The development of the classroom social climate during the first months of the school year

• Published in: Contemporary educational psychology 2011-07, Vol.36 (3), p.190-200
• Main Authors: Tim Mainhard, M., Brekelmans, Mieke, Brok, Perry den, Wubbels, Theo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Classroom Environment; Classroom observation; Classroom social climate; Classrooms; Comparative Analysis; Deviation; Educational psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; High School Students; Interpersonal perception; Investigations; Longitudinal analysis; Miscellaneous; Multilevel analysis; Perceptions; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Schools; Social climate; Social Environment; Social psychology; Student Attitudes; Student perceptions; Teacher behavior; Teachers
• ISSN: 0361-476X; 1090-2384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2010.06.002

In this study the mean stability of classroom social climates during the first months of the school year and the deviation of individual classrooms ( N = 48) and students ( N = 1208) from this general trend were investigated by taping students’ interpersonal perceptions of their teachers. Multilevel growth modeling was used to identify the average development of the classroom social climate and between classroom and student differences in terms of this development. While significant differences between classrooms and students were found, these differences were rather stable over time. Most classrooms showed a slightly u-shaped trajectory. In only very few classrooms the quality of the social climate had increased at the end of the research period as compared to the very first lesson. Differences in the development between classrooms were associated to the emotional distance between teacher and students during the first lesson of the school year.