is influenced, not only by their relationships
with the teacher, but also through their contacts with peers. The teacher
typically has been singled out as the most influential classroom partici-
pant since he or she is formally charged with presenting the curriclum
In contrast, we focus
and with improving interpersonal relationships.
here on the classroom as a group which includes the teacher as a mem-
ber, not as a group with the teacher as a separate participant.
The prevailing historical model of putting greatest emphasis on the
teacher has led to certain blind spots among educators. It has promoted
a way of viewing the classroom as if it were composed of two-person
unitsthe teacher and individual student in interaction. The history of
9
xiv /
Preface
this model contains two phases that have been described by Glick° The
first phase led to research on the relationships of teachers personality
characteristics to the achievement or attitudes of students. This research,
on the whole, came to no useful conclusions. The second phase took a
major step forward by researching teachers' behavior rather than their
personality characteristics. It is our aim in this book to contribute to
the development described by Glick by focusing upon a third phase,
that of bringing together recent research on teacher behavior and the
theories and research of social psychology and group dynamics.
Glick has proposed the term mediational model for what we have in
mind. The mediational model views the effects of a teacher's behavior
as being mediated by classroom group processes and not as occurring
in two-person units. For instance, when a teacher gives the class a di-
rection, responses to it are influenced, not only by the teacher's rela-
tionship with the students as individuals, but also by the feelings, atti-
tudes, and relationships that are shared within the peer group. Every
classroom manifests group influence of one sort or another, and whatever
the teacher does, the group gets involved in mediating that behavior for
its members.
We hope that this book will bring greater awareness of these mediating
group processes to teachers. A teacher who is aware of the group pro-
cesses in the classroom should be better able to pursue behavioral ob-
jectives. The teacher should not view peer group processes as only nui-
of the
sances or detriments to student learning. A teacher who is aware
informal interactions among peers might transform what seems to be
endless chatter into useful opportunities for learning. Awareness of the
student who is influential in the peer group, for example, can lead to
constructive use of that influence in learning. Recognizing student
strengths and using them within the group processes challenges the as-
sumption that only the teacher can help students learn.
We are not preparing this book to equip teachers with preventative
fact, teachers who
measures to foster classroom order and control. In
traditional picture of
use group processes effectively may not see the
an orderly, well-controlled classroom; rather, they may see an active
interpersonal environment in which a variety of interactions is occurring.
Group processes, whether they are visible or covert, are operating within
all classrooms. Hopefully, some knowledge about them can help the
teacher to mobilize them effectively to foster student learning.
Evidently, these points of view are rapidly picking up adherents. We
have been very pleased and encouraged by the wide use of the first
°See 0. Click, "The Educational Process in the Classroom." The School Review,
September, 1988, pp. 339-351.
1 0