Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1990, 70, 563-569.

O Perceptual and Motor Skills 1990

ASSESSMENT O F STUDENTS' BEHAVIORAL INTERACTIONS DURING ON-TASK CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES ',' HARRY MORGAN

West Georgia CoUege Summary.-This study was designed to characterize the quality and quantity of interactions between students and significant others in the processing of new information during classroom activities. I wanted to test the hypothesis that black children, from moderate to low income urban environments. tend to have a more sociallv active cognitive style than their white peers in the performance of classroom tasks. Five different Enghsh classes, all 8th graders in a single junior tugh school (total of 114 black and white boys and girls), were observed in the same environment at different intervals to identify differences in the number of interactions between boys and girls, by racial groups. Classroom lessons and related activities were videotaped. The recorded activity was tabulated and rated by 3 trained observers. Black children more than white, and boys more than girls, initiated interactions with peers in the classroom in assigned tasks. This social interaction also showed that (1) 76% of the observed classroom time, subjects as a group were observed on-task and (2) pupils' interactions with their selected targets (classmates and their teacher) were 87% positive, and (3) relatively few interactions could be classified as disruptive.

The tempo of daily urban experiences that guide the lives of children and their families is often reflected in their neighborhood school environment (Ornstein & Levine, 1989). Some schools strive to become an integral part of the total community system and support the students who approach their school work with verve and activeness. The classrooms in these urban schools tend to have more active student involvement in the daily encounters related to teaching and learning (Fiske, 1977). The popular search for excellence in education, however, suggests that the passive classrooms and the quiet corridors represent the ideal (Stephenson & Levine, 1987). It also seems true that the criteria for what is labeled a "more effective schooI" tends to negative-value the natural attributes of many black and socially interactive students (Parish, 1989; Witherspoon, 1987; Ornstein & Levine, 1989). Management strategies enacted by some administrators successfully sequester this spirit to transform their entire school population into what they label "good students." We do not know how much of the urban students' poten'I gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and suggestions of Amy Beam, the English teacher who permitted us to videotape her classes. I also acknowledge the work of William Frances, Michael Temba and Felicia Jones, gaduate students in communications at S racuse University, and Professor George McNinch and Stan Quinn of West Georgia College; aiprovided essential assistance. 'Address correspondence to H. Morgan, Early Childhood Education, West Georgia College, Carrollton, Georgia 30118.

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H. MORGAN

tial for learning is sacrificed in the name of the school being considered effective. But we do know that all students do not comply with school rules, which in their view seem unfair (Einstein, 1979; Elias, 1979; Washington Research Project, 1975). At one extreme, some of the more active students are medicated with Ritalin, and many other active students are frequently among those in trouble for expanding upon the expectations of the system (Rie, 1974; Schrag & Divoky, 1975). According to a study by the Wasl~in~ton Research Project (1975), black boys are four times as likely to be suspended from school as their white peers for similar infractions of rules. There are indications that black children as a group tend to prefer learning environments that enable social interaction of pupils and teachers. Other investigators have reported similar observations for pupils of Hispanic descent (Ramirez & Castanada, 1974; Ramirez & Price-Williams, 1974). The work of cMd development specialists and neonatal clinicians highlights some important findings relevant to this study and to the general area of cognitive styles (Kogan, 1976; Messick, 1976), as well as to the specific nature of sensorimotor development, among black children (Brazelton, et a / . , 1971; Bayley, 1965). In the area of cognitive styles it has been documented that there are approximately 12 discrete styles of processing information that all children bring to the classroom environment (Witkin, 1964; Kogan, 1976). Messick (1976) has advanced a similar but more expanded view, that learners have individualized perceptual/response peculiarities which can make them more susceptible to knowledge acquisition under certain circumstances and less so under others. This study is concerned primarily with black/white differences among public school children in Grade 8. The suggestion that thls age group of black pupils might have a more socially active style than their white peers is rooted in infant studies (Brazelton, 1971; Bayley, 1965; Williams & Scott, 1953), as well as theories of differences during school years (Morgan, 1980; Einstein, 1979; Elias, 1979). In the area of infant studies it appears that during neonatal growth periods black children are more advanced in sensorimotor activities than their white peers (Bayley, 1965). As reported by Rich (1973, p. I), T. Berry Brazelton, a Harvard pe&atrician, has suggested that black babies "are strong, they are vigorous and exciting motorically. This is a real problem for black mothers. They often equate motor activity with aggression, with things that won't be assimilated into the culture that they are trying to assimilate into themselves . . . I would like to give black mothers a feeling chat what they do is important . . . if the black mother could see the strengths of her baby, and respond to them in a way that makes the baby respond back, she would feel like a better person. If black kids could get the feeling that what they did was important early in childhood . . . that's what I'd Like to give them-a feeling of their own identity.

STUDENTS' INTERACTIONS IN CLASS

565

I t has been further documented that black infants in African and British West Indian cultures successfully encounter their sensorimotor miIestones (sitting, crawling, standing, walking, etc.) at younger ages than white ones (Ainsworth, 1967; Geber & Dean, 1957a, 1957b; Curti, Marshall, & Steggerda, 1935). It seems reasonable to suggest that culture and environment in d likelihood can account for knowledge acquisition variations, when black infants are compared to their white peers (Pasamanick, 1946; Williams & Scott, 1953). Piaget and others have suggested that active experiences during a child's first 18 months of life are critical towards acquisition of knowledge for later cognitive development. . . . m e n d development during rhe first eighteen months of life is particularly important, for it is during this time that the child constructs all the cognitive substructures that will serve for his later perceptive and intellective development . . . (Piaget, 1969, p. 3).

It was my view that an observation of pupils in a natural classroom setting would reveal a social interacting style among black learners that is measurably different from that of their white peers and that this style is observable over time, starting with the neonatal period. I selected a particular procedure and design compatible with testing the first part of this hypothesis by assessing 8 t h graders' behavior in class. Procedure and Design Videotape equipment was set up in an eighth grade English classroom. The operator was a graduate student. To ensure minimal disruption of school routines, one week was d o t t e d for pupils to become comfortable with this intrusion before data were collected. During these early stages, interest was high and pupils were allowed to manipulate the electronic apparatus and chat with the operator. After a relatively short period of time, both the equipment and the operator were accepted by pupils and school personnel as a normal part of the classroom. Classroom periods were usually 35 or 45 min. in duration. A 10- to 15-min. didactic presentation by the teacher was used to introduce the lessons and to make follow-up assignments of activities to be completed during the remaining classroom time. Pupils were encouraged to use the classroom resource materials, meet in small groups, or seek information and clarification from the teacher. The teacher also supported and encouraged those pupils who expressed a desire to work alone. The recorded videotape was viewed several times during orientations for general discussions with the principal investigator, recorders, and classroom teacher. A training session for recorders included instructions regarding the type of events in whlch the study was interested. Our primary concern was to pinpoint those pupils who were the initiators of events and not their tar-

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H. MORGAN

gets. Total class visuals were continually shot from a stationary camera, and significant episodes were focused on. Each recorder was allowed to view the selected pool of recorded tapes in private, identify initiators, and rate the classroom events in accordance with the on-task, off-task designations. These were blind analyses by the three recorders in that they did not have access to each others' ratings until all data were reported and recorded. The recorders' individual assessments were the pooled data upon which our findings were based.

METHOD The selected school was located in-and received all of its pupils from-a community of moderate to low income black and w h t e residents in upstate New York. The school had a total population of 449 pupils, with an average distribution of 30% white and 70% black students during the time of this study. The school personnel were 10% black, and the teacher of the pupils was white. The classroom recorders of data were black. There were 114 pupils in the sample. The group was comprised of 44 black girls, 29 black boys, 24 white girls, and 17 white boys. All pupils were classified as 8th graders and none had reached their 16th birthday. The school was using a "team" approach. A team would have one teacher from each required subject area (English, science, etc.) as a member. They met as a group to plan for all pupils in a single grade. This enabled teachers to identify and include in their individual lesson plans teaching of skills common to all subject areas. Over a period of 12 months a total of 106 hours of classroom time were videorecorded. From the general pool of tapes, 50 hours were randomly selected for further study. Three recorders were instructed to view and make an assessment of and quantify the events, which were classified as follows: (a) seeking aide from peers for clarification of assignment(s1, (b) seeking aide from a teacher for assistance in reading, writing or recording. Off-task interaction: (a) utilizing attention-getting behaviors that distract ochers, (b) withdraw from activity, (c) discussing unrelated matters with others, (d) acting out and disruptive behaviors. On-tusk inferacfion:

The three recorders, one faculty and two graduate students were from the nearby university. Several training sessions were held; the faculty member was used as the standard against whom other raters would be measured. The following formula for consensus of agreement was used to assess interrecorder agreement:

In this formula, C equals the percentage of recorder consensus, R equals the number of recordings that agreed, and D represented the number of

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STUDENTS' INTERACTIONS IN CLASS

recordings that did not agree. A recorder agreement of 78% was achieved. Only those items on which they agreed were included in the statistical analyses.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This study was designed to test a relatively simple hypothesis, that, in the processing of new information related to classroom tasks, black children tend to show more social interaction than their white peers. There were 5 0 hours of pooled videotapes from which calculations were made. The number of initiated social interactions by subjects was used to calculate the mean number of interactions by the group. These data appear in Table 1. For black boys the mean was 6.1; for black girls it was 3.0; for white boys it was 2.8; and for white girls it was 1.2. For the two groups of boys and girls of both races, the mean for boys was 4.9, and girls 2.3. TABLE 1 INCIDENCE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION: MEANSAND CELL TOTALS Black

White

Boys Girls Totals

Totals

M

n

M

n

2.77 1.21 1.85

17

6.14 2.96 4.22

24 41

29 44

M 4.89 2.34

68

73

3.37

114

n

46

I t is interesting to note, that while the mean of social interaction For black boys shows that they are overwhelmingly more active than either of the other three groups, black girls and white boys are almost evenly matched, and white girls are the least active. I t was also true that, in the recorded environment, 87% of the interactions were positive and 76% of the time the entire classroom was designated by the observers as on-task. An analysis of variance was performed and presented in Table 2. This calculation showed that the significant factors in the social interaction were sex (F,,,,, = 58.29, p < ,001) and race (F,,,,,= 43.81, p < .001). TABLE 2 ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE: INCIDENCE OF SOCIALINTERACTION BY RACE AND SEX Main Effects Race Sex

df

MS

F

P

1 1

146.91

43.81 58.29

< ,001 < .001

178.85

Implications for Educational Practice Piaget suggested that thought and action are essential in the child's structuring of mental operations and logical reasoning. And, for the very young, action (sensorimotor period), is a necessary prerequisite for the creation of ideas and thought (Piaget, 1954, 1965; Piaget & Inhelder, 1969).

568

H. MORGAN

Urban schooling patterns, for the most part, promote quietness and docility (Shade, 1986; Morgan, 1980). Such classrooms' programs could be designed to suit the learning norms of children from upper-income black and white families and be opposed to the characteristics of many moderate to low income urban black children, which would make it difficult for them to comply with the demands made upon them by that system (Witherspoon, 1987). For these children to establish their own set of behavior norms to which individuals can conform should not surprise us. Their behavior can be disruptive when the planned environment for learning lacks elements which could accommodate their sensorimotor style (Einstein, 1979; Elias, 1979; Boykin, 1978). The teacher should develop an awareness of risk-producing environments and provide corrective interventions that seem appropriate for deviating this possible conflict. The discovery method, learning centers and the open, nonpunitive nature of the classroom environment under study, can be viewed as appropriate for these children. Finally, this study suggests that we should use varied ways in which pupils can learn. Currently, many school programs are experimenting with teaching and learning designs in a creative and innovative manner. Too often though, this creativity and innovation is exhausted in the pedagogical process, and commonly the teacher's expectations for pupils' displays of learning tend to repeat various old methods. I n other words, material might be presented in unique learner-oriented ways, but too often classroom practice will ultimately demand traditional pupil performances like recitations, paper-andpencil tasks, or similar displays of classroom etiquette, upon which to base pupil achievement-and proof that learning has taken place. REFERENCES

A~SWORTH, M. D. S. (1967) Infancy in Uganda: infant care and the growth of love. Baltimore,

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GEBER,M., & DUN, R. F. A. (1957) GeseU tests on African children. Pediatrics, 6, 10551065. (a) .. GEBER,M., & DEAN,R. F. A. (1957) The state of development of newborn African children. Lncet, 1, 1216-1219. (b) KOGAN, N. (1976) Cognitive styles in infancy and early childhood. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. MESSICK,S., & ASSOCIATES. (1976) Individuality in learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. MORGAN, H . (1980) HOWschools fail black children. Social Policy, 10, 49-54. ORNSTEIN, A. C., & LEVME,D. V. (1989) Social class, race, and school achievement: problems and prospects. Teacher Education, 40(5), 17-23. PARISH,R. (1989) Knock at any school. Phi Delta k p p a n , 70, 386-394. PASAMAMCK, B. A. (1946) A comparative study of the behavioral development of Negro infants. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 69, 3-44. PIAGET,J. (1954) The consfruction ofreafity in the child. New York: Basic Books. PIAGET,J. (1965) The child's conception ofphysical causality. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams. RAGET,J., & INHELDER, B. (1969) The psychology ofthe child. New York: Basic Books. RAMIREZ, M., & PRICE-WILLIAMS,D. R. (1974) Cognitive styles in children: two Mexican communities. lnteramerican Journal of Psychology, 8, 93-101. RAMIW, M., & CASTANEDA, A. (1974) Cultural democracy, biocognitiue deuelopmenr and education. New York: Academic Press. RAMIREZ, M., & PRICE-WILLIAMS,D. R. (1974) Cognitive styles of children in three ethnic groups in the United States. Journal of Cross-culturalPsychology, 5, 212-219. RICH,C. J. (1973) The difference at birth. Race Relations Reporfer, 4(17), 1-2. RE, H. E. (1975) Hyperactivity in children. American Journal of Diseases in Children, 129, 783-789. SCHRAG,E?, & DIVOKY,D. (1975) The myth ofthe hyperactive child. New York: Pantheon. S c m , R. B., JENKINS, M. E., & CRAWFORD, R. F? (1750) Growth development of Negro infants: analysis of birth weights of 11,818 newly born infants. Pediatrics, 6, 3-8. SHADE, B. J. (1986) Cultural diversity and the school environment. Journal of Humanistic Education, 25, 80-89. STEPFENSON, R. S., & L E ~ D., V. (1987) Are effective or meritoreous schools meretricious? Urban Review, 19, 25-34. WASHINGTON RESEARCHPROJECT.(1975) Children our o/ school in America. Cambridge, M A : Children's Defense Fund. WILLIAMS,J. R., & SCOT, R. B. (1953) Growth and development of Negro infants: motor development and its relationship to child rearing practices in two groups of Negro infants. Child Development, 24, 103-121. WITHERSPOON, R. (1987) The problems of black education. Journal of Educational Thought, 21, 155-161. W m m , H . A. (1964) Origins ol cogn~t~ve style. In C. Scheerer (Ed.), Cognition: theory, research, promise. New York: Harper & Row. Pp. 172-205.

Accepted March 8, 1990.