Scott Gest, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
College of Health and Human Development
Penn State
Teacher Management of Classroom Social Dynamics in Elementary School:
Opportunities for Professional Development & Intervention
Presentation Abstract
In this talk I describe emerging results from a longitudinal study of teachers
and students in 1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-grade classrooms. In each classroom,
assessments were obtained three times during a single school year. We focused
on three aspects of classroom social dynamics: social status (who is
popular/liked/influential and who is not), friendships, and aggression/
victimization. For each domain, we measured the degree to which teachers
were "attuned" to the actual patterns reported by peers, and the strategies
teachers reported using to manage these dynamics. We identified a number of
associations between teacher attunement and strategy use and changes over
the school year in students' perceptions of classroom relationships, achievement
motivation, and levels of aggression. Based on interviews with teachers and
their reports about how they think about these issues (e.g., how important are
social dynamics? how do you learn about them?), we identify several avenues
for potential professional development and intervention efforts.