CHAPTER II
FLANDERS INTERACTION ANALYSIS CATEGORY SYSTEM
AND CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF PERSONALITY TRAITS
The problem of the present research is involving a
study of classroom behaviour of teacher-trainees having
different personality traits.
The twenty two dimensions of
teaching behaviour according to Flanders Interaction Category
System as dependent variables and the twelve personality
factors as independent variables are accepted for the study
of teacher-trainees regarding classroom behaviour.
This chapter is divided into txiro sections :
(a)
Flanders
(b)
Conceptual Aspects of Personality
2.1 (a)
Interaction Analysis C at egory System;
and
Flanders Interaction Analysis Category System (FIACS)
This (FIACS) technique was developed by Dr. Ned A.
Flander at the university of Minnesota between 1955 and
I960.
It is an observation technique which records class­
room interaction in ten categories.
This system measures
only the verbal behaviour of teachers.
This tool which is
developed by Dr. Ned A. Flanders related children's attitudes
to patterns of teacher influence.
Interaction analysis is
primarily concerned wi th analyzing the influence patterns
of the teacher, and distinguishes those acts of the teacher
which increase pupils' freedom of action from those acts
22
that decrease it.
The system of categories forms a screen
in front of observer's eyes so that those acts which result
in compliance are sharply separated from those that invite
more creative and voluntary participation while certain
aspects of subject matter are ignored.
2.1.1
Description of Categories
In the Flanders ten category system all the events
that occur in the classroom are classified into three major
sections:
(1) Teacher-talk,
or confusion.
(2) Student-talk,
(3) Silence
These sections are subdivided in order to
make the total pattern of teacher pupil interaction more
meaningful.
Teacher talk is divided into two sub-heads
viz., indirect influence and direct influence.
Indirect
influence consists of four observation categories :
(l)
accepting feeling;
(2) praising or encouraging; (3) accept­
ing ideas, and
asking questions.
(k)
Direct influence is
divided into three categories (5) lecturing (6) giving
directions, and (7) criticizing or justifying authority.
Student talk consists of only twl categories;
(8)
responding to teacher, and (a) initiating talk, and last
category which is silence or confusion, used to handle
anything else that is not teacher or student talk.
23
2.1.2
Indirect Teacher Behaviour
Category 1 s Acceptance of Feelings
"The teacher accepts feelings when he says : he
understands how the children feel, that they have the right
to have these feelings, and that he will not punish the
children for their feelings.
These kind of statements often
communicate to children both acceptance and clarification of
the feeling.
Also included in this category are statements
that recall past feeling, refer to enjoyable or uncomfortable
feelings that are present, or predict happy or sad events
that will occur in the future.
Category 2 s Praise or Encouragement
Included in this category are jokes that release
tension,
hit not those that threaten students or are made
at the expense of individual students.
single word
Often praise is a
: "good", "fine", or "right11.
Sometimes the
teacher simply says, "I like what you are doing". Encourage­
ment is slightly different and includes statements such as
"Continue".
"Go ahead with what you are saying", "Uh,
huh; go on; tell us more about your idea".
Category 3 J Accepting Ideas
This category is quite similar to category 1; however,
it includes only acceptance of student i deas and not
acceptance of expressed emotion. When a student makes a
2k
suggestion* the teacher may paraphrase the student's
statement, restate the idea more simply* or summarize what
the student has said.
The teacher may also say, "Well,
that1s an interesting point of view. I see what you mean."
It is rather difficult to understand category 3, but the
teacher has to shift the idea of the pupil.
Category k : Asking Questions
This category includes only questions to which the
teacher expects an answer from the pupils.
Questions that
are meant to be a swered are of several kinds.
right or wrong answer of the question.
There is a
Questions can be
very broad and give the student a great deal of freedom in
answering,
2.1.3
Direct Teacher Behaviour
Category 5 : Lecture
Lecture is the form of verbal interaction that is
used to give information, facts, opinions, or ideas to
children. The presentation of material may be used to
introduce, review, or focus the attention of the class on
an important topic. Whenever the teacher is explaining,
discussing, opining or giving facts or information,
category 5 is used.
25
Category 6 s Giving Directions
The decision about whether or not to classify the
statement as a direction or command must be based on the
degree of freedom that the student has in response to
teacher “direction.
Category 7 : Criticizing or Justifying .Authority
A statement of criticise-
is one that is designed to
change student behaviour from nonacceptable to acceptable.
If the teacher is explaining himself or his authority,
defending himself against the student or justifying himself,
the statement falls in this category.
2.1.4
Student Behaviour
Category 8 t Student Talk ; Response
This category is used when the teacher has initiated
the contact or has solicited student-statements, when the
student answers a question asked by the teacher, or when he
responds verbally to a direction the teacher has given.
Category 9 : Student Talk t Initiation
In general, if the student raises his hand to make a
statement or to ask a question when he has not been prompted
to do so by the teacher, the appropriate category is 9.
26
2.1*5
Other Behaviour
Category 10
i
Silence or Confusion
This category includes anything else not included in
the other categories.
Periods of confusion in communication
when it is difficult to determine who is talking, are classi
fied in this category.
2.2
1
Procedure for Categorizing Teacher -Pupi 1 Interaction
The Flanders system of interaction analysis was
originally used as a research tool and continues to serve
this function.
To record classroom behaviour, the observer
sits comfortatoly at a vantage point in the classroom from
where he can see conveniently and hear the students and the
teacher. He listens to the communication, decides category
that best represents the particular communication event and
writes down the relevant category number simutaneously
assessing the continuing communications.
Every three
seconds the observer writes down the category number of the
interaction he has just observed.
It is important to keep
the tempo as steady as possible, but it is even more crucial
to be accurate.
He may use a tape recording for his
observations.
1.
Edmond, J. Amidon and John, B. Hough: (Eds.)
Interaction Analysis : Theory, Research and Applica­
tion. Addison Wesley Publishing Company, London:
1967. pp. 121 to 124.
27
A
The observ^stops classifying whenever the classroom
activity is changed so that observing is inappropriate as
for instance, when there are various groups urorking around
the classroom, or xtfhen children are working on work books
or doing silent reading.
He will usually draw a line under
the recorded numbers, make a note of the new activity, and
resume categorizing when the total class discussion continues.
At all times the observer notes the kind of class activity
he is observing.
2.3
Recording Data in a Matrix
Frequency of occurrence of different categories can
be obtained by mere tallying.
But more information can be
obtained from a 10 x 10 matrix.
The preparation of the
matrix according to Flanders follows the folloxidng steps:
Step 1 : Add 10 in the beginning and in the end of the
series of observations, if not there.
Step XX
:
The observations are paired. In forming pairs
of observations, each number is used twice, excepting the
first and the last observations.
The second number of the
first pair forms the first number of the second pair, the
second number of the second pair forms the first number of
third pair, and so on. The pairs will look like :
__ l_i
10
4___ 8
2
3
8_
__ 5__
2
*T”
5
__ 7__
5
5“
5
%
5“"
9
11
~8
3
10
5___ 5
12
13
9___ 10
nr
28
There are l4 failles. The fourteen tallies form
fourteen pairs of observations.
Step TXT
: Tabulating Interaction Analysis Matrix
The tabulation of the matrix follows a convention,
&
whereby the first number of any pair designates the r^Lw
and the second number designates the column.
This way, all
the 100 cells in 10 x 10 matrix have their respective
addresses.
Table 2*1 &ives addresses of each of the cells.
“Once observations have been grouped into pairs,
the pairs can be transferred to the matrix according to
their respective cell addresses as shown in the following
Table 2.1. It is better, if more space is provided to
the categories 3»^ »^58^'and 9 in rows as well as columns, as
these categories usually carry higher frequencies than
others and consequently form more pairs. The pairs formed
in this section can be transferred to the eells in Table".
2
M.B, Bich (Ed.): Studies in Teaching and Teacher
Behaviour, CASE, Baroda.University, Baroda, 1975.
pp. 12 i-’ l6.
2
29
Table 2,1
Cell Address in a 10x10 Matrix
C at e-■ l
gory
i-i
1
4
3
2
6
5
8
7
10
9
Total
Rox«
1-3
1-4
1-5
1-6
1-f
1-8.
1-9
1-10
2-3
2-4
2-5
2-6
2-7
2-8
2-9
2-10
3393 3394
3-5
3-6
3-7
3-8
3-9
3-10
1-2
2
2-1
2-2
3
3-1
3-2
4
4-1
4-2
4-3
4-4
4-5
4-6
4-7
4-8
4-9
4-10
5
5-1
5-2
5-3
5-4
5-5
5-6
5-7
5-8.
5-9
5-10
6
6-1
6-2
6-3
6-4
6-5
6-6
6-7
6-8
6-9
6-10
7
77-1
7-2
7-3
7-4
7-5
7-6 v 7-7
7-8
7-9
7-10
8
8-1
8-2
8-3
8-4
8-5
8-6
8-7
8-8
8-9
8-10
9
9-1
9-2
9-3
9-4
9-5
9-6
9-7
9-8
9-9
9-10
10
10-1 1-2
Total
Column
10-4 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-9 10-10
Total
Matrix
X0
C st 0“ 1
2
Table 2.2
Tabulation of the l4 pai r s
4
8
3
7
5
b
9
10
Total
gory
1
2
-
a
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
-
-
a
1
Ill
-
a
a
3
-
■ -
1
-
-
1
-
11
-
2
-
-
1
5
-
6
7
Bi
9
10
Total
a
1
MB
-
a
1
a
1
1
1
■-
2
5
a
-
a
-
1
a
a
3
a
1
a
a
a
a
3
1
l
The fourteen pairs entered into this matrix are given on
page-iy
*
1
1
14
30
2.4
Computation of Classroom Interaction Variables^
The meaning and the significance of the interaction
variables be taken up in the section on "Int erection Pattsrna
in Indian Classrooms".
has been given*
Here only computational procedure
The interaction patterns given below are
computed from the 10x10 interaction matrix.
(1)
PIT
Percent Teacher Talk
(Categories 1+2+3+4+5+6+7) x 100
Total of all categories
(2)
Percent Pupil Talk
PPf
(Categories 8+9) x 100
Total of all categories
(3)
Teacher Response Ratio .....
1
(4)
TRR
(Categories 1*2+3) x 100
, (Categories 1r2+ 3+ 6+7)
Instantaneous Teacher Response Ratio
TRRjjQ
■wav™.*
C
A
C
D
H
*
o
+ +
(5)
po
(Cells(8.-1)+(8-2)+(8.3)+(9-1)+(9-2)+(9-3) xl00
*7)+ (9-1) +
Teacher Question Ratio .....
-6) + ( 9-7)
TOR
(Category 4) x 100
(Category-*5+5")
(6)
Instantaneous Teacher Question Ratio
TQRgg
(Cells (8-4)+(<?-4) x 100
(Cells jg-4)+(6-5)+(9-4)+(9-5)
3*
M.g, Buch (Rd.) s Studies in Teaching and Teacher
Behaviour, CASE, Barodas 1975, pp. 13-14.
31
(7)
Pupil Initiation Ratio ...
PIR
(Category 9ft x 100
(Category 9+8^
(8)
Pupil Steady State Ratio ....
FSSR
(Cells (8-8)+ ( 9-9 ) x.100
Total of categories 8 and 9
(9)
Steady State Ratio ...
SSR
(Total 10 diagonal cells) x 100
Total of all categories
(10)
Content Cross Ratio ....
CCR
(Categories 4+5)xl00
Total of categories
(11)
Indirect/lJirect Ratio
X/d
(Categories l+2+3+^)
Cat egori es l+6+ 7 )
(12)
Revised Xndir ect Ratio ...
Uirect
i /d
(Categories l+2+3)
Categories 6+7)
2.5
Significance of TRR , T®R, PIE, TRRg^
S5R , PSSR , PTT ,~TpTT~i7TTand~i /d 4
Teacher Response Ratio (TRR)
TQRgcj, CCR,
’
:
Teacher Response Ratio indicates the teacher*s tendency
to react to the ideas and feelings of the students.
The
ratio provides an index of the emotional climate in the
4.
Ned A. Flanders^ Analyzing Teaching Behaviour,
Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 197 0. PP. 87 -Tv
123.
32
classroom.
The corresponding value of TSR norm given by
Flanders is 42.
The responsiveness of the Indian Teacher
is higher than the American Teacher.
Teacher Question Ratio (TQR)
This ratio, as the nomenclature indicates, points to
the tendency of the teacher, to ask questions during the
more content oriented part of the class discussion.
TQR
is 26 for an American Teacher according to Flanders.
Pupil Initiation Ratio (PIR)
Pupil Initiation Ratio indicates the proportion of
pupil talk, "judged to be an act of initiation". PIR has a
norm of 34 according to Flanders.
Instantaneous Teacher Response Ratio (TRRgg)
Instantaneous Teacher Response Ratio is "the tendency
of the teacher to praise or integrate pupil ideas and
feelings into the class discussion, at the moment
stop talking".
(Flanders, 19?0s 104). TRRgg
rooms under study was found to be 74.97®
normative expectation of about 60. '
the pupils
in Indian Class­
It is above the
33
Instantaneous Teacher Question Ratio (TQRg^)
Instantaneous Teacher Question Ratio indicates the
tendency of the teacher to respond to student talk with
questions based on his own ideas instead of lecture.
In
Indian classrooms, the ratio worked out to be 50*27.
The
corresponding American normative value of TQRg^ is about
Content Cross Ratio (QOS)
Content? Cross Ratio indicates the emphasis given to
the content coverage during classroom transactions.
The CCjR
in Indian Classrooms worked out to be 59 which is close to
the American normative expectation of 55.
Steady State Ratio (SSR)
The Steady State Ratio reflects the tendency of teacher
and, pupil talk to remain in the same category for periods
longer than 3 seconds.
The average of SSR is around 50.
Pupil Steady State Ratio (PSSR)
Pupil Steady State Ratio indicates the index for
tea cher behafiour and student behaviour respectively.
The
3h
higher the SSR, or PSSR , the less rapid will be the transi­
tion in classroom behaviour of teachers and students. The
PSSR is averaged around 35 to 40*
Percent Teacher Talk (PTT)
In consists the verbal interaction which is used by
/
the teacher in the classroom, that is, from the category 1 to
7 are the useful interaction.
In Indian Classrooms and
American norms are the same : 68.
Percent Pupil Talk (PPT)
It consists the category 8 and 9.
It is a verbal
interaction towards the teacher's question attitude. There
is norm of American 20 but in Indian Classroom i k* was found
19.
Indirec t /pi rect Ratio and Revised i/d Ratio
The teachers are very much direct in their talk it
is called i/d ratio.
freedom more.
Indirect influence gives the pupils
If the teacher speaks less and let the pupils
speak more in the response of. the teacher's work the i/d
ratio will give more response to the students.
A Revised
i/d Ratio is employed in order to find out the kind of
emphasis given and motivation and control in a particular
classroom. This ratio eleminates the effects of categories
4 & 6, asking questions and lecturing, and gives evidence
/
35
about whether the teacher is direct or indirect in his
approach to motivation and control.
Table 2.3 below summarises the various ratios discuss­
ed above along with the corresponding American norms given
biy Flanders (1970).
Table 2.3
Interaction Ratios in Indian and American
Classrooms.5
5.
M»B.
Wo.
Interaction
Variables
Indian
Classrooms
1
PTT
68
68
2
PPT
19
20
3
Silence/
Confusion
13
11 or 12
4
TER
55.42
42
5
THR89
74.97
60
6
TQR
16.32
2b
7
tQR89
50.27
44
8
PIR
11
34
9
PSSR
47
35-40
10
SSR
63
50
11
CCR
59
55
American
Norms
(Approximate)
Bich. Op. cifc., p, 22.
i|
O
36
2.6 (b)
Conceptual Aspects of Personality
Personality, of course, is not a veneer that can be
applied to a person by himself or by any one else, nor some­
thing he can turn on or off like on electric:current. Persona
lity has its roots in physical health, emotions, intelligence
knowledge, and ideals.
It is the sum of a person's total
capacities and developed should be healthy, intelligent and
very diligent.
He should have knowledge and ideals also.
So it is required for the society that there should he welladjusted teachers.
Poorly adjusted teachers cannot be
useful to the society. So it is necessary to inquiry about
the concept of personality.
2.6.1
The Meaning of Personality
The word personality probably had its origin in the
Latin verb PERSONARE which means to SOUND THROUGH.
This
term was used to describe the voice of an actor speaking
through a mask. At first the term PEESONA referred directly
to the mask worn by actors.
Later it came to be applied
to the actors themselves. During earlj' Roman times, then,
personality was regarded as constituting what a person
seemed to be.
2.6.2
Various Definitions of Personality
The term personality has no standard meaning. There
are so many definitions for it. Some of the better known
attempts defining personality are presented below :
37
"Personality is that which makes one effective, or
gives one influence over others.
In the language of psy­
chology it is one's social stimulus value".^
"A ma ris personality is the total picture of his
organised behaviour, especially as it can be characterised
by his fell ow men in a consistent way*1,'7
According to Allport, "Personality is the dynamic
organisation within the individual of those psycho-physical
systems that determines his unique adjustment to his environ­
ment".8
Cat tell said, "Personality is that whi ch permits a
prediction of what a person will do in a given situation.
The goal of psychological research in personality is thus
to establish laws about what different peopld will do in
all kinds of social and general environmental situation...
Per sonality.
6.
H.A. May : The Foundations of Personality; Whittlesey
House, McGraw Hill Book Company, 1932, p. 82.
7.
J*f• dashiel: Fundamentals of General Psychology,
Houghton Mifflin Company, Bostans 1937. P> 579*
8.
&•W. Allport|
Personality. A Psychological Interpreation, London: Constable and Company Ltd. 1937»
Reprinted 1956, p. 48.
\
38
2.6*3
Empirical Studies of Traits
Woodworth said, "A trait can be thought of as a
behaviour tendency sociability is a tendency to behave
sociably, to seek company and to participate eagerly in group
activities. Assendance is a tendency to be masterful in any
situation, whether involving people or not".9
Psychologists usually define a trait as a mode of
behaviour. Allport believes that traits are "dynamic and
flexible dispositions, resulting, at least in part, from
the integration of specific habits expressing characteristics
models of adaptation to one's surroundings.
In short, a trait of perso nality means such a distinc­
tive character of a person's thoughts, feelings and actions
/
as marks him off from other persons.
According to Ross Stagner, "... certain traits are
readily observables
they appear in interpersonal contacts,
in one's xvay of doing a job, in responses to questionnaires.
These may be represented as being close to the surface of
the personality.
They are likely to be readilj' modifiable
under environmental pressure.
Jt seems appropriate to
follow CATTELb (1945) in designating them as surface traits.
9.
Robert S. Woodworths Psychology., Methuen & Go. Ltd.
London: 194-5, p. 159.
10.
G-. W. Allport, Op. ci t. , p, 49.
39
Cheerfulness, liveliness* and quarrelsomeness would be apt.
If
example",
Difference between the Surface Traits and Source traits
of Personality by &.B« Cattell.^
Source traits may be thought of as understanding
structures, expressed not directly but the medium of the
surface traits.
For example, we might think of a general
reactivity to social stimuli, lending unity to the apparent
inconsistency of a man who is above average on both friendly
and quarrelsome behaviour. This might also explain the
observation by Murphy (1937) that the children in her group
who were most often sympathetic were likewi se most often
agreesive in their relations to playmates. Source traits,
of course may be either common or unique, as may surface
traits.
How many surface traits there are, and how many source
traits, cannot be definitely stated,
Allport add Odbert
counted 17, 953 trait names in English, but many of these
were synonymus and others represented temperory/ rather
than permanent trends.
H ,B. Cafctell (19^5), making an
11.
Hess Stagner : Psychology of Personality 3rd Edition,
McGraw Hill Book Company , Inc., New York: 1961,
pp. 163
165,
12.
Tbid
40
exhaustive study of ratings, found, a total of 131
"phenomental clusters", or common traits.
These grouped
themselves readily into 50 "nuclear clusters" of related
traits, which itt turn could
be arranged in 20 "sectors
of the personality sphere".
Catfcell believes that he has effectively covered
the personality sphere with these 20 sectors : i.e. he
believes that any surface traits will be found to fit
snugly into one or another sector.
A source trait however,
might underline several sectors.
Among the major source traits reported by Cat tell
(1957) are cyclothymid versus schizothymia, ego strength
versus proneness to neurolicism, excitability, insecurity,
dominance verses submissive, surgency (cheerful, energetic,
sociable) versus desurgency, superego strength, and several
others less clearly defined.
The schizothyme factor is
characterized by such surface traits as obstructive, contankerous, rigid, secretive, suspicious, cautious; on the
other end, of course, bty easy going, warm hearted, frank,
trustful, impulsive.
It seems plausibte that there is some
common thread running through each group of surface traits,
whi ch is precisely what Cattell is arguing.
He is not: sure
4i
what this common thread is, but suggests that it may have
an innate basis, may involve frustration tolerance (the
cyclothymes having more tolerance), and may also relate
to ability to abandon habits which are not successful, We
can also suggest particularly in the and phase of development on this dimension,
2,6.^
What a Good Personality is
To understand this,
the interpretation of the words
good, desirable, and well -ad justed needs consideration.
Goodness may seem to have an ethical or moral significance
that would remove it from the vocabulary of the psychologist
interested primarily in attempting to explain human behaviour
rather than to
pass judgement upon it. The term desirable
and well-adjusted have a social connection, depending upon
the standard set by society concerning what may be consi­
dered desirable or when a person is well adjusted.
Second, if personality is regarded not as an isolated
entity but an integration of traits or qualities, it
cannot be evaluated except in so far as observed behaviour
may seem to give evidence of the consistency of this or
that trait,
R,B. Cattell collected from 2Q8 directors, inspectors,
head and assistant teachers and others tests of traits which
they regarded as important in a TEACHER and boiled them down
42
into 22 major categories given here in order of frequency
of mention:
1.
Confidence, leadership
2.
intelligence
3.
id ealism
4.
general culture
5.
kindness, friendliness
6.
enthusiasm
7.
knowledge of psychology and padogogy
8.
classroom technique
9.
persuance
10.
self control (stability marals)
li.
enterprise, courage, adventure
12.
sympathy and fact
13.
openmindedness, fairness
l4.
sense,of humour and cheerfulness
15.
orderliness
16.
knowledge of subjects
17.
outside interest
18.
physical health
19.
presence (appearance and voice)
20.
alert mind, inquiring, critical
21.
social fitness, manners, and
22.
conservation, respect for tradition.
43
Looking to the above major categories the investigator
decided to use the l6 P».F« Scale by Cat tell and the
extrovert and introvert measuring inventory by Dr. A.S.
Patel to measure personality traits possessed by the
teachers to be included in the sample.