72- 4431*

BRODY, Celeste Mary, 1945- AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF STUDENT CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR AS IT INFLUENCES THE SOCIAL SYSTEM OF THE CLASSROOM.

The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 Education, theory and practice

University Microfilms, XEROXA Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan

THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF STUDENT CLASSROOM

BEHAVIOR AS IT INFLUENCES THE SOCIAL SYSTEM

OF THiS CLASSROOM

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Celeste Mary Brody, B.A., M.A.

* * * * *

The Ohio State University 1971

Approved by PLEASE NOTE:

Some Pages have indistinct print. Filmed as received.

UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS VITA

March 25, 1945. . . . Born - Oceanside, California

1966...... B.A., The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

1966-1968...... Teacher, Secondary English, Uarcellus Central Schools, Marcellus, New York

1969...... M.A., Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York

1969-1971...... Teaching Associate, Department of Curriculum and Foundations, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

FIEIDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education

Studies in Instruction. Professor John B. Hough

Studies in Teacher Education. Professor Charles M. Galloway

Studies in Communications. Professor Robert R. Monaghan

11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

VITA ...... ii

LIST OF TABLES...... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ...... iv

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION...... 1

Statement of Problem...... 1 Background...... 3 Definition of Terms ...... 7 Data Gathering Framework...... 12 Significance of the Study ...... 14 Limitations of the Study...... 16

II. REVIEW OF LITURATURE ...... 18

Schoo 1-Student Relationships...... 18 Research Related to Hethodology ... 21

III. HETHODOLOGY...... 34

Population...... 36 P r o c e d u r e ...... 38 Analysis of Data...... 58

IV. PRESENTATION OF D A T A ...... 64

Part I: All Saints School...... 64

The Setting...... 64 The Organization of the School . . 65 The Organization of the Class. . . 6 8 The G r o u p s ...... 85 The Class...... 100

Part II: Onondaga Junior-Senior High School...... 1 1 4

The Setting...... 114 The Organization of the School . . 116 Page

The Organization of the Class . . , 121 The Groups...... 131 The C l a s s ...... * 142

V. ANALYSIS OF DATA...... 150

Introduction ...... 150 F i n d i n g s ...... 155 Conceptual Significance of the F i n d i n g s ...... 182 Implications for Further Research. . . 189 Summary...... 191

APPENDIX

A ...... 194

...... 204

BIBLIOGRAPHY 218 LIST OF TABLES Table Page

1. Summary of Time Spent in Observation and Number of Students Involved ...... 35

2. Teacher's Grouping of Students According to "Reliability ...... *32

3. Ranking by Students According to Their Choice of "Good Student"...... 148

ill LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page

1. The Developmental Process of Model Building...... 60

2. Class Arrangement of Eighth Grade .... 70

3. Class Arrangement of Eighth Grade .... 71

4. Class Arrangement in the Resource Center Eighth Grade...... 75

5. Social Organization of Eighth Grade . . . 89

6. Seating Arrangement of Seventh Grade. . . 125

7. Social Organization of Seventh Grade. . . 134

8. Model of Role Integration at All Saints School...... 160

9. Model of Role Disintegration at Onondaga School...... 169

10. Integration of Elements at All Saints School and Resulting Social System. . . . 178

11. Nonintegration of Elements of Onondaga School andthe Resulting Effect ...... 181 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Statement of Problem

A recent surge of writings has accused American

schools of being little more than boring and bureaucratic

centers for conformity and places where creativity is killed

and passivity is reinforced.1 Critics say that many children

are often not learning what is expected in the classroom—

instead, they are daydreaming, interacting with friends,

clock watching, waiting, and literally dropping out. How­

ever, as Parsons points out in his discussion of two actors

in the same social situation:

The same actor does not operate in both capacities in the same relationship from the same orientation point of reference.*

Hence, the critics may be guilty of the same offence

as the teachers they criticize. Critics assume, Just as do

teachers, that they, not students, are the correct deflners

of student classroom situations. However, neither school

people nor critics have presented a great deal of specific

evidence to describe the ways students spend their time in

^For examples of such critics, see John Holt(p.18)> Edgar Frledenberg (p.19), and Jonathan Kozol (p.20). 2 Talcott, Parsons, The Social System (London: Collier Hcliillan Ltd., 195lj, p. 5"! the classroom.

For the most part, work done in the area of studying

student classroom behavior by both critics and teachers has

analyzed or described the student as a learner, by assessing his achievement, habits, and attitudes related to learning

in his official student situation, or others have concen­ trated on that student behavior which occurs in the class­ room and which has little to do with the official student role such as "fooling around," not paying attention," or

"dropping out." In sum, both teachers and critics have of­ ten treated elements of classroom behavior as a series of disconnected and disparate acts. The assumption on which this project is based, however, is that instead of looking at pieces of classroom activities as discrete entities, they should be regarded holistically, that is, as they re­ late to each other, the students, the teacher, the school environment, indeed, everything and everyone else in the classroom.

Therefore, using the conceptual framework of func- 3 tional analysis, this project will attempt, on the basis of observations and interviews in two separate classrooms to

(1 ) describe as many student behavioral patterns as possible,

(2 ) classify these into a series of roles, norms, and sets

^For a more extended discussion of functional analy­ sis see Robert K. Herton, Social Theory and Social Structure (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1957) of behaviors, both officially approved and those officially disapproved, and (3) attempt to explain how those various elements interact to creat an entire classroom social system.

Background

Parsons defines a social system as

...a plurality of individual actors interacting with each other in a situation which has at least a phy­ sical or environmental aspect, actors who are moti­ vated in terms of a tendency to the optimization of gratification and whose relation to their situations, including each other's is defined and mediated in terms of a system of culturally structured and shared symbols.^

That is, as individuals interact with one another in the same situation they construct a set of shared symbols or under­ standings, or roles and role expectations. As these become commonly understood, they develop a reality all their own.

They become institutionalized.

Institutions occur whenever there is a reciprocal typification of habitualized actions by types of actors. They control human conduct. Roles are representations of an institutional order that defines their character and from which they derive their objective sense.

An institution has meaning only as it is realized in per­ forming roles. As Girth and Hills suggest

An institution is an organization of roles, one or more of which is understood to serve the mainte-

4 Parsons, The Social System, pp. 5-6. 5 Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality (Garden City: Doubleday and do, Inc., 1 96?) , p. 5?^ nance of the total set of roles.6

Therefore, the assumption underlying this research is

that the maintenance and preservation of an institution or

social system depends upon the successful learning and play­

ing of roles on the part of all involved. In reference to

the student role, Smith and Geoffrey in Complexities of an

Urban Classroom called this phenomenon "grooving: achieving

clarity in the role," which theoretically develops a belief

system within the pupil group.

A belief is a generalized perception of what exists, while a norm is a generalized or group expectation of what ought to exist. As Geoffrey Tthe teacherj made the class rules clear, he was dealing with belief systems; as he tried to build an emotional commit­ ment on the part of the children to these beliefs, he was engaged in the more complex task of shaping normative structure.7

In the classroom it is the student's job to learn the

requirements of the role of student and it is the teacher's job to insure that the requirements become part of the stu­

dent's belief system. This eliminates rewards for compli­

ance as well as punishments for noncompliance. It becomes

understood that there are certain behaviors which signify

that one is a student and there are certain behaviors that

are outside the rules of being a student.

^Hans Girth and C. Wright Hills, "Institutions and Persons," Symbolic Interaction: A Reader in Social Psycho­ logy, ed. ByTerome”7T~1ffanTs^n3n5ernar3_^ r -HeTtzer~T5oston: Allyn and Bacon, 1967), p. 187.

^Louis H. Smith and William Geoffrey, Complexities of an Urban Classroom (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 13Sff7,” p.— 7 T ---- 5

Within our social system there are characteristics of the institution and conditions of classroom life which affect the kinds of behaviors which make up the students' role. Philip Jackson suggests characteristics of classroom life that affect students but are seldom mentioned. Delays, denials, interruptions, and social distractions are factors to which a child is constantly subjected because of the char­ acteristics of the institution. The ever present forms of evaluation such as tests, grades, looks, and praise must also be understood and adjusted to by students at a very early age. Interpersonal maneuvering becomes an unspoken norm in schools because the fact of unequal power between teacher and his students necessitates that "students employ their executive powers in the service of the teacher's de­ ft sires rather than their own."

What this adds up to in Jackson's terms is a hidden curriculum which students learn most adroitly and which has a great effect upon the kinds of behavior students employ in the classroom.. However, a student learns the limits of his > role and what behaviors are compliant with the institution.

The students

May ease out of the state of spectatorship and interact with their friends without any gross violation of the school routine.

When a teacher requests that they take out their

^Philip Jackson, Life in Classrooms (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc”. , 1968), p. 30. books, pay attention, turn around, do the home­ work, or anything else, they do so. But with the teacher engaged in the minutiae of routine so much of the time, the students simply spend a lot of their class time virtually unsupervised and outside any school-approved learning situa­ tion.9

Observation of elementary and secondary classrooms

suggests that student behavior may be described in terms

of how the requirements of being a students are fulfilled.

It is admitted that specific situations give rise to shared understandings that are unique to that particular classroom or school. Regardless of the subtleties of each situation

or the particular norms or behaviors to which that situa­

tion gives rise one learns how to play the role of student.

Therefore, we may for the purpose of this study explain a social situation as consisting of a number of discrete in­ dividuals who for the purpose of optimization of gratifica­ tion develop among themselves a set of symbolic interrela­

tionships consisting of roles, norms, and beliefs.

In sum, we cannot automatically assume that a school or even a classroom is a single, plainly discernable entity commonly understood and reacted to uniformly be educators, students, and outsiders. Instead, it is, at least potenti­ ally, a complex and variable situation which must be exa­ mined closely in order to be understood.

g Philip A. Cuslck, "An Exploratory Study of the School Perspective of Student Groups" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1970), pp. 76-77. The research is intended primarily as an exploratory study of student behavior in the classroom. As such it closely approximates the scheme explained by Glaser and

Strauss as "theoretical sampling" which "is done to disco­ ver categories and their properties and to suggest the interrelationships into a theory." It is

the process of data collection for generating theory whereby the analysist jointly collects, codes and analyzes his data and decides what data to collect next and where to find them in order to develop his theory as it emerges. The process of data collection is controlled by the emerging theory whether substantive or formal. 0

For the purpose of this exploratory study, the researcher must, prior to the collection and analysis of data, avoid making extensive theoretical outlines. It is of prime im­ portance, however, that certain concepts be understood.

Definition of Terms

Activity.— (1) events engaged in by a group; (2) comparable to "behavior" in reference to the individual or response as a unit of behavior; (3) task.**

Attending.— (1) a kind of behavior in which the students are engaged with academic materials;(2 ) a kind of interaction in which the students listen and follow the content of the tea-

l°Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss, "Theoretical Sampling," Sociological Methods, ed. by Norman K. Dengin (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1970), p. 105.

**Smith and Geoffrey, Complexities of an Urban Classroom, p. 263. 12 cher's verbal statements. 13 Behavior.— things an individual does. 14 Clique.— subgroup.

Compliant.— a kind of behavior in which the student yields to or remains in accordance with the expectations or demands of the teacher.

Events.— A sequence of behaviors or activities separated from preceding and subsequent behaviors by naturally occur­ ring boundaries. These boundaries are: (1) a variation or change in the direction of the behavior, (2 ) a change in the direction of the behavior toward a new interaction, or (3) the occurrence of a significant or potent act which appears

Influential.

Formal Organization.— The way students are expected to act by the teacher in their role as students. This includes such relations between a group and its environment as may affect its behavior.

Fooling Around.— (1) acting up, (2) messing around, (3) a variety of behaviors, activities, or events in which stu­ dents engage instead of task activity, such as talking, whispering, not paying attention, doodling, throwing paper

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

1 4 Ibid.

^Russell French and Charles M. Galloway, "A New Look at Classroom Interaction," The Ohio State University (Mimeo­ graphed .) 9 wads, provoking the teacher, or running around the room.

Free Time.— officially sanctioned, non-task period of time.

Functional Analysis.— explained as that type of theory which

"aims at the explanation of anthropological facts. . . by their function, by the part which they play within the in­ tegral system of culture, by the manner in which they are related to each other within the system."*®

Group.— "A number of persons who communicate with one ano­ ther often over a span of time, and who are few enough so that each person is able to communicate with all others, 17 not second-hand, but face-to-face."

Informal Organization.— patterns of communication, interac­ tion, and norms designed to meet the social and emotional needs of the members.

Institution.--an organization of roles, one or more of which is understood to serve the maintenance of the total 18 set of roles.

Interaction.— "An element of social behavior in which some unit of activity of a person follows or is stimulated by

16 Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure, p. 22.

*^George Homans, The Human Group (New York: Harcourt Brace and Co, 1950), p. 1"

*®Hans Girth and C. Wright Mills, "Institutions and Persons," Symbolic Interaction: A Reader in Social Psycholo­ gy, ed. by Jerome G. Manls and-Bernard N. Meltzer (Boston: AXlyn and Bacon, 1967), p. 187. 19 some unit of activity of another.

Interactive Events.— Those sequences of behaviors or activi­

ties which follo’v or are stimulated by activities or behavi­ ors of another.

Maintenance.--Refers to the dimension of school and the classroom which meets the expectations of the institution, namely, the managerial requirements for the preservation and smooth running of the organization.

Modified Student.— Refers to a student placed in the lowest academic level above Special Education in the school.

Nonworker.--A pupil role in which the pupil engages in few or none of the class activities.

Norm.— A norm is an idea in the minds of the members of a group that can be put in the form of a statement specifying what the members should do, ought to do, are expected to do under given circumstances. A statement of the kind described is a norm only if any departure of real behavior from the norm is followed by some punishment.

Personal Behavior.--Those things a student does in which per­ sonal needs, goals, and emotions are the central focus and are directed toward the self.

Personal Events.— Those sequences of personal behaviors or activities which are directed toward the self in which per­ sonal needs, goals, and emotions are the central focus.

1 d "Homans, The Human Group, p. 36.

2®George Homans, '’Norms and Behaviors,” Role Theory, ed. by Bruce J. Biddle and Thomas Edwin (New YorlH John Viley and Sons, 1966), p. 134. 11 Productive.— Refers to the dimension of school and the

classroom which has to do with learning, whether cognitive,

affective, or skill oriented.

Role.— "A norm that states the expected relationship of a

person in a certain position to others he comes in contact

with."21

Sanctions.— Coercive measures, usually taken by certain

members of a group, to force a. member considered to have

violated a norm to stop the violation.

Social Situation.— Consists of a number of discrete indi­

viduals who for the purpose of optimization of gratifica­

tion, develop among themselves a set of symbolic inter­

relationships consisting of roles, norms, and beliefs.

Task Behavior.— That student behavior which defines the

student as a learner.

Task Events.— (1) Work; (2) those sequences of student be­

haviors or activities focused on learning of subject matter

content whether cognitive, affective, or skill-oriented.

Teacher Expectations.--Those requirements stated explicitly by the teacher or implied in the teacher's behavior which

Indicate acceptable behavior, activity, or events for stu­ dents, whether personal, interactive, or task.

Value.— "The unconscious assumptions the members of any group or society make. Values are implied in actual and in

2 1 Ibid., p. 135. 12 casual behavior. **22

Data Gathering Framework

This project examined two classrooms and attempted to develop a more systematic and refined model for examin­ ing the behavior of the students. The following questions are not exhaustive of the questions one might ask but are merely illustrative of the specific ways in which the re­ searcher chose to limit the study. Questions were not meant to be answered specifically as much as they were meant to be asked of the students, thus acting as a data gathering framework rather than a set of formal research questions. Asking these questions led to more specific questions. The answers depended on the data. However, in terms of the problem of the study, each of the following groups of questions demonstrates an attempt to either de­ scribe students' behavioral patterns, organize these stu­ dents' behaviors, or explain how these behaviors Interact to create an entire classroom social system.

1. How do students spend their time in the classroom?

a) In what ways do the students react uniformly to the

teacher's expectations of their behaviors?

b) In what ways do the students react differently to

the teacher's expectations of their behaviors?

2. What roles do the students take on in the classroom?

^Homans, The Human Group, p. 36. 13

a) How may these roles be defined?

b) How do the students define them?

c) How do the roles interrelate to create a pattern?

d) How do the roles not interrelate and therefore may

be regarded as dysfunctional?

e) How do the students adapt to limitations on their

behavior?

3. What are acceptable behaviors of students toward the

teacher, toward the other students? What behaviors

are unacceptable?

4. What behaviors are followed by reward? By punishment?

5. What beliefs do some of the individuals have about

classroom social systems of which they are not a part?

6 . In what ways does the teacher become a member or at

least an important referent for all the social systems

in the classroom?

7. What is the end result, or function, of the student be­

haviors in the classroom? Of the social system created

by the students?

Question one focuses upon the description of student behavior. An example would be:

An assignment to measure angles is a cue for groups to gather while the teacher is with three girls, Mary, Debbie, and Cindy. A lack of protractors in the class has forced the measurement of angles in groups. (Teacher said: "Since we don't have enough protrac­ tors to go around, you'll have to get together and share them. Work in groups.") Ray, Tim, and Mike form a group and they center activity on the long chain Mike brought. They're throwing it around along 14

the floor. Mike's now dropping it into his shoe for the delight of the others watching. Kim and Sally talk, giving their approval on Kim's skirt. The tea­ cher continues working with the "work" group. Doug and Ward purposely throw a pencil out in front of room and then Ward goes to retrieve it. They look like they enjoy their activity but they are clearly not "measuring angles." 3

Questions two, three, and four exemplify the attempt to classify behavior according to some first- and second- order abstraction--in this case, role, norm, control, and status. As Homans points out,

We do not directly observe status and role. What we do observe are activities, interactions, norms, and controls. Status and Role are names we give to a complex of many different kinds of observations. . , .A word like interaction is a first-order ab­ straction: it is a name given to a single class of observations; whereas a word like status is a second- order abstraction: it is a name given to several classes of observation combined.2*

Using the concepts of sets and groupings of behavi­ or the researcher attempted to reach a level of abstraction that would explain an entire classroom social system and thereby offer the opportunity to suggest a number of hypo­ theses which may be tested concerning the behavior of stu­ dents in a classroom.

Significance of the Study

The purpose of this study was stated earlier, that is, the description and conceptualization of student class-

23Excerpt from the researcher's field notes.

^Homans, The Human Group, p. 12. 15 room behavior in terms of its influence on the social struc­ ture of the classroom. By taking this recognized unit of analysis and using a sociological perspective the research adds to the present knowledge regarding the student influ­ ence in the classroom.

The study makes no pretence of being a sociological study. It is an educational study which relied on the theory, concepts, and methodology of sociology for the pur­ pose of exploring the implications of this discipline for education. As the literature indicates, little prior con­ cern has been given to either the influence of the student activities in controlling and manipulating the learning sit­ uation or the perspective of students about school, except as it has been assumed that students are "learners." Be­ cause students may be capable of affecting each others* perceptions, experience, behavior, and performance in the classroom, this understanding of looking at student activi­ ties in the classroom holistically rather than as discrete entities should be of great value to those who need to deal with students.

Secondly, this study is descriptive and exploratory.

It has arrived at a model of basic concepts and testable propositions concerning student classroom Influence. In short, a conceptual framework was developed which will ex­ plain a complex set of phenomena. It is believed that the propositions or working hypotheses resulting from this study 16 will contribute not only to the work of those later re­ searchers who will develop predictable hypotheses about students but will contribute to the systematic explanations of the phenomena of student influence in the classroom. In brieft the research herein may lead to a rudimentary theory of student behavior in classrooms.

Thirdly, while the methodology of observation and interview was not unique to this study, using a sociological perspective was. The concept of functional analysis, by analyzing and integrating the findings which were derived through induction, opens opportunities to challenge the us­ ual assumption upon which research in education is often based, namely, the assumption that the teacher is the domi­ nant influence in the classroom, capable of: manipulating certain aspects of the classroom to achieve certain goals.

Limitations of the Study

. . . thus conceived, a social system is only one of three aspects of the structuring of a completely concrete system of social action. The other two are the personality systems of the individual actors and the cultural system which is built into their action. Each of these three must be considered to be an independent focus of the organization of the elements of the action system in the sense that no one of them is theoretically reducible to terms of one or a combination of the other two. Each is in- dispensible to the other two in the sense that with­ out personalities and culture there would be no so­ cial system. . .

The main limitation of this study is that while it

2®Parsons, The Social System, p. 6 . 17 admits the necessity of both the personality and the culture

in a general social system, these elements were not included

in the data. Rather, the study focuses only on those com­

monly shared symbols, roles, norms, and beliefs that occur

only in the classroom, specifically, in two classrooms. It

is felt that these elements are basically more important to

this particular study which, instead of defining a general

social system, is limited only to the classroom.

A second limitation is that the study is confined to

the behavior of the students in two classrooms. Although

the problem of the generalizabillty of the data to other

classroom situations is one that can be raised, the reply

is that while an instance of social phenomena may be unique,

that need not prevent one from learning from it by intelli­

gent study as Smith and Geoffrey's study of an urban class- O ff room demonstrated.

Og Smith and Geoffrey, Complexities of an Urban Classroom, CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

There are two areas of literature which pertain to this study of student behavior. The first consists of a number of works which deal with school-student relationships, while the second pertains to (1 ) research in observing, de­ scribing, and analyzing student and teacher behavior and (2 ) research related to the methodology of this study in parti­ cular.

School-Student Relationships

The first body of literature, by pointing out the enormous complexity of the school-student relationship, con­ tains explanations of how the young deal and cope with the situation. John Holt's commentary on How Children Fail gives support to the need to focus upon student behavior as a means of verifying the classroom activities of students. In Holt's terms, students develop strategies very early in their school careers which are an outgrowth of institutional characteris­ tics. These "coping behaviors" are hypothesized to have emerged as a result of an individual need to avoid trouble, embarrassment, punishment, disapproval, or loss of status.

Not paying attention, for example, is explained by Holt as a coping behavior students have learned in order to set their 19 own limits on the amount of tension they can endure in a classroom.^

James Coleman and Edgar Friedenberg sought to under­ stand student attitudes and how they are affected by school life. In Adolescent Society Coleman found class was only one part of school and social life. For students in general, the social rewards of the subculture were of greater impor­ tance than good grades. He suggested that the school should structure learning activities so that the social rewards of status, esteem, and recognition which students seek through their groups, will be dispensed by the school for excellence in learning activities. Coleman*s work is important to this study because he implies that students may have a much more important role in affecting the school and classroom environ- 2 ment than previously admitted.

Friedenberg in Coming of Age in America concluded that the aim and intent of the secondary school was to force its own narrow brand of conformity on the students. Through an elaborate use of the interview technique, Friedenberg studied a number of students in different schools to get in­ side their perspective and provided evidence to show that the schools had succeeded to an alarming degree in producing

*John Holt, How Children Fail (New York: Dell Publish­ ing Co., 1964).

^James Coleman, Adolescent Society (New York: Free Press, 1961). 20 3 mass conformity.

Jonathan Kozol, in Death at an Early Age, described how elementary childr^ . defend themselves against the pres­ sures of school and their environment and psychologically 4 drop out of school. Similarly, Wallace Roberts and Peter

Schrag support the notion of psychological dropouts in both low and upper socioeconomic class by portraying kids as scared to move, breathe, and live. "School is a place which one passes through. What is learned is to defer— to e time, to authority, to events."

Arthur Stinchcombe's Rebellion in a High School showed that a student's alienation from school was, regard­ less of his social class, a result of his inability to value the future-oriented rewards promised by the school. Working with individuals instead of groups or classes he identified rebellion as "that kind of deviant behavior which occurs in g the social and psychological presence of authorities." A concept he used to describe why students do not conform to the expectations placed before them is "reaction formation,"

q Edgar Friedenberg, Coming of Age in America (New York: Random House, 1963).

^Jonathan Kozol. Death at an Early Age (Boston: Houghton-Hifflin, 1967).

®Peter Schrag and Wallace Roberts, "You Don't Have to Leave School to Drop Out," Saturday Review, March 21, 1970, pp. 58-64.

®Arthur Stinchcombe, Rebellion in a High School (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1964), p. 2"! 21 that is, the inability of a student to achieve the future rewards offered by compliance with the school despite his internalization of these rewards.

These works, coupled with Philip Jackson's Life in 7 Classrooms which was mentioned earlier, point out the enor­ mous number of forces capable of affecting student behavior in the classroom and the school. These forces, such as so­ cial class and values, hidden curriculum, and student sub­ culture are no doubt real and important and are part of the total situation with which students must deal. Citing these authors has illustrated a number of activities carried on and attitudes held by students which may be related to the formal organization of school. What students do in school and how they deal with the formal organization in the classroom becomes a concern of those who are interested in optimizing learning. In addition, many of these works rely upon observation for their interpretation, a methodo­ logical technique used in the present study which can yield a wealth of descriptive data.

Research Related to Methodology

The second body of literature consists of a number of works in which the researchers used observation and descrip­ tion to get at a piece of social reality. As student behav­ ior is the unit of analysis concerned with in this study,

^Above, p. 5 , Jackson, Life in Classrooms. 22 observation and description is an important process. In

the recent Complexities of an Urban Classroom, Lou Smith and

William Geoffrey documented the intricacies of the classroom

social system and its effect on the teacher and on the total

classroom behavior. Using a two-man perspective, the study

began with a description of the behavior of the teacher and

pupils as the school term starts, and then applied these da­

ta to generate a framework of initial social structure and

process in the classroom.

This piece of research is of primary importance to

the study at hand because it exhibits as nearly as possible

the design of this research: description, analysis, and ex­

planation through the model-building process. While the fo­

cus of the Smith and Geoffrey study was the teacher, the

present study is concerned with the students. The important

contribution of Smith and Geoffrey to the study at hand,

then, was their dedication to theory building as the theme

that will integrate the usual dichotomies of research and

practice. The main concept appropriate to this study is

that the classroom is a social system and has its own ways of formulating certain common beliefs or sets of under­ standings about the roles played by individuals. It becomes the teacherfs Job to develop certain understandings and roles so that the students can be "freed up" to give their atten­ tion to the Job of learning. However, there are always a number of isolates and subgroups with their own role-bellef 23 system. The importance of this study is that it actually

documents the complex role-belief system at work within this

classroom instead of accepting the assumption that classes g are simply dyadic interactions between teacher and class.

An even more recent work by Philip Cusick attempted

the systematic study of the student perspective by getting

inside three small, informal student groups in a high school.

Using the methodology of participant-observation, Cusick,

like Smith and Geoffrey, attempted to develop concepts, pro­

positions, and hypotheses and then construct a conceptual

framework concerning the group's interactions, activities,

and perspectives with the hope of testing these on larger

student populations. Cusick assumed that if educators knew

more about what kids do in school, they could better assess

themselves, their students, and their educational system.

Participant-observation was a crucial research methodology

because it is based on the assumption that the "subjects,"

in this case the students, have a perspective regarding

their school experience which can be best understood only

if one puts himself in the place of those adolescents and

live school as they do. Cusick concluded that schools have

a number of socio-cultural characteristics, namely, compart­ ment alization of knowledge, future reward orientation, and

the doctrine of student inferiority. Students respond to

these by forming themselves into rigidly structured groups

® Smith and Geoffrey, Cbmplactties of an Urban Classroom. 24 in which they receive the social rewards of status, esteem, and recognition which are denied to them by the formal or­ ganization. In addition, due to the over-emphasis on rou­ tine and maintaining efficiency, students are actually re­ quired to do little more than be in attendance, minimally compliant, and in a state of spectatorship. Thus, Cusick found that it is the small group and not some general stu­ dent sub-culture to which students react most strongly. All three groups, however, held a similar perspective regarding school: minimal compliance with the school routine so that the group could carry on the important activity of interac- 9 tion, thereby dispensing the immediate social rewards.

This work is extremely important to the present re­ search for a few reasons. First, it recognizes the impor­ tance of systematically studying the student in the context of a social system and secondly, like Smith and Geoffrey, it was committed to inductively developing a conceptual framework to explain a complex set of phenomena for the pur­ poses of generating hypotheses and questions to be tested later.

Another very early work of methodological importance to the study at hand was Management and the Worker, which described a series of experiments in industry concerned with social relations among the employees. The particular exper­ iment relevant to this study was the "Bank Viring Room g Cusick, Perspective of Student Groups. 25 Study" in which an observer was placed in a room with four­ teen workers to observe and record their activities, inter­ actions, and production. The investigators found that the workers developed norms in their groups which were in di­ rect conflict with the goals of the formal organization.

They concluded that people develop "informal organizations" to allow individuals to gain some control over their en­ vironment as well as protect themselves from the formal or­ ganization. 10

Realities of an Urban Classroom summarized the ob­ servations conducted by a psychologist, who used the ideas of sociology, anthropology, and psychology in elementary schools. The study has described a number of unjustified customs lurking behind a semblance of reason that cause both students and teachers to respond with inevitable be­ wilderment, disorientation, and finally detachment and re­ signation. * 1

Except for observation and description of student life as it related to other characteristics, analyzing student behavior in the manner similar to that done with teacher behavior has little precedent except as it is as­ sumed to be task-related behavior. Using the more classical

IOf .J. Roethlisberger and Villiam J. Dickson, Management and the Worker (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966), pp. 375=324.

^G. Alexander Moore, Jr., Realities of an Urban Classroom (Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 19671. 26 approach of analyzing behavior, both C. M. Lindvall and Hugh

Perkins focused upon student learning activities. Lindvall developed a Student Observational Form for activities in an

I.P.I. situation. Records are made at two minute intervals and a tally is recorded for each pupil's activity at that 12 time. The unique feature of Perkins' work which relates to this study is his focus upon students' activities in a social situation, teacher influence and interaction, with­ drawal behaviors exhibited by students, and the types of work students engage in: group, independent, etc.^3

Ray Beuhter, however, used the concept of levels of communication to classify how people communicate in the class. Vith the focus upon both the teacher and students,

Buehter classified communication according to motor move­ ment, speech, biochemical-technical. He found that although teachers communicate mostly on the technical level, inter­ personal communication persisted in the classroom. Student communication behavior was rarely on the technical level.

12C. M. Lindvall, et al., "Manual for IPI Student Observational Form," Mirrors for Behavior, ed. by Simon and Boyer, III (Philadelphia Research for Better Schools, 1967), Section 12. 13 Hugh V. Perkins, "A Procedure for Assessing the Classroom Behavior of Students and Teachers," Ibid., XII (1970), p. 631.

^Ray Buehter and J. F. Richmond, "Communication Behavior and Behavior," Ibid., VIII (1970), p. 38. 27 A question from this which might be asked is: If the tea­ cher remains mostly on a technical level of communication, are the students' needs for communication on their levels being met in certain other ways which would violate the formal demands of the classroom? Certainly the documenta­ tion of a student mode of communication which differs signi­ ficantly from the teacher's raises important concerns for the present study.

Fred Honigan emphasized the emotional state of af­ fairs by evaluating whether student behavior seemed to com­ municate generally a positive or negative emotional climate.

He identified student behaviors that communicate a positive emotional climate:

1. Their enthusiastic and uncoerced participation and their willingness to express their candid feelings and emotions.

2. The extent to which they give free and unguarded opin­ ions , inferences, and ideas without the apparent fear of the consequences of being "wrong."

3. Their ability to digress from or change the initial to­ pic without fear of teacher reprisal.

4. Their lack of fear to introject behavior into ongoing activity, including teacher activity.

Some examples of student behavior that communicates a nega­ tive, threatening, or resentful emotional climate include:

1. Active resistence as seen in an individual or total group hostility or misbehavior. 28 2. Passive resistence, sullenness, or apathy such as non­

response to the teacher, little, if any, spontaneous parti­

cipation .

3. Evidence of anxiety or perceived threat as communicated

by students' unwillingness to reveal their candid feelings,

opinions, or ideas. 15 4. Presence of various forms of "flight” behaviors.

This analysis of the student emotional state of affairs de­

monstrates the growing concern for accurate description and

analysis of student behavior, particularly the nonverbal

aspects. Honigan's work gave the present researcher a via­

ble tool for the problem of describing the state of affairs

among the students in a classroom.

Student attention has long been a subject for study,

often as an indicator of teaching ability in controlling a

classroom. Henry C. Horrison devised a simple technique by

which an observer would scan each row of students who were 16 inattentive. Using his technique, William French observed

student behavior of both teachers and students with a com­

posite rating of the teacher's ability made by the school

principal, by supervisory test specialist, and by French himself. A high positive correlation expressed the rela­ tionship between the composite rating of teaching ability

l^Fred Honigan, "Multidimensional Analysis of Classroom Interaction," Ibid., II (1967), pp. 1-220.

*®Henry C. Morrison, The Practice of Teaching in the Secondary Schools CHcag>: University of Chicago Hress^ 1927)7 29 and the measures of group attention during recitation peri­ ods. ^

However, studying the phenomenon of classroom atten­ tion raises many problems. The question of deceptive alertness has forced investigators to turn to less obvious aspects of student behavior, namely the thought processes of the students in the classroom. In a study using college students, Benjamin Bloom developed a technique called stim­ ulus recall which allowed comparison of the thought proces­ ses that occurred during lectures with those reported to take place during discussions. Bloom found that generally one-third of the class gave testimony of being psychologi­ cally absent at selected points during the teaching ses­ sions. It appears that the amount of attention in the classroom is often less than meets the eye, and it raises the question of the nature of the deceptive behavior which students must employ to look attentive.18

Other researchers have been interested in the non­ verbal dimension of behavior. John Urban studied and clas­ sified certain pupil nonverbal behaviors which were indica­ tors of an understanding of communicable diseases. By re­ cording the frequencies of occurrence of the specific beha­

^William C. French, "The Correlation Between Teach­ ing Ability and Thirteen Measurable Classroom Activities," (unpublished master’s thesis, University of Chicago,1924).

18Benjamin S. Bloom, "Thought Processes in Lectures and Discussions," Journal of General Education (April, 1953), pp. 160-169” 30 viors, Urban demonstrated that changes in behavior can be 1 q brought about as a result of learning experiences. 7

Charles Galloway devised a method of measuring tea­ cher behavior in its nonverbal dimensions through a system which expands the Flanders System of Verbal Analysis. His work forced the question of exploring student nonverbal be­ havior, since it has been found that on the average over 60 per cent of classroom talk and activity is initiated by the 20 teacher. In addition, both Galloway and Russell French devised a method of placing teacher behavior in a communi­ cation framework. This model is particularly helpful to the present study because communication events were de­ scribed as institutional, task-oriented, personal, or mixed in nature. A twenty second interval tally system was used 21 to record the classroom activity at the time.

Joseph Horsh developed three behavior observation check lists, each of which were concerned with a different facet of classroom behavior, whether it was teacher or stu­ dent behavior or verbal or nonverbal behavior. Using such

*®John Urban, Behavior Changes Resulting from a Study of CommunicablePTseases (New York: Columbia Univer­ sity , 1943J. 20 Charles M. Galloway, "An Exploratory Study of Ob­ servational Procedures for Determining Teacher Nonverbal Communication," (Ed.D. dissertation, University of Florida, 1962). 21 Russell L. French and Charles N. Galloway, "A New Look at Classroom Interactions," The Ohio State University. (Mimeographed.) 31 a check list, Morsh sought to study the student and teacher behaviors which were related to achievement and supervi- sor's rating respectively. 22

Examples of items from the check list that pertained to student behavior were:

Talks Answers Asks Questions Looks Around Doodles Slumps Yawns, Stretches Sleeps or Dozes Class Answer23

While no significant relationships were established, this might suggest the possibility that student behavior and teacher behavior are not related. Because of his systema­ tic approach and because of the implication regarding the independence of teacher behavior and student behavior, this study deserves inclusion in this review.

Cornell, Lindvall, and Saupe indicated that they were interested in devising a method of comparing school systems. They organized around eight broad dimensions of the classroom environment, thereby including the behavior of students. The following were the dimensions utilized:

22Joseph E. Morsh, Systematic Observation of Instructor Behavior (San Antonio, Texas: Air Force Person* nel and Training Research Center, 1956), AFPTRC-TN-56-52.

23Ibid., p. 15. 32 Differentiation Social Organization Initiative Content Variety Competency Climate-Teacher Climate-Pupi124

Through the use of an analysis of variance, it was con­ cluded that the instrument developed by Cornell, Lindvall, and Saupe did distinguish between the types of schools on the basis of classroom behavior. 25

Both the Cornell study and the Uorsh study exemplify the growing concern on the part of researchers to describe and classify other dimensions of the classroom besides the teacher. Both of these studies emphasized the totality of the classroom and thereby raised the question of pupil and environmental influences in the development of a social system.

This group of studies indicates a concern for the student in the school and the classroom. All emphasized sy­ stematic study; however, Smith and Geoffrey, Cusick and

Roethlisberger were more interested in the theory building process. Methodologically these studies ranged from parti- pant-observation through instrument development for system­ atic and precise measuring procedures. The interests, pur-

^Fr ancis G. Cornell, C.M. Lindvall, J.L. Saupe, An Exploratory Measurement of Individualities of Schools amT" Classrooms (Urbana, Illinois: Bureau of Educational Re­ search, University of Illinois, 1953), p. 20.

25Ibid., p. 31. 33 poses, and methods are wide and varied; however, all empha­ size the need for further methods and concepts which will clarify and understand student behavior in the context of the classroom. CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this study was to (I) describe as many student behavioral patterns as possible, (2 ) classify into a series of student roles those behaviors, both those officially approved and those officially unapproved, and

(3) attempt to explain how these various roles taken by the students interact to creat an entire social system. I,* therefore, undertook the field work following closely these guidelines of functional analysis:

The basic requirement of functional analysis is that the object of analysis represent a standardized item such as social roles, institutional patterns, social processes, cultural patterns, etc.2

In the Spring of 1971, I observed the behavior of students in two separate classrooms in two different schools over a period of eight weeks and then interviewed the students in each classroom. The table below indicates the number of days spent at each school and the number of students in­ volved in the study.

^First person will be used for the remainder of this chapter.

^Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure, p. 57. 35

TABLE 1.— Summary of Time Spent in Observation and Number of Students Involved

Days in Hours Class # % Obser­ Observed Enroll­ Inter­ Inter­ vation ment viewed viewed

All Saints 20 44 17 16 97%

Onondaga 16 36 19 12 66%

Total 36 80 36 28 79%

Observation was chosen as the central guiding proce­ dure for the study. Similarly, in the Smith and Geoffrey

study of a self-contained seventh grade classroom, Smith played the role of the observer in studying the world of

the slum classroom because

There was an element of naive conviction that if he carefully observed the class and listened attentively to the teacher, then he TSmitlO could make sense out of the experience. In other words, order could be found there. He did not have a previously worked-out state­ ment of how to teach children such as these and there was no commitment to any general point of view in pro­ fessional education. This resulted in what might be called a nonevaluative orientation. He was not there to criticize but to try to understand and see the re­ lationships among the many facets.3

Therefore, the basic strategy was to describe as carefully and as fully as possible the events occurring within the classroom and record comments made by teachers and students over an extended period of time. 1 was not to intervene

3Smith and Geoffrey, Complexities of an Urban Classroom, p. 5. 36

in the classroom at any time and the students in both class­

rooms were informed that 1 was there to "watch what you do

in school." In addition, interviewing was an important va­

lidity check when the different pieces of data were submit­

ted to analysis.

Population

Two upper grade classrooms from two inner city

schools, one public and one parochial, were chosen for the

study.

All Saints School

The eighth grade class in All Saints Parochial

School contained seventeen students, fourteen white and

three black, who remained together for the entire day. The

school served 153 students who traveled from different areas of Columbus: two-thirds were from the neighboring parish

area, consisting mainly of lower income white families, while the other one-third of the population traveled from

a nearby Air Force base. A very small percentage of the students was black.

The eighth grade classroom was chosen mainly because of the accessibility of the class. The faculty felt that this would be an appropriate group to work with and after a few observations, I noted that the smallness of the group would be an advantage in teraus of the nature of the study.

The class, for the most part, had been together for several 37 years and the faculty appeared to have ''definite opinions"

regarding the students. The class was self-contained with

teachers rotating to them for the different subject areas.

The principal was the "homeroom teacher" and it was she who

agreed to give me access.

Onondaga School

The second group was chosen for its similarities and

differences with the above group. Specifically, 1 sought a

school in the inner city. The assistant principal of Onon­ daga Junior-Senior High School agreed to the study and as­ signed me to the seventh grade group of modified students.

This group was together for four periods a day, giving them the term "self-contained" by the assistant principal. In a school of 1 2 0 0 students, the class and teacher were de­ scribed by the assistant principal as typical in "size and composition." Although it was a class of nineteen students in a school of which 70 per cent of the student body was black, this class had only four black students.

Selection Process

The selection process used in this study has had pre­ cedent and Justification in field work done in both anthro­ pology and sociology, While the selection procedures were never Intended to be random and therefore, may be question­ able to some researchers, we may quote Margaret Mead on the basis of her selection procedures in her study of the Manus. 38

The Manus tribe were chosen for a multitude of chance reasons, because a district officer recommended them as easy to deal with, because a missionary had pub­ lished some texts in the language and because we were able to get a school boy in Rabaul to act as an inter­ preter in the beginning.^

As discussed earlier, then, the concept of theoreti­ cal sampling provides a useful scheme for an exploratory study whose purpose is to discover categories and their properties and to suggest the interrelationships. There­ fore, in using the general sociological perspective that students develop reasonable ways of dealing with their en­ vironment, any study in any place will generate data. As

Margaret Mead implied, data is where you find it. Glaser and Strauss support this:

Theoretical sampling is done in order to discover ca­ tegories and their properties and to suggest the inter­ relationships into a theory. Statistical sampling is done to obtain accurate evidence on distributions of people among categories to be used in descriptions or verifications.... The researcher who generates theory need not combine random sampling with theoretical sam­ pling when setting forth relationsbips among categories and properties.

Procedure

Observation

The problem of a reproducible method or even a sys­ tematic guide for analyzing data has been the subject of

^Margaret Mead, Growing Up in New Guinea (New York: Dell Publishing Company‘s 19581, p. 2l2.

®Glaser and Strauss, "Theoretical Sampling," Sociological Methods, p. 106. 39 lengthy discussions by sociologists, llany admit that there are, at best, a few guiding rules for conducting field stu­ dies, particularly of the exploratory nature. Peter Blau asks:

How does one conduct a theoretically oriented case stu­ dy that uses quantitative as well as qualitative infor­ mation? Not enough systematic knowledge on the dis­ tinctive problems of the case study has been accumu­ lated to answer the question in general terms.

In a bureaucratic field situation, the needs of the organization and not those of the observer determine what gccurs and thus what can be studied at any given t late.6

Helvil Dalton adds his opinion regarding the vagueness of adequate procedures:

Many eminent physicists, chemists and mathematicians question whether there is a reproducible method which all investigators could or should follow and they have shown in their research that they take diverse, often unascertainable steps in discovery and in solving prob­ lems.

Nevertheless, some procedures were outlined. First of all,

I intended to spend approximately eight weeks, two hours a day alternating between the classrooms described. I plan­ ned to record activities, interactions, and comments made by the students and the teacher. The questions outlined in

Chapter I (page 12) guided me in approaching the observa­ tions. Because so much is going on in a classroom, one

®Peter Blau, "The Dynamics of Bureaucracy,'* Sociologists at Work, ed. by Philip Hammond (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1964), pp. 17-22.

7Melvil Dalton, "Men Who Manage," Ibid., p. 52. 40 needs a way of simply making sense, particularly In the ini­

tial contacts, of the situation which one confronts. Quest­

ions give one a framework but are not intended to necessari­

ly limit the observer. One should initially remain open

for the possibilities which the situations will afford him.

Blanche Geer has described this as the process of develop­

ing working hypotheses:

One type of hypothesis is drawn up before entering the field, essentially a list of variables or in our case, questions which theory or common sense suggests may be relevant to what the investigator wishes to study. . . . Although he spends a good part of his time just lis­ tening to informants or drifting along with the group to see what will happen, the observer also forms hypo­ theses during the field work period. These are called working hypotheses.8

However, a recount of my procedures and the problems and

difficulties I encountered is in order.

Gaining Access to the Classroom

As I mentioned earlier, gaining access to school was

relatively easy. Z was looking for a "self-contained" up­

per grade classroom in the inner city area. A class that met more frequently than one period a day could be studied

in different situations. It also allowed for easier sche­ duling, as I could come in nearly any time of the day and

find the same group of students together.

8Blanche Geer, "First Days in the Field," Ibid., pp. 331-332. All Saints School

I had heard about All Saints School from one of the

teachers employed there at the time of the study and he

invited me to visit. After a few observations and conver- g sations with the principal, Sister Anne, regarding the

nature of the study, she agreed to give me access. Not one

of the teachers minded my presence and I was greeted at all

times in a warm, welcoming manner. The only request made

of me was that I avoid Nrs. Grimm's class, the elderly wo­ man who taught religion first period in the morning.

Sister's reason was simply: "1 think she Dlrs. Grimq) might be uncomfortable with an observer." However, after some visits and conversations with Mrs. Grimm, particularly over lunch, I simply began observing her class. It seemed

that very early in the study I became regarded as part of

the school routine.

Onondaga

Gaining access to Onondaga was simple and quick. I simply explained my needs to the assistant principal whom

I knew quite well before the study began. He agreed immedi­ ately and told me to show up the first day following Spring vacation. "I have just the teacher," he said. "Hr.

Wheatley is a very agreeable person and a strong teacher.

0A 1 1 names referring to participants in the study have been changed. 42 His group is modified meaning, the lowest regular track above Special Education but they're typical of our student body."

How 1 Was Received and M jl. Role as Observer

I intended on using the observatlon-interview tech­ nique because I realized that no single method or field strategy would reveal all the relevant aspects of the phe­ nomena at hand. Thus, in terms of observational roles that can be distinguished in field studies, I chose to stay at the observer end of the continuum, whereby I would not di­ rectly participate in the events studied. However, Ihe term 10 "observer-as-participant" best represents the dimensions of my role that were intended and those which emerged.

This term often refers to the roles used in studies involv­ ing one-visit-interviews, but it covered sufficiently the occasions when 1 would have a chance to engage in conver­ sation with the students. At such times the students be­ came informants, while 1 appeared interested and naive a- bout their roles. To be totally a "neutral” observer, meaning a piece of the furniture in the room, was impossi­ ble in either situation, but the difficulty was anticipated.

^For a fuller treatment of the different roles in a field study see Raymond S. Gold, "Roles in Sociological Field Observations,” Sociological Methods, ed. by Norman K. Dengin (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1970), pp. 370-80. All Saints School

At All Saints, Sister introduced me to the students

as an instructor from The Ohio State University who was

going to "sit in" class for awhile. 1 told her that I

wanted to explain to the students what I was doing, but

she felt that if the students knew they were being studied,

they would feel self-conscious. While I disagreed with her,

I complied and decided that I would explain my purpose sim­

ply as "watching what you do in school," whenever the ques­

tion arose. Therefore, each day I came into the class,

took a back seat, and wrote descriptions of what the stu­

dents were doing.

I was concerned with the deference I was shown by

Sister and the teachers at first. I did not want to stop

the flow of events and certainly did not want to be regarded

as an authority or even a teacher. However, from the start

I conceded the respect the school personnel, and particu­

larly the students, showed adults and accepted this as the

"way the school operated.”

The first morning in the room was not unusual. I

was recognized immediately since I had been there before,

and Colleen and Rose quickly got up to get me the folding

chair in the back, a habit which they repeated everyday.

As a matter of fact, I sometimes found the chair open and waiting next to Rose's desk when I entered. Along in the

study, when Rose did not come to school regularly, Debbie 44

and Karen would run for my chair and one would usually say,

"Put your chair next to mine." I slowly became an accepted member of the class and always when I missed a day of ob­

servation at All Saints, I would be greeted upon entering by one of the girls or boys, "It's about time you got here."

Or Debbie would say, "Where have you been? You missed a

good fight this morning. We really got mad at those boys.

They were making racist attacks again and Karen and I really

gave it to them."

The first few days of the study were a problem in terms of my role because Sister would occasionally come back to my chair bearing a piece of work finished by one of the students and comment to me in the following manner:

"Look at this penmanship!"

"It's very nice."

"Nice! Why, it's hardly readable. Guess we'll

have to get back to practicing it again. I

haven't been doing much with it this year and

some people's handwriting has steadily declined."

However, when I refused to comment or take her side (I was careful not to look too confidential with any teacher), she soon stopped acknowledging my presence in this manner.

Tim and a few others were curious about the study.

At the beginning, and particularly later in the study, Tim would "sneak" around behind my chair during a group activity change of class or a free period, and read my notes. At 45 such times, we'd both laugh and he'd ask a witty question such as "Are you going to get written permission from us

to publish this?" or "Who are you going to show this to?

When can I see what you're writing down?" I was constantly assuring individual members of both classes of the confi­ dential nature of the study. None of their teachers were to see what I was writing and I was not going to relate anything that was said to me. I maintained this throughout the study and the teachers respected that as an indication of retaining the students' trust.

It became evident in the early days at All Saints that I could take all the notes that I wanted during a class period, regardless of the antics displayed, but dur­ ing class changes or free time, note-taking had to cease because students became aware of my presence and felt self- conscious about my recordings. During these times,*stu­ dents sought me out for conversation and there would have been embarrassment on their part if 1 wrote immediately thereafter; so, 1 always reconstructed those conversations or activities later. These periods of conversation, either at the breaks, lunch with the girls, or walking down to the resource center became moments when I could verify some ac­ tion or obtain an explanation. An excerpt from the field notes demonstrates this:

Ronnie has for twenty minutes been doing what looks like math while the teacher lectures Qiocial studies 46

class?. It's probably last night's homework being copied... Ctime elapses]. Seven minutes to go in the period and the teacher gives students free time. Rose, Colleen, and Ron turn immediately and talk to me. I ask Ronnie if he was copying math homework earlier and he said, "Yes." This provoked a discussion on copying. Ron: "I don't copy too often. Sometimes I get copied from." Observer: "Who gets copied from the most?" Colleen and Ron: "Mary..."

In addition, I was always included in the activities which were not a part of the "formal lesson time." For example, the first week of the study included the annual

Easter party and egg hunt. Around 10:30, party food was distributed in the classroom and I was included in the treats. Suddenly, the class broke up to go hither and yon on errands for Sister. Host of the students went over to

Father Smith's rectory to hide the eggs for the younger

children. Another excerpt described the flow of events:

All the students but three, Hike, Ray, and John, have left. These boys work on an Easter bunny for another teacher. Sister gets playful and says to me, "Let's go over and watch the younger kids. I'll bring the camera. I think these boys will be good by themselves.". . . We leave for Father’s and she points out a few of the eighth grade boys on the way. "Those two, Doug and Tim, are quite a pair. Let them loose and they could turn this school upside down. They have so much life." The rest of the morning is spent at the egg hunt. All the eighth grader girls are there except Rose who is running errands. The students try to get me involved by giving me a few eggs and asking me to assist them. I refuse, saying I prefer to watch.

The more familiar they became with me, the more I was included in their activities. However, this posed prob

lems on occasion. Infrequently the boys would "act up" for me, as on the first day I came into religion class. By 47 that time I had been asked innumerably when I was coming in

to see "how awful Mrs. Grimm is," so my first day appeared

to be a treat for the students. For instance, everytime

Mrs. Grimm yelled, usually at the provocation of Timmy, he'd

turn around "to see if I was getting it down," and once he

caught my eye and started laughing as if to say, "See what

we can do?" At these times I Just maintained a straight

face and a disinterested look even though I often felt like

laughing at their antics.

In conducting the field study, there was an initial

concern that the students would not do in my presence what

they did in my absence. There were occasions at first when

Ray, for example, would be fooling with Mike. He would no­

tice me watching and stop his activities and laugh at Mike.

Certain other students would turn and ask on other occasions(

"Are you going to tell Sister?" For example, when the boys

were punished for laughing during music class with a long

writing assignment, they started to tell me what they

thought of the assignment but, stopped to ask if I would re­

peat what they were saying. After repeated assurances in

this regard, students at All Saints did not appear to stop

activity because of me. The best insurance against this

problem was the timing of my notetaking. I found I could

not watch anyone too closely or write notes immediately af­

ter a particular incident in which the student or students knew I was watching. Karen gave me my first indication that 48 there was an aspect of their behavior reserved only for stu­

dent members of the class. In the interview, she related:

There are some things that go on that can't be related to anyone because they're too shocking to tell. If you knew what some of the stuff was you wouldn't want to repeat it. You know, about sex and junk like that. The boys tease Kim about being fully developed and they tease me and Debbie and everybody. They do it when nobody's there 'cause it's real dirty. We just sit there and take it.

Of course, while I may never have seen them do this, many of

the students related incidents of this nature in the inter­

views, demonstrating their openness about their behavior in

my presence.

Onondaga

The problems encountered at Onondaga were somewhat

different. Hy first day found the curriculum coordinator,

llr. Williams, taking Hr. Wheatley's class because he was

going to be late. The assistant principal, Hr. Smith, in­

troduced me to Hr. Williams and I simply took my place in

the back of the classroom and began recording activities

and events as described below. A few students turned to

ask me what I was doing and I explained, "I'm watching what

you do in school.”

A student rarely paid attention to my presence during

the study. Eddie sat next to me the first day and simply watched me write since he was not paying attention to the teacher's lecture. Sharon would occasionally comment,

"Wow, you write so fast! How can you do it?" Only one 49 other time did a student comment to me about the study.

Rick and a group of boys were sitting in the back of the

room when Mr. Williams was substituting on another occasion.

I was seated nearby while they carried on some secretive

jokes. Rick turned suddenly and said to me, "Did you get

that down?" I looked puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?"

He replied, "Ron just farted," and turned back to the group.

Thus, one might say that students were more indif­

ferent to me at Onondaga than at All Saints. A few girls

would say hello, but for the most part I was ignored. There

was no hostility regarding my presence, just some initial

curiosity which faded almost immediately after 1 explained

myself.

An incident on the third day of the study posed some

threats to my role. I had met Mr. Wheatley the first day in

the teachers1 room. He was most cooperative and explained

that he would assist me in any way he could. Z told him

that it was important that I not be regarded as an authority

figure. I wanted students to feel free to do anything in my

presence without fear of reprisals. However, upon entering

the room the third day, he announced that he had a bulletin

board to finish for the upcoming track meet; he would only

be gone five minutes. He asked if I would tell the students

to start reading chapter five in the text when they arrived.

'I agreed and when the students entered I related his assign­

ment; but they looked at me in a puzzled way since I exerted no pressure on them. Immediately running around and yelling

began and continued while I took copious notes. However,

Hr. Wheatley did not return. Sometime during the period the

teacher from the adjoining room stormed in demanding to know

who was in charge of the class since his guest speaker was

being disturbed by the noise. Eddie pointed to me and the

teacher marched out. Realizing that I was thrust into an

unwanted role, I decided to engage the students in an infor­

mal question and answer session on college life. Hr.

Wheatley never returned for the remainder of the class. La­

ter I explained the difficulty of that situation to him.

Not surprisingly, the next-door teacher once mumbled when

given an explanation of my lack of "discipline" with the

class, "I don’t care if you are doing a study. No one

should ever allow that kind of confusion. Take your study elsewhere and don't bother us."

I never again encountered difficulties with my role.

In fact, conversations with students at Onondaga were virtu­

ally nil. I was ignored and simply became a piece of the

furniture. In this respect, it assured me that they did in my presence what they did in my absence. No one seemed to care what they said or what they did in my presence. I even observed two boys masturbating on three separate occasions.

They apparently forgot I was watching or they did not care.

But students rarely checked to see if I were watching. 51 Recording Data

In recording behavior in the classroom, the follow­

ing descriptive protocol, recommended by Herton, was fol­

lowed as closely as possible. 1 recorded the following

information:

1 . location of participants in the pattern within the so­

cial structure— differential participation;

2 . consideration of alternative modes of behavior excluded

by emphasis on the observed pattern (i.e., attention not

only to what occurs but also to what is neglected by vir­

tue of the existing pattern);

3. the emotive and cognitive meanings attached by partici­

pants in the pattern and the objective behavior involved

in the pattern;

4. a distinction between the motives for participating in

the pattern and the objective behavior involved in the

pattern;

5 . regularities of behavior not recognized by participants

but which are nonetheless associated with the central 11 pattern of behavior.

For example, there was always more activity going on in ei­ ther classroom than one could see at any one time, so cer­ tain ground rules emerged in the early days of the study.

It seemed that in both classes, the exception was when all students or even the majority were following the directives

**Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure, p. 60. 52 of the teacher. When in the classroom:

1. I noted the activity directed by the teacher and what the

student behavioral expectations appeared to be (or the

lack of expectations). When all students were attentive

to the activity, I noted it. When all were not following

or engaging in the proper work activity or requirement,

I noted that also. For the most part I tried to record

that which was occurring in spite of the teacher.

2. I chose to note that student behavior, activity, or event

which most clearly defied the expectations or the activi­

ty recommended by the teacher.

3. 1 chose that behavior, activity, or event which had the

majority of the students involved. For example, when

Ron was once standing up looking out the window, almost

the entire class watched him despite the fact that the

teacher was talking about something else.

4. I chose that Interaction or activity of the students or

student which provoked a teacher's comment, reprimand,

or praise.

5. I sometimes chose that activity of a student which con­

tinued despite a dominant activity (such as fooling a-

round) by the rest of the students or a group of stu­

dents. For instance, it seemed significant that when

the majority of Onondaga students were running around

and the rest were watching, Ken did not even watch. He

slept. 53

Interviewing

Table 1 indicated the number of students interviewed during the last two weeks of the study. It was my intention to interview each student for the purposes of constructing their perspective on the class and each other, and verify­ ing the meaning and frequency of certain activities in which they engaged. Therefore, I had a list of questions which I hoped to ask everyone, but the uniqueness of each student necessitated some different questions for each. Hy procedure was simple. The questions were formulated so as to be as open-ended as possible. What often occurred was a dialogue more than a question-answer period. Because I sought to confirm my observations, I often challenged state­ ments made by students with such comments as:

1. What do you mean? Can you give me an example?

2. How can you say that when I saw you do this . . . ?

3. When I saw you do this, what did you mean by it?

4. Why don't you do this more?

5. What meanings do you attach . . . ?

Questions

Therefore, the following list of general questions are examples of those compiled ahead of time and asked through the interviewing.

1. What do you do in school? Why do you do it?

2. What do the teacher's expect from you? Do different

teachers expect different things? 3. Do all the kids act in the same way to the tea­

chers* expectations? If so, why? If not, why not?

4. How do you know what is acceptable behavior and

what isn't?

5. What are your limits? What happens when you go be­

yond the limits? Who gets angrier, the teacher or

the other kids?

6 . Do you ever "pretend" you're reading or working?

Why? Why do you not bother to pretend?

7. When do you get bored? What do you do when you get

bored? Why don't you do something else?

8 . What are the things you are not supposed to do in

school or the classroom? Why do you do them (if

you do)?

9. Do some people try to get away with as "little" as

possible? How about you?

10. What does it mean to be a "good student?" An "aver­

age student?" A "bad student?"

11. Do some kids get away with more than others? Why?

12. What does it mean to "provoke" a teacher? What does

It mean to your friends?

13. What does it mean to "look like" you're being a stu­

dent?

14. Can you do "two things at once" in class? How?

15. Do people have different labels in the class: the

best student, the clown, teacher's pet, etc.? 55 16. Who are the leaders? Are there different leaders?

17. Who hangs around with whom? What does that mean?

18. What are some of the things you Just do not do be­

cause the kids will "get you?" What does it mean

to "get on you?"

18. Cheating. Do some people cheat more than others?

What do you do when you cheat?

20. Onondaga: Why don't you get together and cheat?

Do other kids resent it?

21. What are some of the strategies you use to get out

of tight situations, like being called on and not

knowing the answer or being asleep or getting

caught cheating on a test? How do you avoid embar­

rassment?

22. What threats of punishment do you disregard? What

ones bother you? How is punishment given out in

class?

23. How do you know when the teacher gets mad? is

pleased? wants you to get to work? doesn't really

mean what he says? likes some kids more than others?

24. Onondaga: How do you feel about being in a modified

class? Why?

Due to student absences, I was not able to Interview everyone. At All Saints, Rose, who came rarely after Easter vacation, could not be reached. At Onondaga the problem was more acute since students were absent frequently. Patsy, 56 Paulai Sylvia, Brenda, Sharon, and Carl were missed for this reason. Carl was kept out of school by his parents because he had been beaten by some students. However, both Ken and

Dave refused to be interviewed. In each school I explained the purpose of the interview in the following manner: The interview was strictly voluntary, it had nothing to do with the teacher's expectations of them. Because I had been watching them for some time I simply wanted to see if I un­ derstood what was happening in the class as they saw it.

1 was received differently in each school. At All

Saints, students started asking me the fourth week of the study, "When are you going to ask us questions?" When I finally asked Sister if I could begin the seventh week of the study, some ran up to me and demanded to be first. Rick summed up the class attitude when he said, "We'd be honored to have you interview us." At Onondaga 1 asked the class if those students who wanted to participate would fill out their class schedule. This was done without expression of any kind or concern as to the meaning of the experience.

Interviewing itself was more difficult at Onondaga. At All

Saints students talked without prompting and many had to be literally stopped after forty-five minutes. Tim, Karen,

Rick, and Debbie asked if they could continue it another time and Debbie added, "It feels good to get this all out."

Students at Onondaga were more fearful and inarticulate.

They needed more encouragement, definition, and prompting. A few boys— Ron, Hark, and Eddie— felt it was fun and would

have gladly repeated the experience, but most of the others

communicated disinterest and even fear. Two examples from

the interviews for each school demonstrate these differences

All Saints

Q. Someone outside of class told me that Tim was the teachers' pet. A. I don't know. Hary used to be Sister's pet. It may be Ray. Because we've noticed...Ya, it's Ray. Because when we have math and he does something she doesn't really get mad. She starts cracking up and laughing about it. Q. What's doing something wrong? To do something wrong something's got to be expected of you, right? A. Well, Ray will break his pencil which he's just bought and he'll stick it in his ear and sit there and stare at Sister like this Cgesture? and he'll talk to Rick or Rob or hit somebody. That's what gets her mad. But sometimes he does it and you'll look over at her and she don't really get mad. Q. Well, do different teachers expect different things from you? A. Sister wouldn't put up with what Hr. White does. We lost one teacher because of the eighth grade boys. We lost Urs. C. for art at the beginning of the year and they did something. I don't remember what they did the first day she was there. It hurt her, that's all I know, and she couldn't come to our classroom any more. We went back and apologized to her and she told us it wasn't any of the eighth grade girls but the boys wouldn't apologize to her, so she would­ n't come back. Even if they did, she wouldn't take them back.

Onondaga

Q. Do you have friends in this class? A. Yes. Just about everybody. Q. Who's your best friend? A. (Pause) I don't know. Q. How do you know when a teacher likes some students more than others? Is there a way you can tell? A. Not that I know of. Q. Would you say that Hr. W. has any favorites? A. No. 58

Q. Is there anybody is the room that is more popular than anyone else? A. Sandra and Gary speak up more than anybody else. Q. Do you ever get copied from? A. No. Don't know nothing about it. Q. Cheating? A. No.

Analysis of Data

Howard Becker summarized the problem I faced in ana­ lyzing systematically the immense amount of data gathered in an observational study and in presenting the conclusions so as to convince other scientists of their validity.

Participant observation (indeed, qualitative analy­ sis generally) has not done well with this problem and the full weight of evidence for conclusion and the processes by which they were reached are usually not presented, so that the reader finds it difficult to make his own assessment of them and must rely on his faith in the researcher. 3

Therefore, Becker has indicated an ideal type in the process of data analysis which even Smith and Geoffrey admitted, in their study of the urban classroom, was difficult to follow to the letter. Thus in the spirit of Becker, the analysis of data here follows roughly this outline:

The first thing we note about participant ob­ servation research is that analysis is carried on sequentially, important parts of the analysis being made while the researcher is still gathering his data. This has two obvious consequences: Further data gathering takes its direction from provisional analysis; and the amount and kind of provisional

^Additional interview samples in Appendix B.

13h .S. Becker, "Problems of Inference and Proof in Participant Observation," American Sociological Review, XXVIII (1958), pp. 652-60. 59 analysis carried on is limited by the exigencies of the field work situation, so that final com­ prehensive analyses may not be possible until the field work is completed,

1. Selection and Definition of Problems, Concepts and Indices* In this staged the observer looks for problems and concepts that give promise of yielding the greatest understanding of the organization he is studying, and for items which may serve as useful Indicators of facts which are harder to observe,

2. Checking the Frequency and Distribution of Phe­ nomena . The observer, possessing many provisional problems, concepts, and indicators, now wishes to know which of these are worth pursuing as major foci of his study. He does this, in part, by discovering if the events that prompted their development are typical and widespread, and by seeing how these events are distributed among categories of people and organizational sub-units. He reaches conclusions that are essentially quantitative, using them to describe the organization he is studying.

3. Construction of Social Systems Models. The fi­ nal stage of analysis in the field consists of in­ corporating individual findings into a generalized model of the social system or organization under study or some part of the organization. . . .

4. Final Analysis and the Presentation of Results. The final systematic analysis, carried on after the field work is completed, consists of rechecking and rebuilding models as carefully and with as many safe­ guards as the data will allow.^

Figure 1 (page 60) illustrates the developmental pro­

cess of model building. Using Homans' notion, as expressed

earlier, of moving from lower order to higher order abstrac­

tions in theory building, the first step was to describe 15 behavior. For example, I observed a student or students

in various situations doing specific things. Describing

1 4 Ibid., pp. 398-413.

1 5Homans, The Human Group, p. 12. SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS

FIRST LEVEL ABSTRACTION

SECOND LEVEL ABSTRACTION ROLE ROLE

INFORMAL ORGANIZATION THIRD LEVEL ABSTRACTION FORMAL ORGANIZATION

FOURTH LEVEL ABSTRACTION

TOTAL SYSTEM

FIG. 1.— The Developmental Process of Model Building o> 61 different behavior is a first-level abstraction according to

Homans. For instance, I noted what Ray did in different

situations:

Ray sketches while class works on math.

Ray pokes Tim continuously during social studies to the delight of Ron who watches on.

Ron points out to me, ”Ray is our class clown.”

Ray makes faces in mockery of Mrs. G. for the benefit of all the kids behind him. The group responds with giggles.

Secondly, I integrated the behavior, explaining it in

terms of a role or a second-level abstraction. For instance,

1 found after many observations that Ray’s role was in fact that of the clown. No one, including the teacher, expected any work of him. Other roles were derived in this manner.

For example, the following are a list of the roles which became particularly relevant to the model building process of the study.

Class Clown.— A pupil role in which the pupil minimally en­ gages in work activities and whose behavior is expected to be humorous by the rest of the class.

Floater.— A pupil role in which the pupil, while engaging in a task, carries on unrelated, nontask activities.

Fooler.— A pupil role in which the pupil rarely gives at­ tention to the task activity, but rather, engages in fre­ quent personal or interactive activities.

Helper.— A pupil role in which the pupil assists other group members in completing tasks such as homework or tests. 62

Independent Student.— A pupil role in which the pupil rarely

asks for assistance or gives assistance with tasks.

Leader.— A pupil role in which the pupil (1) is regarded by others as having high status in the group and (2 ) adheres more closely than other group members to the norms of the group.

Moderator.— A pupil role in which the pupil is expected to maintain the harmony of a certain group.

Policeman■--A pupil role in which the pupil carries out cer­ tain sanctions against group members who have violated the norms of the group.

The Question-Responder.— A pupil role in which the pupil generally answers the questions of the teacher for the rest of the class.

Reliable Student.— A pupil role in which a pupil is (1) cooperative, responsive and quiet and (2) a good reader.

Tattler. — A pupil role in which the pupil (1) finks and

(2 ) reports violations of teacher or student expectations for pupil behavior to the teacher or other authorities.

Teacher*s Helper.— A pupil role in which the pupil volun­ teers for or is called by the teacher to execute teacher- directed tasks, which are generally unrelated to academic tasks.

Unreliable Student.— A pupil role in which the pupil is

(1 ) uncooperative and unresponsive and (2 ) a poor reader.

Worker.— A pupil role in which the pupil engages in all of 63 the task activities.

On the third-level of abstraction I integrated the role into a picture of the formal and informal organization 16 as was defined earlier. Dysfunctional behavior becomes im­ portant to recognize here because this is where conflict lies. Dysfunctional behavior is that behavior which is out­ side any specific role. One should be reminded that in this process of model building, we are inferring motives because we assume that individuals are motivated toward the optimi­ zation of gratification.

Lastly, in the model building process, I integrated concepts and items in terms of the entire social system 17 which Parsons defined earlier. This constitutes the fourth-level of abstraction. On this level, it was the in­ tent to integrate the set of shared symbols or understand­ ings of role and role expectations.

16 See Definition of Terms on page 8 and 9. 17 See Parson's definition of a social system on page 3. CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION OF THE DATA

Part I; All Saints Parochial School

The Setting

The study began April 5t 1971, in All Saints Paro­ chial School, a parish-run grammar school in a lower income white district of downtown Columbus. It had formerly been a grammar school (K-8 ) and a high school (9-12) but in recent years because of diocesan centralization of high schools, the parish discontinued its high school but continued to maintain an elementary school for a dwindling clientele.

While many of the students were members of the parish, approximately one-third of the 153 students traveled from the nearby Air Force base. A few others came from other areas of the city; some bussed, some driven by parents and friends. The school was integrated and the student popula­ tion reflected the black-white proportion of the area. Ap­ proximately one-sixth of the students (25) were black, and while blacks lived in the neighborhood it was considered a

"less fortunate situation" by the students to be in a neigh­ borhood with blacks. One of the students summed up the pre­ vailing attitude about the neighborhood when he was discus­ sing why one of his classmates "has a problem" in getting along In class:

I guess he hasn't had breaks and he lives in a neighborhood with colored people. I guess that's what it is.

The school, located on a small concrete tract of land, was approximately fifty years old and reflected the growth the school experienced in its early years. One-half of the building was added a few years after the original structure to accommodate the high school. The gym connected both wings and one either had to go through the gym or outside in order to move from one half of the building to the other.

That portion that formerly constituted the grammar school was rented out to the County for a special education pro­ gram which planned to take over the entire school next year when All Saints closed for financial reasons.

The halls of the school were dark and bare with an occasional life size statue of St. Joseph or the Virgin Mary breaking the monotony. There were four plain, rectangular rooms on each floor and they were noticeably barren yet clean.

The Organization of the School

All Saints had a hierarchical organizational scheme.

Father Smith as Pastor of the parish was official principal of the school although he was rarely there. Responsibility was delegated to Sister Anne, acting principal, who made all of the daily, routine decisions. Father was used as a final 66 threat or call to authority if students were particularly unruly, which rarely happened. In addition, he was the liaison person with the higher diocesan authorities in mat­ ters of policy and finance.

Sister Anne was the homeroom teacher for the eighth grade. She taught math, English, science, and music in ad­ dition to teaching religion and math to one of the lower grades. There were two other religious personnel in the school and the other five teachers were "lay" in the Catho­ lic terminology. All but one were female. Three of the staff were new teachers, either in their first or second year of teaching. Two others were seasoned veterans, one having taught for over forty years.

There were no substitutes available to All Saints, so when a teacher was absent one of the others covered the class in his or her free period. Usually this consisted of giving a written assignment which the students were compel­ led to complete immediately and finish, if necessary, for homework. Due to the small size of the entire school and the fact that students carried messages back and forth be­ tween teachers, everyone was aware of the activities going on in other rooms. It was quite common to hear Sister say,

"I wonder if Mrs. C. is going to take her students over to

Mass," and to have one of the boys pipe up, "Yah, I just saw her. She says s h e fs leaving at 9:15."

The teachers prided themselves on the warm, friendly, 67 personal atmosphere. They were committed to train children

to respect authority and live "in a Christian manner."

Classes were run in what would be described as the tradi­

tional approach and Sister Anne openly supported "the old

ways" as more reliable than some of the "newer methods."

She admitted that it was difficult to change one's ways but

allowed her teachers to do what they wanted. For the most

part, teachers observed in the eighth grade presented les­

sons from the front of the class and dominated or monitored

closely any conversation or discussion. Lessons were done

in unison by a class covering a certain amount of material

a week and using the standard texts.

The morning class time usually consisted of periods running forty minutes in length. This was always subject to change due to Mass, a field trip, or a special movie to which no teacher particularly objected. For Instance, Ur. White would say to Sister in the hall some afternoon, "Say, would you mind if I showed the World War I movie to the seventh and eighth graders together in the morning? It's long and it would save me having to show it twice." Sister would reply, "No, go right ahead. I'll give the math test to the eighth graders in the afternoon."

Afternoons were equally flexible. Teachers stayed with their classes and varied the activity ahd its length depending on what was happening. Gym might be taken away if students did not behave properly; on the other hand, the 68

class could merit an extra period of gym if their behavior

was particularly good or if Sister was in a cheerful mood.

The eighth graders remained together for the entire

day with teachers coming to them for different subject

areas. "Departmentalization" was tried last year for the

first time. However, due to the small number of teachers

it meant that a teacher might teach religion, social studies

and art to the class for which he had a major responsibility

but take English and math with two other classes also.

Therefore the eighth grade schedule would look like this:

Time Subject Teacher

9:00-9:30 Religion Mrs. Grimm 9:30-10:15 Social Studies Mr. White 10:15-11:00 Mathematics Sister Anne 11:00-11:40 Reading Miss Jones L U N C H 12:10-12:30 Spelling Mrs. Grimm Alternate Gym, Art afternoons Music, Science Sister Anne a week

The Organization of the Class

The eighth grade room where the students spent the

day, unless they had gym, was located on the second floor.

The room was of average size, beige in color with black­ boards on two walls. The outside wall had windows curiously

reminiscent of the factory type, opening onto a busy thor­ oughfare. Lockers lined the back of the room and they were used for students' outer apparel in addition to books,

games, and art material. There were few indications of at­

tempts at creativity in the room. Stations of the Cross 69 lined the border over the blackboard at the front of the room. An American flag stood at the one end of the board while a statue of the Virgin Mary was propped at the other.

The seventeen desks were constructed of metal and wood with a shiny formica surface.

As in Figure 2 the desks were sometimes arranged in a semi-circular fashion. The daily arrangement of chairs depended in part upon the disposition of the Janitor who cleaned at night. Sometimes they were arranged in a horse­ shoe fashion around the outside of the room, but for the most part, the desks took the traditional row formation.

From what Sister said, "I guess the janitor likes them this way," it seemed that she had no preference her­ self. However, one of the students mentioned, "I like the desks in rows because we're closer together." Figure 3 illustrates the physical arrangement of the students for the greater portion of the time.

While there was no "typical day" at All Saints, there were routines which were maintained. Students started arriving any time after 8:30 a.m. but class did not begin until close to 9:00. Mrs. Grimm, a very elderly woman, was with the students at 8:45 a.m. for attendance and then re­ ligion.

Selections from the actual field notes will demon­ strate the flow of activities throughout the day as they might occur if one were present: Teacher's Desk Doug

Ward Debb Timmy

nnie

Cim

Rose 1^John^ Col lee; Hike

Observed

FIG. 2.— CLASS ARRANGEMENT OF EIGHTH GRADE Teacher’s Desk

Doug Tim Rob Rick

Ward Mike John

Karen Collec n Sally

Kim Cindy Debbie

C bserve:

FIG. 3.— CLASS ARRANGEMENT OF EIGHTH GRADE 72 It is a hot morning and Debbie and Karen greet students as they come in and say, "We're mad. We had no fans and all the other rooms that we checked had two so we demanded ours and took some from the gym. No one was using them." Mrs. Grimm usually stands in the front of the room waiting until it's time to start. She is alone. Only a few students are in the room, the rest are running errands for Sister or other teachers. The few students who are in the room talk while they are waiting until it's time to start. Mary runs and asks someone, "Where is Washington, D.C.7" Rick answers the question and a big discussion, almost an argument, between Rick and Mary ensues. They bring in Mrs, Grimm who says, "Enough of this. Washington is a separate district. It's not part of Maryland." Rick starts for the map to check but Mrs. Grimm interrupts, "Don't bother. Sit down." Mary says, "See, Rick, you owe me a dollar." Their argument continues and Mrs. Grimm threatens that if they don't be quiet she'll shut off the fans. At 8:50, although the class has not officially begun (no books or papers are out), Mrs. Grimm wants to start a discussion. She asks questions to which she gives short, memorized responses. "Can Protestants be saved, Class? Yes, they can. Are they in the fullness of the Faith? No, of course not. What is the parable of the Good Samaritan?" No one answers. They just ignore her. Cindy, Debbie and Karen leave the room for some reason. There's a lot of walking around, getting started while Mrs. Grimm tries to begin the discussion. She laments, "Yesterday's class would have been a failure if Rick hadn't saved it." Kim explains that Mrs. Grimm sometimes brings in a lay (nonre­ ligious) person to talk to them because they never listen to her. On these occasions she threatens that if they talk at all she'll go to Father. As usual, Rick answers the questions for her to satis­ fy the class's obligation to give her some atten­ tion. At 9:05 the class is still far from settled down. Cindy, Debbie and Karen return looking ra­ ther secretive but no one stops to ask them any­ thing. Ray is doing the attendance slips and moves to leave but not before he very loudly yells to Ward, "Kevin is absent again." He laughs and exits as if to provoke Mrs. Grimm. 73 Colleen and Mary come in and the class is near­ ly full. The students continue visiting. They appear to want to provoke Mrs. Grimm. They ignore her questions about religion and when she speaks they turn to each other and mock her by mimicking what she says. Mrs. Grimm finally commands, ''Rise for prayers. Anyone who doesn't want to pray, stay in their seat." All stand up. Rose quickly turns and says to someone, "This is something else. Watch." They pray and each makes his own "intention," as they take turns around the room. Ray takes his turn by saying, "For my sick cat. Let us pray to the Lord." Snickers rise from some students as they rea­ lize that Ray has made a joke. Mrs. Grimm senses something wrong but apparently she did not hear because her expression hardly changes. The class then salutes the flag and they sit down. The morning has officially begun. By this time the rest of the students have re­ turned from errand running. Mrs. Grimm again be­ gins to talk about religion. Her topic is the Ecu­ menical Movement. Her voice is loud and shrill as she paces back and forth making comments: "Can you still be a good person and not a Ca­ tholic? "Yes," answers Rick. "Why?" "Because you don't have to be a Catholic to be saved." While she talks the following activity in the class goes on: Debbie, Colleen, Cindy and Sally visit in a manner that indicates their disinterest in Mrs. Grimm and the saving of the Protestants. Sally is turned around in her chair talking quietly. Ray quickly getB involved in the side discussion about the pictures of the Beatles which are being passed around. Karen and Kim talk as Kim leafs through a Mad magazine. Karen intersperses her conversation with snatches of The Pearl, the book currently being read in English class. More pictures get passed around, but this time they're family photos. Mary, who has been quiet to this point, asks Debbie if she can see the pictures while Mrs. Grimm continues her monologue* Suddenly the teacher stops talking and removes a newspaper from Mike's desk. Mike makes a comment out of the side of his mouth to Ray and Mrs. Grimm turns and slaps him with the paper. She is vlsi- 74 bly angry as she says, "You've been hit harder than that." "Not by you," he replies. "Well, by others." Around 9:20 Hrs. Grimm suddenly stops the class and announces, "We're going over to the movie now. Act like eighth graders." They are leaving religion class earlier than usual because llr. White is show­ ing a rather long film for social studies class. They all file downstairs to the Resource Center, girls together and boys together. Immediately the students group themselves at the large tables in the manner indicated in Figure 4. While they are taking their places Tim comes in asking for donations for the traditional Easter gift for Father Smith. Tim shakes the can as the movie begins and receives rebuffs from the students. "Tell Sister none of us have any money." "She'll get mad," Tim replies. "So what?" Ur. White stops the projector momentarily to say, "This is a filmstrip on the Civil War. I think you'll like it." However, the money collection occupies their attention and they continue talking. Tim contin­ ues to shake the can around the room, laughing with his classmates, until Hr. White nicely puts his hand on Tim's neck, a signal to settle down. While Rick runs the film projector the only one who seems to pay attention to the movie is Hr. White. He ignores the class and the boys give themselves over to other activities for the remainder of the period. Ray is sketching. Ron­ nie drops a coin in Tim's collection can and draws a titter from the rest of the boys. Bob and Doug talk and play a game with their hands, as if they are trying to push the air with their hands. Ray finally notices and he alerts John and Hike who watch with rapture. Soon they, too, begin the action and talk among themselves. Rose and Colleen watch the film except when they are giving attention to the girls at the other side of the room. While the boys were fool­ ing, the girls watched the filmstrip attentively for fifteen minutes but now they begin to talk among themselves quietly. Their activity seems much more sedate than the boys, however. Sally has her head down on the table and she and Debbie appear to be the center of the conversation. One can observe slight pokes to one another in the group and sudden outbursts of giggling. At this Screen

Doug Yard

Sally Jo in a

Mike Roil Mary Debblie

Colleen Rose Obs erver Mr. Smith

Rick at Projector

FIG. 4.— CLASS ARRANGEMENT IN THE RESOURCE CENTER EIGHTH GRADE

* 76 time Rose is particularly attentive to the other girls. There are a few moments when the students watch the filmstrip but for the most part the students talk with each other or watch someone else who does. One might describe the action as playful attention or inattention to each other. When the film ends, the boys immediately get up and form a circle at the other end of the room. There was no attempt on Mr. White's part to explain the filmstrip, so the boys begin a seance act in which they try to lift Rick with Just one finger each. The girls look on or talk to one another. Mr. White gives the boys some helpful instructions on how the act should be done while he puts the films away, thus giving approval to their actions. While this is going on Colleen takes care of the projector and comments, "I might as well keep busy. It makes the day go faster." The walk back to the room is more disorganized than the walk down. The boys brag among themselves, "John can beat up anyone in the room." All the boys laugh as the students file into an unsupervised room. It is 10:15 and Rose gets right to work on her poster. She doesn't participate in the class activity which involves most of the students, talk­ ing to each other and waiting to begin math. Sister soon comes in and reminds them that math is about to begin. She calls for homework to be taken out. The room is an array of students get­ ting out homework, compasses and paper in a very serious manner— a contrast to the previous few minutes. However, Colleen has passed a bottle of soda to Rose. Rose can't control her laughter so she puts her head in her hands. Sister is giving directions and sees this but ignores it. Rose gets up and sneaks around behind Sally's desk and plants the soda there. Sister simply yells to the entire class, "If you people don't get as you're supposed to be for math you'll be doing it at 3:00." Notice­ able quiet descends upon the room. A test is about to be given so Sister writes problems on the board. At this time interaction among the students simply goes on more quietly. Mike and Colleen are fooling— he Jabs her with his fist and she slugs him back. John watches and laughs. Sister turns to give directions and they stop. It is mostly a memory work test: "Write a definition and draw. . . . Classify the following triangles. . . ." Sally, however, is talking to Mary and she draws a reprimand from Sister, "Sally, no discussion. 77 Do your work.1* Miss Jones, the reading teacher, comes in the room and begins talking with Sister. This appears to be a signal to start visiting. Sister turns back quickly to the class and says, "Karen," who looks appropriately contrite as Sister's correction. Sister returns to Miss Jones and whispering in the class continues, but as soon as she glances around "conferencing" about the test stops. After fifteen minutes the students begin to work diligently and the room becomes noticeably quieter. Sister wanders around, bestowing her glances on a few students at a time. Doug is con­ ferring with Timmy on a problem but Sister hasn't noticed. When Sister's attention is entirely taken away by Sally's question, Doug turns again to Timmy and openly points to the board. They seem in ear­ nest on a problem but this lasts only a minute be­ cause Sister suddenly turns back to the class. The pattern of behavior in the class could best be described as follows: all students look very serious and busy. Whenever Sister is turned away from the group or a portion of the room, conferencing begins. It appears that the students are helping each other, not simply exchanging answers. Also, students raise their hands and ask questions of Sister regarding procedures in working out problems. Colleen, however, raises her hand and asks, "Is this answer right?" Sister's reply is "No answers now. We'll get those later." In contrast, a few moments later Rob raises his hand and appears stumped on a procedure. He asks, "Have I missed a step?" and she bends over to as­ sist him. As soon as Sister turns back to the class conferencing betwen individuals again stops. Students start handing in the papers as they finish their tests. Ray is bringing his paper up but as he walks by John he points with his pencil to a particular spot on his paper and John responds with an answer. Ray then walks up to Sister's desk, erases his paper and changes the answer, all with the utmost seriousness, directly in front of Sister. Although everyone is not finished, the period is coming to a close and Sister says, "Those who are finished may take your break quietly." Then she turns to the students still working and adds, "Put your papers away. Finish them after lunch." Five do so and get up to leave for the restrooms with the others. Thus, some have handed their test papers in and some have not. 78 Colleen and Hose sit together while the others are gone. They chat and wait for reading to begin. Groups file back in and talk loudly. Hiss Jones enters. No one pays attention to her but they seem aware of her presence because they slowly begin moving in the direction of their desks, although the talking doesn't cease. Ron has been at the window along with a few other boys since their return from the break. All the others sit down when Miss Jones begins calling for student opinions regarding the Lt. Calley inci­ dent, currently in the news. She does not wait for quiet but Just begins talking about the press cover­ age of the incident, asking the class what they think. Slowly students start interacting with her and leaving their visiting. Ron, however, does not do so. He is completely out of his seat at the win­ dow, laughing to a boy outside. Mike gets involved talking and laughing from his seat and stretching his neck to see out the window. Miss Jones ignores this even when the other boys start turning away from the discussion to make asides to Ron. She appears to be trying to lead a discussion and moni­ tors all the comments except those which are made aside to each other. Finally Ron stops and sits back in his desk, but he continues to ignore the discussion. Miss Jones begins reading a poem aloud which she feels is related to the Lt. Calley incident, but Doug is talking to Yard when she begins and she turns to say, "Please," to him. He stops and so does the rest of the class. She then hands out dittoed copies of the poem to the class and asks the class the meaning of certain passages. Rick, Debbie, Sally and Tim exchange opinions with her but she seems to be looking for specific items. While this is occurring, there is quite a bit of commotion around the room. Students are making asides to each other, usually something related to the discussion. Every few minutes Miss Jones stops and says, "Quiet, please." She conducts all the discussion standing in front of the room. At this time, Mike, Tim and Ron keep time to a silent beat while rapping together on their desks and rocking rhythmically back and forth. Mike suddenly stops and trys to pull one of Kim's long blond hairs. Although he attempts this three times she doesn't appear to be too upset. She simply gives him an annoyed look. 79 Rose raises her hand and begins giving her opinion on the matter up for discussion. She is having a hard time being heard so Karen and Sally say, "Shush," to the class. This brings results. Rose finishes what she has to say and suddenly goes for her pocketbook in the locker at the back of the room. Ray, who has been engrossed in his sweat band for the last ten minutes, puts it around his leg like a garter and turns to John for approval. Suddenly the class stops discussing the matter at hand. Students get up and talk with each other which is the signal for Hiss Jones to say,"O.K. Get ready for lunch." Down in the cafeteria, the girls' conversations center around the teachers as lt usually does when an observer is there. When asked what settles them down during Mrs. Grimm's class, Hary replies, "Sister coming in. Hrs. Grimm usually threatens us even when we're not doing anything. Then she gets Sister and Sister always takes her side and we get in trouble, like staying after school. We don't really care though, because they can't threaten us." Karen adds, "That really bothers me. I think a teacher should be able to handle something on her own. I can't stand it when you've got to run to someone else." The rest of the conversation consists of inci­ dents to demonstrate Hrs. Grimm's inconsistent be­ havior. "Her nephew is in the hospital. His name is Nick. She asks us to pray for Nick and she calls all the boys Nick. She's senile." "Also hard of hearing. I ask, 'Can I go to the bathroom?' and she says, 'Yes, you can empty the wastebasket.*" "When we come to the mention of dating and sex in the book her eyes pop out and she panics and says, * Let * s move o n .*" "The boys love to bother her but suddenly she'll yell at someone for nothing." "And it's the dullest subject. All we do is read out of the old text and answer questions. Hiss Jones and Hr. White are O.K. We don't mind them because they're nice. After lunch and recess on the playground, the students come back to the room for spelling with Hrs. Grimm. She is standing in front of the room giving directions and yelling for quiet but no one seems to care. Homework comes out and they open their spelling books. Suddenly the teacher announces, 80 "Take dictation." Papers are pulled hurriedly out of notebooks as students settle down to their writing. While she recites, Hrs. Grimm rattles a set of keys constantly. Karen asks a question of information to Hary. Rob makes gestures to Tim, but they're not copy­ ing, only mocking Hrs. Grimm. Tim laughs and Hrs. Grimm stares down at him. He snickers back. Ron asks her to slow the dictation down and she replies, "If you'd go ahead and write instead of waiting, you'd get it." A knock at the door forces her to pause and a small boy enters and asks for the basketball be­ longing to his bigger brothers, Ray and Ron. They refuse to give it, so Hrs. Grimm shouts and orders Ray to loan the ball. He makes faces and gestures while handing the ball over to his brother. Suddenly she yells to the class, "You're rattle­ brained and thinking about everything else. You can't talk about everything else and concentrate. Stop talking." The dictation finally ends and each student takes a word and spells it out to check the dicta­ tion. Tim is right under her and is making taunting remarks to Rob. She stands between them and sud­ denly interrupts Tim, "Turn your face around here." "I'm helping him." (snicker). "He doesn't need your help.” Ron has a compass in hand and he pokes John. As Tim turns to watch this Hrs. Grimm yells, "Turn your face around," and she swats him with a paper. Tim simply laughs while Ron continues to poke John with his compass. Recitation of the words go around the room. It's now 1:45 p.m. and Hrs. Grimm brings the class to a halt with a homework assignment, an ex­ ercise in the spelling workbooks for tomorrow. She exits quickly. Immediately, Sister enters and orders, "Go down to the gym for music. Set up your chairs properly." The students saunter down to the gym in groups . As Rose and Colleen go to leave Sister speaks to them and they depart in another direction. She explains, "Father Smith just called over from the rectory. He wants two responsible girls to do some secretarial work. I sent Rose and Colleen because I know they don't like to sing." On the way down to the gym, Karen and Debbie are talking furiously about some of the racial com­ ments the boys were making when they came in from lunch. 81 Both girls, who are black, say, "Well, we've about had it with the boys. These comments about race have gone far enough." Kim, who is white, Joins in. "Well, Debbie, you really gave Ron quite a slug." Debbie replies, "He really deserves it. He's bad." In the gym everyone goes about setting up a chair for themselves, the seventh grade on one side and the eighth grade on the other. The eighth grade girls are in the front two rows, except Rose and Colleen who have gone to the rectory. There is a large distance between the girls and the boys and it is apparent that the girls are giving their at­ tention to Sister while the boys are beginning to busy themselves by fooling around. Sister passes out song books and she proceeds to direct the song "I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande." The seventh grade and the eighth grade girls sing but the boys have formed themselves into two groups. Hike, Ron, Rick and Ward cluster to­ gether in the row ahead of John, Ray and Tim. Rob and Doug sit next to Ward, however, they seem to be giving more attention to Sister than the others. The boys sing an occasional line but then stop to make comments out of the sides of their mouths for the benefit and delight of each other. Tim, Ray and John crack Jokes to one another. Tim turns and says, "Do you remember the time Ray took off his shoe and made like a phone when the telephone rang?" (The office phone rings in the room because there is no secretary. Rick usually answers it.) Giggles rise from Ray and John as Ray takes off his shoe and repeats the act. Sister looks and frowns and the three say, "Oh, oh," but they merely giggle to each other and slump down in their chairs. Hike reaches over and pulls Ward's tie. "Tie your tie," he laughs. Bob tries to tie it and Hike repeats the action. Laughter bursts from Rob, Hike and Ward, so Hike does it again. Then he turns around in his chair picking at Rob who slugs him back playfully. Sud­ denly it stops Just as quickly as it began as they sing a few bars of the song. Sister has said nothing to the boys yet, except, "There'll be a surprise for you all later." If this is a threat it does not appear to worry them. Ray, however, gets serious only for a minute as he is back laughing loudly at a Joke Tim Just made. When Sister's eyes fall on them they suddenly 82 straighten their smiles, after which they sing but it's grossly off tune. Ray exaggerates the words which elicits laughter from Tim. Then the three start swaying side to side in mock rhythm of the song being practiced, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." Suddenly Sister looks at her watch. It's 2:00 and she commands, "Put the chairs away and return to your rooms." Her expression changes as she orders the eighth grade boys to line up. The girls are told to stay in the gym as Hrs. Vita, a student teacher in phy­ sical education, is arriving for gym class. Rick pipes up with, "Why can't the boys have gym, Sister?" "Just do as you're told." They file out and Sister can be heard yelling loudly but unintelligibly at the boys on the way to the room. All the girls but Colleen and Rose, who have not returned, are throwing a ball waiting for Hrs. Vita to begin. However, Hrs. Vita just stands a- round, not quite sure what to do since the boys are gone and the playground where she intended to play is filled with cars. Debbie explains, "The boys aren't playing be­ cause they weren't singing and because of what they said to us at lunch." The group finally votes for a game of kick-ball and all five play in the gym. Back at the classroom Sister is standing outside the classroom talking gayly to a few visitors while she keeps a watchful eye on the boys who are sitting quietly writing away. She explains in a cheerful manner, "Well, they were just awful during music. Hike was kicking people and Tim and Ray never shut up. They know they're not supposed to behave like that. So they're writing." The phone rings and as Sister leaves to answer lt Rick retorts, "We're being punished for nothing." Tim is writing a composition, "I must be good in music class. I must sing when it's time to sing and I should be quiet when other sections are sing­ ing, etc." The rest are doing the same, but Ray, Ron and Tim say, "This stuff doesn't bother us. This is just something to keep us busy. We do it ’cause we have to do it and we say it 'cause we have to. But lt doesn't stop us." The boys all laugh together in a spirit of com­ radeship. 83

Sister returns and the supervision continues, however, the mood is very light. Sister Jokes with the boys and they respond. It's nearly 2:45, time for dismissal, and she says, "You are to take those home and finish them for tomorrow. I do not want to see a repeat of that behavior. You know what you are supposed to do." Rick starts to protest, as he feels he's been unfairly treated, "But Sister. ..." His plea is ignored as Sister turns away. The girls return and the class prepares to leave. Some stand at their desks. Some talk in small groups. Both Colleen and Doug proceed to help Sister. He puts the overhead projector away while Colleen takes a message for Sister to one of the children in the lower grades. In come some younger children who have detention from another class and the day ends with students drifting out when they feel like it, going home, to the rest- oom or to a lower grade to pick up a younger bro­ ther or sister.

There were other things, while not dominating the week, that took precedence over classroom activities and were important to the routine of the class. For example, when Father Smith called one of the classes for Mass, other activities got by-passed. This occurred because he felt that Mass should be said every day and he did not want to perform the service in an empty church.

In addition, the eighth graders had certain responsi­ bilities and privileges (as defined by the school). Funeral masses required a choir and the seventh and eighth grade girls were generally assigned to this, unless it was an older, more prominant member of the parish, in which case

the whole school attended. Boys were expected to serve at the masses and often the eighth grade boys earned the prl- 84 vilege. When Father Smith needed some secretarial help he called over for "some responsible girls," Any lifting, mov­ ing, or arranging was done by the seventh and eighth grade boys. Once in social studies, Ur. White was interrupted by a small, second-grader calling one of the big boys out of the room for his teacher. Ur. White complied but not before he complained to the class, "That's about the eighth time this morning I've been interrupted for something or other."

Criteria for "getting out of class" depended on many things. Sometimes Sister rewarded those who were finished with their work by allowing them to take school money to the bank or over to Father's. In other cases strength or size alone determined who got pulled away regardless of the work in progress. On occasion Sister allowed those who ob­ viously disliked the learning activity to go or even those who were "hopeless cases," meaning, those who did not do well in the particular subject at hand. Once, when music class began, she dismissed some of her "nonsingers," namely

John, Ward, and Rick to run some errands for Father.

Students indicated that running errands was consid­ ered a privilege and often an indication of who Sister's pets were, depending on the frequency of the occurrence.

Sally indicated,

You can sometimes tell a teacher's pet by the way a teacher talks to you. She'll give you more praise, ask you to pick up the papers or go somewhere for her. 85

With one student in particular Rob felt that Sister gave him these "privileges” because, "She wants to live with him so she lets him do stuff, like go to the bank for her. Then he won't get into trouble.”

The Groups

Frequency of Interaction Activities

By the very circumstances in which the eighth graders were placed together all day in the same room, the students had constant opportunities for Interaction. As a matter of fact these interactions seemed to become for these students the central activity of their day. It seemed that over 90 per cent*1 of student activity and behavior not related to the formal learning situation involved another person.

A typical example would occur in the following man­ ner: A student would begin an activity alone while the class was reading silently or aloud. Often this activity was unrelated, such as doodling, working homework for ano­ ther class, or throwing a chain along the floor. Within seconds the initiator of the activity would involve the stu­ dent next to him, either to get a reaction to his drawing, share his Joke, or confirm an answer. Personal actions al­ most invariably became interactive activities or actions.

These interactions usually occurred between boys and other

*The figures in this study do not represent percent­ ages based on exact numerical data. Rather they are in­ tended to convey an estimated proportion. 86 boys and between girls and other girls. The students seemed clearly divided between boys and girls.

Role of Groups

Certain of the students, particularly the boys, ad­ mitted that they "didn't know if they could speak for the other group," meaning the girls. However, most students were sensitive to the goings-on in the other group. All agreed that each group had a definite role to play as a group, with individuals in these groups contributing spe­ cial functions to the whole class and to each group. There­ fore, groups have been chosen as the initial unit of analy­ sis because in this class the division along sexual lines into two main groups is perhaps the strongest aspect of the

Informal system. For instance, in the interviews the girls would acknowledge their dependence on the boys to "keep the class going” and some of the boys admitted that the girls were important in keeping the academic side of the class running. As Kim put it:

Host of the time, the class works as a team— when we want something. But most of the other times It divides into two, the girls and the boys. Us girls always have to make up the good part. The boys, they make up the bad part.

Hike added, "The boys take care of the fooling and the girls take care of the academic side." 87

The Division of the Sexes

There were nine boys and eight girls in the class.

Three of the girls, Debbie, Karen, and Sally, were black.

As Figures 1, 2, and 3 indicated the boys and girls sat in separate areas of the room. If one were to encounter the eighth graders at any time, the physical grouping according to sex would be always apparent. In class, eating lunch, watching a movie, fooling around, on the playground, walking to church, the boys were always together as were the girls.

While the boys occasionally spoke of the girls, the girls usually felt free to explain the behavior of each boy, although there is some indication that the girls were not sure why the boys did what they did. Kim said:

With the boys, I don't know what they think of as acting good. I don't know if they even know how to act good. They do once in a while but not most of the time. I guess that's Just the way they are. But eighth grade would be boring without them.

While there was a dependence on each group for cer­ tain functions in certain matters, there was a strong anta­ gonism of the two groups toward one another regarding cer­ tain things. Debbie, for instance, one of the closest ad­ herers to the expectations of a good student, hated the way the boys took advantage of the girls, copied from them and played games on them. She epitomized the resentment the girls had for the boys. Thus, in academic matters, particu­ larly group work, the boys and girls always worked sepa- 88 rately, math being an occasional exception.

The Boys

The boys consisted of Rick, Ron, Rob, Mike, Tim, Ward,

John, and Doug. Initial observation of the group raised the

question of whether Tim was the leader. He appeared to "run”

the class, telling people what to do, getting in on every­

thing. He was a bundle of energy. He often stood behind

the observer's chair watching what was being written and

his wit challenged everyone, particularly the teachers. It

appeared that he "took on the teachers" verbally for the

rest of the class. In addition, he was one of the basket­

ball stars, Rick, Ron, Ray, and Rob being the others. He

initiated many interactions; however, it was clear that

others did not initiate as many interactions to him.

Lines of Influence

However, Figure 5 better explains the lines of influ­

ence among the members of the group. The lines of influence were much stronger among the boys than the girls. Both

groups regarded the boys are more cohesive in the social sense. The group admitted, and Rick agreed, that he was the most influential member of the boys, and perhaps of the whole class. His best friend was Ron who was acknowledged to be the second most influential boy, because, as the girls put lt, he was the strongest and carried out his threats to

"punch you out" if you did not comply with him. BOYS GIRLS

Mary Debbie,.

■^Tim Cindy

Doug

Indicates direction of influence and association

Strong friendship or association

FIG. 5.— SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF EIGHTH GRADERS Norms of the Boys

Rick and all the boys felt that the boys stuck to­ gether more than the girls. They didn't argue among them­ selves like girls. As Rick put it:

The eighth grade boys stick together. Like if one person says something, they usually go along with him. If Ronnie says, "Come on, you guys, be quiet we'll be quiet. But Tim tries to be too bossy. He talks behind your back. That's what none of us like. Like if he talks behind Ronnie's back, Ronnie'11 bust him; Raymond will bust him. It's pretty hard for big guys like me to bust little guys like him. We just say stuff to get him mad. That's not the way to solve stuff really but that's what we do.

Rick clearly articulated those things which held the boys together:

1. Do not hit on guys smaller than you. (Tim violated

this and therefore his status was lowered in the group.)

2. Do not let someone pick on you. You fight back.

(Doug did not comply with this and was considered an

outsider.)

3. Do not fink on each other. (Rick adhered to this

strongly. Once when Ray messed his clothes in the bath­

room, he came back into the room in a rage and lifted

little Ray out of his seat. He neither hit him nor re­

ported him. However, he was annoyed with Ray all day

and refused to talk to him.)

4. The group sticks together and helps each other out.

For example, in the lunch room food is to be shared.

(Tim violated this once by throwing away a left over hot 91 dog rather than giving it away at lunch.)

Roles

Rick was known as the instigator and therein lay his

leadership. He rarely "provoked” a teacher but he could get

all the boys to do anything and thus was considered by the others to be "smart."

Ron was Rick's lieutenant and followed Rick in influ­ ence. He was the key "fooler" and "provoker," particularly

in Mrs. Grimm's class (religion and spelling) and Miss Jones’ class (reading). He had been observed time and again to have poked, laughed, and fooled with John for an entire pe­ riod . Threats on the part of Miss Jones and even removal to another place in the room did not stop him. He appeared to be the most distant from the teachers and Miss Jones and

Mrs. Grimm both described him as "hopeless, dumb, just doesn't have it."

Everyone in the class agreed that Ron and Ray (Ron's younger brother) least complied with the work expectations of all teachers. Even Ronnie admitted his laziness, "I just don't like to do lt." But every student added that neither boy was dumb. Ron had a particular role in the class. As

Kim said, "He's a fooler. When he fools the teacher can't get the rest of us to stop because if he's fooling, then we naturally do. But when Ron tells everybody to shut up, we shut up." He controlled the class. When Ron spoke, all 92 complied. One of the girls admitted that it was in part

due to his strength. He did not spare force when necessary

and he earned the mark of the most physically daring in the

group.

Ray, Mike, Rob, and Tim were next in order of impor­

tance in the group because these boys most closely "hung

around" with Rick and Ron and added support and following

to the clique. Ray was known as the class clown. It was

admitted by everyone in the class that he was anything but

dumb, but like his best friend Uike they both knew they were

"playing dumb." Both he and Uike had been observed time af­

ter time to sit and not bother trying the activity, giving

an excuse that they had not pencil, compass or that they

could not "get it." The teachers had all come to accept

them as lazy but the students knew that "Uike is real bright

in math."

Ray admitted that he had learned the art of deception well. Uore than anyone in the group, he could look serious

enough to get by doing little else but fool around, only in

the end to quickly ask around for the answers. Tim said he refused to give Ray or Ron answers because he felt that

"They didn't know how to do it. You can give an answer to someone like Rob or Rick because you know they really under­ stand but you can't say the same for Ray and Ron."

Asking Ray why he fooled around so much rather than do more work he admitted, 93

The boys like you more If you fool around. If you don't, you're on the outs. Like this one kid whose name was Jeff. He was a colored kid. Ve had nothing against his color or nothing but he didn't talk to us or nothing. We didn't count him as one of us. So he left.

Ray's activities were very group centered. He believed he wouldn't have a place with the boys if he didn't fool around. One of the girls explained, "I think he needs alot of attention."

Mike, his best friend, however, felt exactly the same way. He admitted that he and Ray fooled around and that it was expected of him in the group.

"I'm not a leader and I need to do crazy things."

He felt that even the teachers expected him to fool.

"Yah, they always know. If something happens, they always give me and Ray the eye."

He also admitted that he played dumb simply because he didn't like school work.

Rob was considered the "brains by the class since it was known by everyone that he had an I.Q. of 126. He appeared most studious and didn't like to be annoyed when he was concentrating. He rarely initiated fooling around and did not appear to be the center of it. Even in the in­ terviews his name rarely came up as an outstanding person­ ality but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was

"in." He adhered closely to the norms of the group as out­ lined above and was described as "one who keeps the group to­ 94

gether. When everyone's down he'll perk the group up,"

said Debbie, " and he's always pairing up with Rick or Ron,

depending."

Thus, the central group which had influence on each

other consisted of Rick, Ron, Hike Ray, Rob, and Tin on oc­

casion. John, a new boy since January, was described this

way: "John's role is to tell dirty Jokes. He’s a hanger-

on. The guys all accept hin but he has no influence on

them." John went his own way and was much more an observer

than a participant. He resented the class's "lack of re­

spect" for the teachers including Mrs. Grimm and felt that

all the kids but Rick "lacked respect for property." He

added that in the school from which he came the kids did more work, did what they were told and were generally much better behaved. The freedom of the class bothered him but be recognized the importance of "not finking" and being one of the guys.

Ward and Doug were "different" but only Doug was truly on the "outs." He was picked on by all the boys, par­ ticularly Ron, Ray, and Hike mainly, as Rick said, because he threatened them but refused to fight back. Ron could not stand that. Doug violated all the understandings of the group. In the beginning of the year he tattled, beat on little kids and refused to take dares and go along with the boys, it was reported. Debbie said that toward the end of the year he seemed to be getting more "in." "He's started 95

to pick on the girls like the rest of then"— a sure sign to

the girls of becoming a member of the boysf group. Because

Doug violated all the things the boys held as important, he

was subject to strong correction and control from the group.

In a class where this amount of interdependence was necessary

for the group life, one person who "finked" could upset the

equilibrium. All admitted that Doug no longer violated the

understandings but he was still on the outs because he

didn't fool around enough.

Doug did admit to different expectations for students.

While he did not see himself on the "outs" he did not

approve of everything the other boys did.

Doug said, "You should fool around when the time comes. You shouldn't fool around when you should be doing other stuff. Ray is always fooling around."

Ward also was on the outside of the clique but unlike

Doug he received no antagonism. He simply chose not to get involved. He described himself this way:

1 am a follower but I do what is important to me. I*m not Interested in being at "the head of the class" []fooling, cracking Joke^}. I can't pretend enough to be like the others. Like Ray, he hits on the girls and the girls like it. I don't like to hit on the girls.

Ward demonstrated a great deal of sensitivity to the work­ ings of the group; for example, be knew that Sister put

Doug next to him because "we can enjoy each other.” Al­ though Doug was his second best friend (John being the first) 96 he realized that Doug was the weakest of the group. But

Doug being on the "outs" did not appear to bother him.

The Girls

Figure 5 indicates that Uary is the acknowledged lea­ der of the girls with Debbie considered the next most influ­ ential in the group. Everyone knew the girls went along more in pairs: Hary and Debbie; Cindy and Sally; Karen and

Kim; Rose and Colleen, with Rose and Colleen being com­ pletely outside the group. The boys described the girls as less cohesive than they with petty jealousies marking

Debbie's attitude toward Mary.

Mary admitted that she, Debbie, and Sally had the most influence on the group and each other. Cindy, being extremely shy and quiet, had none, but she was completely accepted by the girls.

Lines of Influence

From observing Hary it was clear that both she and

Sally initiated more interaction and received more overtures from the boys than any other girl. Mary always appeared most agreeable to everything but extremely passive. She fooled around less, talked less and worked more diligently than any other student except Cindy and Debbie. Debbie liked to initiate interaction with those around her more than Mary. Both Mary and Debbie set high value on being a

"good student" and getting good grades. The expectations 97 of the teachers were taken quite seriously by both. Uary accepted the behavior of the boys more readily than Debbie.

One could always observe Debbie yelling at one of the boys or storming out of the room in anger at something that was said. It was understood by the entire class that Debbie

"finked" and for that she was teased more by the boys. As

Kim said:

The boys like Mary. She's like a big sister and she'll never squeal. That's why her hair is so thin. They're always cutting it. But Debbie won't take anything. Debbie controls the class. We have limits and Debbie makes sure we never go too far. We listen to her because she'll tell.

In talking with Debbie, however, she admitted that she had the label of "fink" but she blamed Karen for getting her into those messes. In addition she was afraid of getting into trouble and took school very seriously in the strictest sense. Being one of the three black students she summed up the room this way:

There's just so much I'll take from the boys. When they start hitting me and putting glue in my hair I tell on them but Karen does the other telling. The more they hate you, sometimes, the more it seems they like you. Sally is part black and Indian and nobody says anything to her. She'll go up and tell on them but they don't believe that she'll tell. And Hary is scared to tell. They never mess with Cindy because Cindy's got older brothers. They always mess with Kim because they think she's the well-built type— they think. Karen they don't like because she's black and the same with me. Sally is smart in science so they don't mess with her. Rose isn't there half the time but when she is she can out-talk them. Hike's Colleen's cousin and he's in the group so they don't mess with her. Norms of the Girls

One of the most important understandings among the girls was how they got their work done. It was understood that everyone "pooled" what they knew in any task. Debbie referred to this process as a "recall phone." Work was di­ vided up and girls did certain problems and passed the an­ swers. The boys resented this greatly and felt that this was why the girls got better grades even though Sister was aware of what was occurring. The girls defended themselves by saying they learned more this way. From watching the girls there was no doubt that they took school work more seriously than the boys. For example, they went to work faster and completed assignments more quickly. They fooled around less and were more sedate in their behavior in gen­ eral.

Outsiders

Colleen and Rose were the outcasts of the class but everyone except Uary and Rick said it was because they felt the girls preferred it that way. The boys felt the way the girls treated Colleen and Rose was unfair and admitted speak­ ing to the girls on several occasions about this matter.

All of the girls thought that neither Colleen nor Rose rea­ lized they were on the outside of the group. But Hary was the most explicit:

Ye're nice to them; we never hurt their feelings but they've never been in our group. Colleen is not clean. I just don't like being around people 99 like that. I wouldn't say anything but there's an understanding that they're dumb. Rose's smart but Colleen's Just dumb and doesn't keep herself clean. I don't think they know we want them on the outside.

However, after observing both girls in class when Rose was present (She rarely came to school, particularly toward the end of the year.), it was clear that Rose was very much aware of the larger group of girls. Rose and Colleen al­ ways sat apart and worked alone. Colleen did not appear to mind this but Rose rarely took her attention away from the rest of the girls even when she was talking with Colleen.

One might guess that she didn't come to school because she was on the "outside," particularly since her "I-don't-care- about-them attitude" was overdone to the point of appearing like a defense. Once, Colleen explained Rose's absence:

Rose said she didn't like some of the teachers and that some of the teachers didn't like her. But I know that's not it because all the teachers go out of their way for her. She says she's quit­ ting school this year anyway because she doesn't have a high school to go to.

Since Rose hadn't been coming, Colleen was beginning to "get in" with the girls toward the end of the year, but she was more tolerated than accepted. The girls generally admitted that while she got most of the answers wrong she did work it by herself (because she was alone) but the reason they didn't like her in the work group was that she couldn't keep up and do her share. It appeared that the girls valued the team approach to group activity highly. Colleen flunked on appearance, intelligence, and speed. 100 What has been sketched above is a strong, cohesive, informal organization made up of two main groups, the boys and the girls. Each differed significantly in how they viewed themselves and each other.

The Class

In terms of the total classroom situation, all the students worked together for each other's benefit. They had a common perspective on the classroom and this will be examined. In addition, there were common roles and under­ standings which the students understood. One of the most important understandings that the students held, regardless of their group, was that they had the power to control both the direction of the class and the behavior of each other.

Interviews verified this.

For instance, all but one student (John) agreed that

Hrs. Grimm was a poor teacher. Unlike Sister Anne, she tbreatened students if they wouldn't be quiet but she rarely remembered to carry out her threats. Sally summarized the class attitude toward Mrs. Grimm:

We found out which way to act with which teacher at the beginning of the year. If you're around at the beginning of the year, you learn what you have to do for the rest of the year. Like we found out about Mrs. Grimm last year. She's worse I think this year. We had her for Ohio history and they would shoot rub- ber bands and throw spit wads, hide her glasses. She'd keep reading and thought she had a speck on her book. Timmy would hit her with a rubber band and she wouldn't know it. She'd make Timmy kneel in front of the blackboard and he'd have to stay that way for the rest of the period. 101 Control of the Situation

Although the amount of "respect" for Mrs. Grimm was lower than for any other teacher, the class agreed that they let her teach. They felt it was wrong to "run a teacher out" even though the boys had succeeded in doing this to the art teacher at the beginning of the year. Therefore, with Mrs.

Grimm, certain students were known to keep the class "run­ ning" for her. Both Hick and Debbie were expected to an­ swer her questions so that she wouldn't get "mad." As Sally said:

The limit with Mrs. Grimm is to answer her ques­ tions. If you answer her questions, do the work, and don't talk too loud over her you can cut up as much as you like. She doesn't mind.

Thus, the students felt they could control the teachers:

Just know what to expect from the teachers, give it to them, and do what you want to do in class. Likewise, Timmy sum­ med up the prevailing attitude toward Miss Jones' class:

Take Miss Jones* class. Ve get down in the rest room and we say, "O.K., you guys, let's go. Tim, you read fast. Debbie you read slow." Well, the girls usually don't get in on it. It's usually the boys. .We'll be reading along and we'll say, "I don't know what the word is," and it'll be a "the" or some little word like that. Or we'll say, "I want someone to read fast," and I'll go ZOOM.' Or suppose the teacher starts hollering right when she comes in the door. We know what to do. We rebel.

However, when Sister Anne is in a bad mood all agreed that they respond by being particularly nice and considerate. 102 When Sister's in a bad mood it makes us tense and irritable. We don't like it. Half the time she's not mad at us but at something else— a mistake she made that was very important. Sometimes there's a kid in the class who's irritating her just a lit­ tle and it's reminding her of what she'd like to do to herself because of the mistake she made on her ditto or something. It does affect the whole class. . . . So Rick and Ray will crack some good jokes and we'll all be as good as we can be and soon she's back in good spirits.

The problem in controlling Hr. White's class is in

controlling the discussion. Debbie said,

In a discussion we can get the whole class going if we can get the top people started like Hary, Ricky or me, but if we don't like the topic Hr. White can stand there 'til he's blue in the face.

The students know Hr. White's limits. Rick related,

Ur. White told me one time, "Just as long as three or four people pay attention in my class, that's all I ask." I don't think teachers should have that attitude because I think they should have the whole class's attention. But anyway, that's about all he gets sometimes, 'cause that's all we give him, except when he gets real mad.

In terms of how much influence the students thought

the teachers had over the class, they said,

It depends on what the teacher's like and what she teaches. If she teaches something like gym or if the class is really Interested, the teacher controls. If the class is not interested, they'll do anything they want to until they get the teacher to notice they're not interested. The boys will try to change it, like in. math. Host of the time, they'll get their way. The teacher will break down and let them get whatever they want to do.

All the students agreed that if they played it right, they could get what they wanted, particularly an extra gym class.

"If you bug Sister in just the right way, she'll stop math 103 and say, 'O.K., you can go outside.'"

Ricky, Ron, and Debbie controlled the class. As men­

tioned earlier, when Ron said shut up, everyone shut up.

If they CRicky and Ron} tell you to shut up the room better shut up. Host of the time we can control each other's behavior. Sometimes the teacher controls us.

For example, the class went on a picnic and due to

the boys' continual harrassment of the girls, Sister threat­ ened cancellation of their upcoming trip to the zoo. In addition, the boys' "unruly" behavior a few days before the trip only added wood to the fire, so Rick and Ron played the appropriate role. They constantly reminded anyone in the class who "got out of line" that they would ruin the class trip to the zoo if they didn't behave. Consequently they behaved well and took the trip. Tim summed it all up by saying,

We can control each other's behavior within certain limits. If someone will get real mad at a teacher, you can say, "Stop it," and he won't. But if you're fooling around, we can say to one another, "We bet­ ter stop," and we do, Just like that. Is Sister says to stop it, big deal. That don't mean nothing. Our controls work better than the teacher's controls because we're friends and we're not superiors. I think Hr. Lowell ta student teacherj was our friend and everybody was good in his room. He didn't act like a superior.

Thus, the students demonstrated a belief that they had influence over their situation. Even Sister Anne admit­ ted that the informal organization may have affected certain learning situations more than she would have liked. 104 Every year we have a spelling contest and the win­ ner represents the school in the city contest. It's always been an eighth grader. This year we had the spell-off and I know some of the eighth graders spelled the words wrong on purpose because they didn't want to go. I think they felt they'd be considered sissified by the rest of the class. There's no doubt that Debbie and Rob are the best spellers. But we had to send a seventh grader. It's too bad.

Norms for Accomplishing Tasks

Another important understanding the class shared was

the relationship between working and fooling around.

Colleen, Doug, and John felt there was more fooling around

than there should have been. However, both Doug and

Colleen were outsiders to the groups. Tim, Rick, Debbie,

and others felt you could do both at the same time. If one

got the same grades, fooling and working didn't conflict.

A number of students expressed the sentiment,

You get more out of your studying if you have fun. Get your studying done first, then play around or else do your studying and play around at the same time. It doesn't matter as long as you get your work in on time.

That was why Ray, for instance, felt he was none the worse

for fooling around because he got his work in the same as

anyone else. Karen added,

We don't like to be rushed. Sometimes we have to be rushed and that's what we don't like and every once in a while we are messing around but we still get our work done. All the teachers know us, and they all know when we get our work done, and all the teachers would expect nothing extra from the eighth grade boys. 105 Of the entire class Debbie, Mary, and Cindy were con­ sidered by the rest to be ’'true” students. They took work and grades seriously and didn't like the amount of fooling around. Mary, Debbie, and Tim all mentioned grades more frequently than other students but none of them felt they should do "extra credit" work. It wasn't necessary if a student maintained his or her average. Tim felt that his good grades just meant more time for fooling around. The only other thing that was encouraged was "working ahead," and the girls did this occasionally. However, the impor­ tant thing for everyone was to get done what was expected of them. The rest of the time became their own. The ob­ servations verified this. If they needed more time to do something they came in after lunch. If they finished early then they could talk or run errands for Sister. This indi­ cates that while there were different attitudes regarding working and fooling around, the conflict was commonly un­ derstood on a conscious and articulate level.

This of course raises another issue: how did work get done in the class? As mentioned earlier this was a source of some conflict between the boys and the girls.

The boys resented the girls "copying” from each other while the girls felt the boys wasted their time. But as Tim put it for the boys, "It just proves we're better than they are.

We get the stuff by ourselves." Tim felt that Ron and Ray should not have been given the answers became they didn't 106 know how to do it but the girls admitted that they gave the

answers to all the boys. As Debbie said in reference to the

girls, "The boys rely on us for homework. They take it out

of our desks and pass it around. But they contribute to the

fun of the class, so we don't mind so much."

However, the type of assignment was considered. Re­

ligion and spelling were shared by everyone and Debbie usu­

ally did it and sent it around the room. Social studies'

questions or other text questions would be divided up among

the girls. Each would do a few and then the group put the bundle together. Essays were done independently. In other words, there was a differentiation in terms of the serious­

ness of the activity. Religion and spelling, taught by Mrs.

Grimm, were not considered Important, while math, taught by

Sister Anne, was considered more serious and usually the

students did the assignments more individually. Also, to the degree that they did help each other, the students did not feel it was cheating.

Cheating.— Cheating, usually defined as the passing of answers on a test or work activity, was handled differ­ ently in this class. All the students felt that "sharing"

and "helping" were better words to explain what happened on a test (except on spelling and religion which no one took seriously). They did not feel that what they did was actually "cheating" because they were learning. Having ob­ served them on at least four occasions in test situations. 107

it appeared that they had developed the art of "looking business-like" while helping each other. In math, for in­ stance, whenever Sister Anne turned away, "conferencing" be­ gan. When she turned back to the class they stopped their visiting. Most students admitted that they looked serious during a test because if one "looked like he was cheating,"

Sister would yell; but if one looked puzzled or confused about a step, one could even conference in front of Sister.

The main consideration was that one didn't give an answer, one showed someone else how to do the problem. The process was important. For example, Tim mentioned the time he "told" on Ron for "cheating."

Rob, Ronnie and Mike had a make-up test and Ronnie was reading everything over Hike's shoulder and I told on him to Miss Jones because all the other people who had to take the test and didn't have our book missed the answers. I don't see why Ronnie should get all five of them right when he didn’t read the book because Mike knew his stuff.

Or he related how one can get answers on a test:

We sit there like we're doing our work in a test. Nobody gives each other the answers if you don’t try to work it out. If you try to work it out, you will get help on an answer. If you're stuck you say, "Hey," and you can get help. From the girls you can do the same thing, but certain people won't give the answers to certain people. Me and Rick can get them pretty easy. John doesn't ask. He gets fair grades because he Just sits there.

It can be seen that Tim felt it was his duty to "tell" or "fink" when it was for the person's good. He was one of the few that held this view and this may have been why his standing dropped in the group this year. 108 Other Norms of the Class

Tattling.— What does emerge from this is some common concern about the anti-finking norm. All the students felt that one should not tell the teacher when something is done by a member of either sex. When Uike cut Kim's hair, Kim

adhered to the norm and would not tell Sister who had done the prank even though the entire class was kept after school.

Some other students, namely Doug, Karen, and Debbie, "finked" more often and were somewhat disliked and picked on by the boys. This understanding affected the other understandings and activities.

Good Student.— For example, students shared a common definition for what they considered a good student and this was influenced by the need for strong cohesion in the class.

All felt that there was more to school than getting good grades. Ray said,

I think if you play around it produces better grades. Not really play around. But if you come everyday and you just sit there and don't do nothing, you're gonna get good grades but that's all you're gonna get. But there's more to school than getting grades. There was one kid in our class and he left. He was a co­ lored boy and he couldn't stand it. He wouldn't fool around or nothing. He didn't fit.

An unsocial member could not be tolerated; therefore, Sally summed up the qualities of a good student.

They don't have to have the most pleasing personality but they should have a good personality to get along with others and they should be able to do their work and understand what they're doing. They don't neces­ sarily have to get the best grades. They should have a "C" average at least. 1 mean, some good students have a "C" average. 109 Mary agreed:

You don't have to do your homework, Just act your age. Learn as much as you want or know you have to learn. Don't be mean to others and help others when they need it.

The girls felt that Sister would agree on this defi­ nition. They felt that she preferred a student who got along with others because it made her class easier. Above all, playing around did not stand in the way of being a good student but some of the students felt that Ray and Ron did too much fooling around.

The most important distinction between ordinary stu­ dents and a good student was drawn by Sally. An ordinary student is "someone who's Just too quiet and Just too inde­ pendent and doesn't get along with anyone in the class at all like Rose and Colleen.” However, Mary didn't quite agree. She felt Rose was a good student because "Rose says what she thinks." Mike was the only one who thought of him­ self as a "bad student" because he "didn't do what he was supposed to do." But even he agreed that it was Important to be liked and since he was liked he wasn't "all bad."

Ray insisted strongly that a good student got his work done and participated in the group. He felt, there­ fore, that he was a good student and that Colleen and Rose were bad students because

They never talk to anybody else. They Just keep to themselves. At lunch time, they'll Just sit alone and when we're having fun they'll just stay in class and do whatever they want to do. I don't care if they get the work, just as long as they 110 ain't stuck up and they talk to you and visit.

Thus, the class shared a common definition of what a good student should be, a definition which put a premi­ um on group acceptance and being liked. One interesting aspect of this was the assumption among the class members that Sister would agree with their definition.

In addition, all the class members agreed that no one was dumb. Some people were lazy like Ray and Uike and some people were faster like Tim and Sally but everyone had some­ thing to contribute. If a student wasn't strong "academi­ cally" he kept up the class spirit. Almost everyone could be relied on for something in the work force. Sally was known for her science ability, Rick for his wealth of infor­ mation, Debbie for English, and Mary for math.

Deceptive Strategies.— However, all admitted that there was a definite amount of deceit which one put forth in being a student. Ray said,

I've learned to look like I'm paying attention. I even know when I'm doing it. Sometimes I slip and forget myself. That's when I get caught. I think about looking Innocent alot. I look up to see if the teacher's looking and if they are I pretend I'm writing something to do with the activity.

Students did distinguish between "fraud" behavior, as they called it, and outright fooling around. It depended on the teacher. Where more was expected of the students, more deception occurred. For example, in Mrs. Grimm's class one had to pretend because she was considered unreasonable and therefore, one had to be careful. Ill However, in Hr. White's class, deception was not necessary

because one could do what one wanted as long as one didn't

go "too far."

Rick summed up the deceptive strategies used in dif­

ferent classes and the general attitude toward teachers.

In Miss Jones' class everyone wants to read first so that they don't have to pay attention the rest of the period. They say, "Let me read, Miss Jones." So you read and afterwards you daydream, goof off or mess around. Just as long as you don't talk, Hiss Jones thinks you are paying attention. She's thinking to herself, "Ah, he wants to read, he's paying attention. You put on a front for the teachers. With Hrs. Grimm and Sister, you have to give a little per­ sonality, like "I do this for you" so that they think a little more of you.

Part of the strategy of being a student is knowing how far you can go with a teacher. Limits depend on the mood of the teacher. As Tim said,

We do have limits. But they just happen. We don't make them. Whatever occurs is what the limits are. You don't sit there and say, "We can't do this be­ cause that's the limit." If it comes up, it comes up and you know whether or not to do it. You know when you've reached the limit from the way the teacher looks. Hr. White wiggles up his nose like this (gesture) and starts stroking his hair like this (gesture). Sometimes his fingers start pointing out. Hiss Jones will stamp her foot. That's when you know to stop. Sister Anne has this little dimple that foils up here (points to forehead). People don't get mad if we do little things but if we do or say something to someone that hurts him, that's when people get mad.

Mutual Respect.— The last statement was confirmed by others as well. Both teachers and students agreed that

"going too far" was hurting someone's feelings. Students were particularly attentive to this when it concerned the 112 teachers. While they "provoked" Mrs. Grimm everyday, they had to show her a certain amount of respect. Once at the end of the year there was a question as to whether the eighth grade could have a class picnic due to a lack of chaperones.

Tim was talking aside in religion class to Rob, say­ ing, "Sister is really mean and selfish. We should be al­ lowed to go on the picnic."

Mrs. Grimm overheard the comment, promptly got upset and called Sister into the room to repeat Tim's words.

Sister ran from the room crying and while Tim did not act particularly contrite, the girls scolded him and appeared angry in his presence.

Summary

Thus, the class contained definite characteristics of a social system. There was role differentiation as de­ monstrated by Ron's police control, Ray's designation as class clown, Mary's designation as leader, and other mem­ bers' responsibilities for work tasks. All the roles were understood both in the social aspect of the class and in the productive or work aspect. There were also certain norms that the group understood regarding their behavior toward one another, the teacher, and the productive aspects of school. While the range of acceptable behavior was differ­ ent for everyone, norms brought sanctions for those who vio­ lated the understanding and the class members demonstrated 113 their control over each other in this manner. There were

lines of influence as illustrated in Figure 5. Certain

individuals had more esteem and status than others for rea­

sons defined by the groups.

Thus, the eighth grade class of All Saints Parochial

School contained a number of characteristics such as common­

ly perceived roles and role differentiation, norms and their accompanying sanctions as well as a sense among the individ­ uals of common participation in a collectivity. It remains for the researcher to present a parallel description of a seventh grade class in a public school and then in the final chapter to analyze the behaviors of each class in terms of

Cl) a range of possible student roles and (2 ) an explanation of how those roles combined to create a classroom social system. 114 Part II: Onondaga Junior-Senior High School

The Setting

The study In Onondaga Junior-Senior Public High

School began April 12, 1971. The school is located on a tract of land in the downtown area of the city of Columbus, bordered on all sides by major highways. The area inhabi­ tants represented various segments of the population. Host were skilled and unskilled workers and a large number were unemployed and depended on welfare. Seventy percent of the

1 2 0 0 students came from the black neighborhood to the east and other black communities in the city. The remaining 30 percent were mostly from lower income white families in the area.

The assistant principal, Hr. Smith, described the white population as mostly "transient and unstable. Host families are recent arrivals from neighboring states."

However, there were a number of white students from the neighborhood that came from homes that he described as "more stable financially." Thus, the administrators reported that, for the most part, Onondaga had a cross section of a lower- middle income population and many of the problems that ac­ company an urban situation.

Onondaga experienced many "growing pains" since its alteration from an elementary school to a Junior-senior high school several years ago. In terms of attracting a student 115 population it had to compete with another nearby high school where black students preferred to go because of the prestige associated with the school's sports* teams and other strong traditions. Thus, very early Onondaga got "labeled" as a

"tough school" and a "dumping ground” for students who did not "make it" at the other school.

Besides having to fight a bad image, Onondaga was faced with some plant problems.

"Having been originally designed for small children," the assistant principal related, "we've had the task of changing the school to meet the needs of a high school popu­ lation. The blackboards are still too low in some rooms and the auditorium can accommodate only half the student popula­ tion at a single time."

The school plant was a traditional, three story building with a large sports' field and three parking lots.

The building was rectangular with long corridors into which the classrooms opened from either side. The gym and audi­ torium took up the central portion of the building on every floor and the cafeteria and auditorium were used for study

kalis every period of the day.

The school had been described as "physically inade­ quate" due to lack of study hall and full assembly space.

Classrooms were in use every period of the day and no tea­ cher had his "own room." However, there was no mistaking the school with its well-planned angles and its unpreten- 116 tlous severity for anything but an American high school, built to pass on academic matter from a few teachers to a large number of students.

The Organization of the School

In order to understand the school organization, the goals of education should be considered. Those presented by the NEA in 1946 seem to encompass the prevailing concerns in Onondaga High: (1) self-realization, (2) human relation­ ship, (3) economic efficiency, and (4) civic responsibility.*

The school's Justification for existence was that it had identified and articulated a specific body of knowledge, skills, and behavioral patterns, which, if properly learned, would lead to the fulfillment of the objectives.

At Onondaga High the learning took place as the know­ ledge, skills, and behavioral patterns were transmitted ver­ tically from top to bottom, teacher to student. That is, the staff members who had the knowledge, skills, and behav­ ioral patterns were situated in the authority positions, and students, the seekers after the knowledge, were in a subor­ dinate position.

At Onondaga High, as in most other schools, the ver­ tical organization took the following arrangement. At the top was the principal who was responsible for the entire

^-Educational Policies Commission, Policies for Educa­ tion in American Democracy, National Education Association, 1946, pp. 1SS-S53, quoted in Chris A. Young, American Public Education (New York: HcGraw Hill & Co., 19557, p. 411. 117 building and all the activities therein. He was in charge of (1 ) the achievement, discipline, and order of the stu­ dents, (2 ) the supervision of the non-professional staff, and (3) the care and upkeep of the building. Vhile he was

answerable to the superintendent of the Board of Education where often policy and procedure got mandated, he was the

"man-to-be-seen." He was directly aided by two assistant principals, one of whom (Hr. Smith) was reported by some teachers to actually "run the school and the principal."

These men handled discipline, students* personal problems, school-sponsored events and other activities and their posi­ tion in the school was high. Onondaga had a special posi­ tion created recently called Community Agent. This was pri­ marily a position in the inner city schools designed to main­ tain good relations with parents and other community organi­ zations. In addition, the role had become one of "student spokesman" at Onondaga. Students carried their grievances to him and he assisted them in presenting their cases to the school and the community.

Another newly created position in the City of Columbus public schools was the Curriculum Coordinator. His Job was to assist new teachers, coordinate curriculum changes, and develop new materials and ideas. His actual duties, however, appeared to be not much more than building supervisor and

"last minute substitute." Hr. Williams, who had the job, took the class under study three times when the regular tea- 118

cher was absent. He described himself as a "strict disci­

plinarian."

He added, "I don't think Hr. W. should be running

his class like that. They should be doing lessons from the

book. Letting students read from the frontof the room only

causes trouble."

This attitude seemed to indicate a positive view

toward more traditional "teacher directed” learning activi­

ties which seemed prevalent in the school.

The curriculum of the school was divided into a

series of subject matter specialties, i.e. English, social

studies, language, mathematics, shop, drafting, physical

education, etc., and taught by a faculty of over seventy.

As with other high schools, the central theme of Onondaga was "subject matter specialty." These teachers were directly

responsible for (1 J transmission of knowledge and skills,

(2) learning by the students, (3) discipline and order in

their classes, and (4) supervision of students whenever they

happened to be in the building.

There were an additional number of auxiliary person­

nel, namely guidance counselors, a vocational counselor,

social worker, teacher aides, secretaries, janitors, and cafeteria staff, all of whom added to the complexity of the organization.

A certain series of incidents which occurred during the present study exemplifies the complexity of the sltua- 119

tlon. This incident is also extremely important to the

study because it affected the school attendance and, more

directly, the number of students who regularly participated

in the study. The events as described below have been re­

constructed from (1 ) personal observation, (2 ) the descrip­

tion given by Hr. Wheatley, the teacher attached to the

class under study, and (3) the assistant principal, Mr.

Smith.

During the early part of April the senior high stu­

dents organized and presented a list of demands to the ad­

ministration. While Hr. Smith felt that these were mature

demands because they were all concerned with the "quality

of education" rather than the usual dress-code-type pro­

test, there was little positive action taken. Students were

expressing frustration at their seeming inability to communi­

cate with both teachers and administrators. They sought di­

rection from the Community Action man, Hr. Lucas. The stu­

dents made it quite clear that they had no intention of

"working outside" the system. Indeed, Hr. Smith commented

that in the final "showdown" the students "had done their

homework better than the teachers and the administrators.

They knew all the legal rights and all entanglements."

While the demands they presented included some small things

such as a student lounge, the most important demand was the

removal of nine teachers whom the students felt were "incom­ petent." Hr. Smith was quick to point out that this was not 120 a "racist" attack since there was a black teacher among the

listed, but rather the students wanted "teachers who cared

about them and took a sincere interest in excellent teach­

ing."

However, the matter was not attended to by the dead­

line set by the students and the students then "struck" on

April 21. Some of the teachers discussing the matter felt that the administration purposely delayed action on the de­ mands hoping that they could "wait them out," since school was closing in a few weeks. Because the students had com­ mitted themselves to the strike they felt they could not back down even at the risk of not graduating. School was closed since classes could not be maintained in an orderly fashion and a series of meetings occurred involving the

Board of Education, parents of the community, and other of­ ficials. The issue became the resignation or firing of se­ ven teachers (Two teachers had in the meantime met with the students and reached an agreement. The other seven refused to meet with the students.) and finally school reopened with the East Side Police Force present until the end of the school year. The issue was not resolved, at least by the time school closed. The principal, it should be noted, ad­ mitted that the decision to call in the police was not en­ tirely his own and while there was division among the tea­ chers over this matter no one felt they had any control to stop it or take different action. 121 School attendance was affected in the early days of

the incidents as some students took advantage of the chaos

and others admitted fear for their safety. While school

was closed for two days the events certainly contributed to

a tense atmosphere around the school for sometime after.

Organization of the Class

The class under study was a seventh grade partici­

pating in a new SET program whereby all seventh graders were

placed according to their ability for double periods of

English and social studies (80 minutes). The notion of sec­

tioning or "tracking" students is quite common in Junior and

senior high schools and in most cases reading ability is the dominant factor in the selection process. The class under study was designated as a "modified" section, however, Ur.

Smith felt that this "would not matter," although the stu­ dents in the modified track were considered to be "reading problems," "slow learners," or simply "underachievers."

There were nineteen students in the class, though all the students were never all present. While 70 percent of the student population in the school was black, only four students in the class were black, three boys and one girl.

The ratio of boys to girls was also out of balance. Al­ though there were seven girls, the absenteeism was higher than among the boys. In fact, Sylvia, Brenda, Pam, Patsy, and Bernice were rarely in class. 122

Accountability of students took an enormous amount

of time and effort on the part of both students and teachers

and the beginning of the day was filled with such activity.

A student who had been absent reported to the office for a

readmission slip and it had to be signed by every teacher he attended during the day. If a student was late for a class he needed a "hall pass” from a teacher (Usually he ob­ tained the pass from the teacher whose class he had left or he had to "con” one from a passing teacher.) or go to the office and get a misconduct slip. A certain number of mis­ conduct slips merited the paddle, detention, or suspension depending in part on previous offences and the student's ability to "bull” his way out of the situation. The school day began at 8:45 when the students reported to homeroom for fifteen minutes of announcements and attendance procedures.

There were nine periods of forty minutes in the day with bells designating the change of classes.

At the bell, the seventh grade class went immediately to Mr. Wheatley for the double period of social studies. He was usually waiting in the second floor classroom which he shared with a few other teachers. The classroom was rectan­ gular in shape and barren to the point of depression. Green chalk boards with hinges lined the front of the room and could be opened up to form a larger room with the one next door but this had not been done this year. The school's schedule made no provision for that type of large group in- 123 struction so there was no need to open the doors. A few travel posters hung above the board but except for a map and some pictures of Indians on the back wall there was nothing else decorating the room. The furniture included small fil­ ing cabinets, the students* desks arranged in a series of rows, and Ur, Wheatley's desk, all of which were totally bare. There were no resources in the room. A few extra co­ pies of the text (state geography and social studies) were kept in the teacher's drawers along with the workbooks which accompanied them.

The class windows overlooked the roof of the adjacent gym. A few tall buildings could be seen in the background.

The desks, all of which were designed for right handed stu­ dents, were of the old wooden variety, heavily initialed and marked. Excerpts from the field notes will demonstrate the flow of activities throughout the day.

At 9:00 the students start coming in the door. Ron and Gary run in laughing. This is part of their daily contest to see who can race up the stairs and into the room first. Ken comes in and takes his place at the front. As usual, he speaks to no one. Dave, if present at all, enters, immediately puts his head down on his desk and appears to go right off to sleep. The rest of the class enters with varying degrees of enthusiasm and energy. Sylvia and Pam are absent as usual, information being that they are in a detention home for skipping school. Brenda does not appear but Patsy returns after a few days absence. Without much commotion seats are taken. Ed comes in acting as though he had a chip on his shoulder and Hark tries to trip him as he goes by which provokes an attempted punch in return. Richie talks to Ron and Donald comes over from the other side of the room to add his comments before taking his 124 seat. Figure 6 shows the usual seating arrange­ ment when all students are here. Hr. Wheatley Immediately passes out the Current Events Reader and makes comments about the recent spring vacat ion. Mark is called to read at the front of the room facing the class and Hr. Wheatley helps him along with unfamiliar words. (The tea­ cher explained that he usually calls on Hark to read first so that he'll have his attention longer.) However, inattention begins shortly thereafter and throughout the rest of the class. A quick glance around the room reveals Sharon erasing her desk, her blouse and her pants while keeping her hair brush close in hand to take an occasional stroke. Hr. Wheatley asks her a question of infor­ mation, perhaps to test her attention, and she stops and looks puzzled. He doesn't wait for her answer but he calls on Eddie. She simply turns away and gazes off out the window, chewing loudly on her gum. The class is interrupted with the P.A. system again for some more early morning announcements. Suddenly Sharon comes alive as she reaches under her desk to receive a note from Sandy. She writes an answer, taps her desk as a signal to pass the note back. Sandy repeats the action with Sharon several times while the oral reading continues. Hr. P. interrupts the class to remove Dave, so Hr. Wheatley calls him from his sleep. His head is on the desk and he lifts it and asks, "Huh?" He goes slowly out. Hark continues reading. Hr. Wheatley asks a lot of interspersed questions about meanings of words and Richie, Gary, and Ron do most of the answering. The procedure is repeated with Paula reading and Hr. Wheatley asking questions and acknowledging more frequently the hands raised by Richie,.Sandra and Ron. Dave returns sullenly and immediately drops back to sleep. Robert, as usual, is following along and ignoring everyone else. Ken sits un­ moved and inattentive to the reading. Patsy, un- mo ving and rigid in her chair, has not raised her eyes from her desk since the beginning of the period. When the reading stops she gazes at the desk or glances furtively aside. Russell behaves similarly. He never looks up or moves. The activities and expressions of the students indicate boredom and fear. There is little inter­ action among the class members. Host students who are not "attentive" engage in personal activities 125

Blackboards

reacher* s Desk

Donald Rober' Gary Ken Hark

Frenda Paula

Larry Ronald

David Sylvl Bernice

Russel I Sandr i , Carl Patsy Observerf Eddie Sharo1

FIG. 6.— SEATING ARRANGEMENT OF SEVENTH GRADE 126 such as the following: Mark is writing and pencil­ ling in his magazine. Ronald looks like he's lis­ tening but he's chewing on a pencil also. Bernice and Sandy give minimal attention, listening with heads resting on their hands. Sharon is definitely not there. She's making circles with her hands in the air. Eddie gazes off and fingers a watch in his hand. Both Dave and Ken have their heads on their desks. Larry has a small piece of chalk which he is holding tightly in his hand while he murmurs to himself. Mr. Wheatley is trying to get a discussion going but few respond. Gary, Robert, Eddie, Ronald, Sandra, and Paula are the only ones who have volun­ teered to answer his questions pertaining to the meaning of the words they encounter in the reading. Sharon gets called on. She comments half-heartedly and then mumbles, "I don't know and I don't care." Her head goes down on the desk. Larry is looking now at an index card instead of the reader so Mr. Wheatley reprimands, "Sit up, Larry." He complies. Then Hr. Wheatley calls Dave to read but Larry has to shake him out of his sleep before he gets up. Dave moves to the front of the room to read and has a difficult time (ap­ parently) keeping his eyes open. Mr. Wheatley reads each word and Dave simply repeats them. There ap­ pears to be a lot of pretending about the illusion that Dave has actually "read," but no one in the room seems concerned, Just bored and indifferent. Eddie now has a notebook open and he's doodling. Some sit passively and gaze here and there— mostly they gaze at the reader. Others do something else, such as sleep or write notes. A few do both, namely answer Mr. Wheatley's questions, but they get back to doing other things as soon as they answer. There is quite a lot of yawning and little peer contact. The activity continues as described above through the second period. Students are very quiet but definitely bored. They read along and "take breaks" while some answer Mr. Wheatley's questions when the spirit moves them suddenly. With fifteen minutes remaining in the period, Mr. Wheatley gives the class free time to do what they like and he recommends that they work the puz­ zlers on the last page of the Current Events Reader. The boys group around Mr. Wheatley to work the puz- zle except for Dave who is still asleep; Ken, who remains seated; and Mark, who is working by himself. Robert and Donald play with some track equipment in the corner of the room. Bernice, Sandra, and Paula 127 work together but Patsy sits off to the side just watching. The bell rings and all activity stops as everyone makes a dash for the hallways. During third period students go their separate ways. Some have gymf some study hall and some music. Bernice, who is supposed to be going to home economics says in passing out of the room, "I've gotta get out of here. I'm cutting class." She makes an exit down the stairs to parts unknown. Study hall is in the auditorium and here students group with their friends. Little studying can be seen, particularly with the seventh graders who claim, "We ain't got no work." Some of them have two study halls a day and what little work they have usually gets done in the last one of the day. Hr. Wheatley once pointed out the number of books that go home in the evening. "Stand at the door and watch. Practically none of the kids take books home. And they do nothing in study hall because the work conditions are so poor." Lunch time in the cafeteria is usually followed by a play period in the back of the building if the weather is good. If not, the students remain in the cafeteria until the end of the period. Hr. Smith once complained that the kids have nowhere to go in bad weather since the gym and the auditorium are used every period of the day. Fifth period find many but not all of the same students together for Hath. Gary said they have had several Hath teachers recently and the current one, Hr. James, is not liked* As Sandra related, "In Hath I can't get a thing done. We had a new teacher after Hr. A. left and they ran him out. Then we had that sit in. We get another new teacher and they don't like him because he always gives them detention when they want to talk. They don't like him because after school they threatened to blow up his car." Today, however, there is a substitute sitting in. This is not an unusual occurrance in that school. Gary comes in and shouts, "Horray," when he sees that Hr. James is not here. The female substitute, Hrs. Wilder, is an older woman who usually acts as a teacher aide. She is inexperienced in the classroom and has a difficult time getting the students to be quiet as they file in. When they see her, their expression changes and the formerly passive class refuses to start. Eddie, who is late coming in, tries to get a pass from her but she refuses and he simply takes his seat. Carl, passive in the earlier class, forms a front row barricade with Gary and Eddie by pushing their desks together. 128

Mrs. Wilder announces that the activity will be oral reading from the text and Hark comes to the front of the room to begin reading aloud. She adds that reading is going to proceed around the room although she knows none of their names, besides, the boys have begun walking around and changing seats so there is no way she can keep the order. Pam, who hasn't been seen in a while, sits in front of Paula. They talk loudly but finally quiet down to poke and whisper when Hark reads. Pam then pushes a chair next to Paula and furtively moves into it so that she and Paula can talk. Ron, Gary and Carl are not following along in the reading. Ronnie yells, "Teacher, tell Eddie to give me my lock, he has it." Ed challenges, "Come on over and get it." Everyone stops to watch the fight. Pam gets into it and says, "It ain't gonna hurt to give it up, Ed." Hrs. Wilder says to Ron, "Get up and get the lock so we can go on.” Ron moves his desk over and orders Hark, "Hark, hand me that lock." Loud shouting continues between Ron and Eddie so Hark gets out of his seat and sits on his desk. It appears that he doesn't want to be in the middle of a fight. Heanwhile, Don is reading aloud in front of the room through all of this, but no one pays attention. It is Richie's turn to give the teacher a hard time. He comes up and asks for a pass, knowing full well he is not allowed to have one. Sharon does the same thing while Sandra reads. Loud exchanges are carried on between Richie, Ed and Ron when Richie is denied the pass by the teacher. Then Pam yells out to Eddie. Chaos descends as the teacher does not know how to control the class. The only ones doing anything related to the expected activity are Bob and Russell, they sit quietly. All others are fooling, talking, writing or just gazing off into space. For example, Sharon is busy writing notes which she throws over to Paula and Pam. Ken sits off to the side half sleeping and half gazing off. The barricade in the front has expanded to include Carl, Gary, Ron, Richie, Hark and Eddie. Finally, Hark just gets out of his seat, walks around and takes another seat near the window. It appears he doesn't want to be bothered by the boys. Don yells out to the teacher, "He's (referring to Hark) not supposed to be sitting over there." The teacher seems upset but does nothing except return to the book in front of her. Ron reads aloud, but stops to shout to the group 129 sitting by the window, "Shut up and let me read." Don replies, "He didn't have any respect for us." Hark is called on again. He's over by the window and refuses to read. The teacher threatens, "You'll all have a test and you won't know the stuff." But no one pays attention. Don and Mark kick a can around the room and then take it to the air. Larry, who has been an observer to the antics so far, also moves his desk to the window. It is Sharon's turn to read aloud now but no one can hear her so the teacher calls on someone else while Sharon continues to read. Even Patsy Just doodles on her book, and Sandra remarks, "My blouse is ripped, and I hate to have long hair in the summer." Suddenly Mark gets up and physically wrestles Don. All the antics of the boys except Robert and Ken appear to be fooling to provoke the teacher. Sharon sighs, "1 wish Mr. James were here." Ed limps up to the desk and gets a pass to the office. The teacher directs, "Go down to the nurse and find out what the problem is. 1 can't stand you in here." That seemed to be exactly the effect he wanted to create. Sandy interjects, "I'm getting a headache from all this." Pam runs out of the room. The teacher goes out of the room after her, yelling to come back. There is definitely a difference in degree of activity between the boys and the girls. Girls are much more passive, except for Pam who is the only one who has flaunted the teacher as the boys did. The rest simply refuse to do the lesson. Their transgressions of the teacher's requests to be quiet are minimal. For instance, Sharon still passes notes to Paula but when she isn't doing this, she simply twiddles and says nothing. Most of the "action" is carried on by the usual group of boys, namely, Richie, Ed, Mark, Ron and Don. Gary and Carl are more observers than participants since they laugh more at the antics of the others than initiate any. Larry, Russell, Robert and Ken Just watch with Larry and Robert reacting more to the action than the other two. Russell and Ken never leave their seats. Russell once commented, "I fool around in math class because I can't find my book and the teacher won't give me another so I don't have anything to do." However, observation indicates he does not participate in the "fun." The girls watch or ignore the boys. They carry on their own conversation among themselves. Patsy is the 130 only one who says practically nothing. Suddenly the bell rings. The teacher threatens to report the class to the regular teacher but no one pays attention. They Just run out of the room into the hall. The class now reports to Ur. Rosa for language arts and one can see a change in their behavior. They file in much more quietly than the previous period but they still ignore the teacher upon enter­ ing. Ron is laughing with Gary, while Hark and Richie are throwing paper wads into the basket. The class proceeds much the same as Ur. Wheatley's class. The students are reading fables and they take their places and start to work when Ur. Rosa calls, "Quiet, please." But boredom and the lack of individual involvement in the class becomes apparent, although they appear slightly more energetic than in the morning. They are required to read silently and write a summary of the reading and most, while doing some work, take frequent breaks. As soon as the teacher starts talking for more than a few minutes at a time, blank, drifting looks appear as minds wander off so Ur. Rosa purposely keeps them reading. Generally, lack of peer contact is evident in the class but there is some passing back and forth of notes between the girls. Sandra and Gary are the most attentive and involved. Richie appears to be able to do two things at once. One moment he's reading along, then his hand pops up to answer a question. The very next second he's trying to "make contact" with Don across the room with a gesture but again a question about the reading is asked so he shoots his hand up to answer. The pattern is repeated again with Don. Larry simply watches the communication and laughs. Larry is a very nervous boy. He usually sits off by himself and makes no effort to initiate interaction with anyone. He almost constantly shakes his leg. At the moment, he plays with his mouth and nose for the benefit of Richie who does the same in return. Richie stops to answer a question and Larry continues with himself. He plays with his glasses, knocks bis teeth and looks around. Then he is back to the reading but only for a second before he goes into his world again. The period winds to a halt with free time for the last twenty minutes. The activity goes on as in the morning. The girls group together and sit and talk. Patsy listens but makes little contribution. Paula, who appears to be liked by everyone, walks over to 131 the group of boys who are holding a playful boxing match. Robert talks with the teacher and Gary and Carl add to the more relaxed atmosphere by laughing. Larry and Russell sit together and watch on, mumbling an occasional sound to each other but both look lost in their thoughts. Mr. Rosa sits at his desk and oversees the action. Everyone appears to be waiting for the period to end. The interaction appears super­ ficial. Even the girls Just sit together in more silence than conversation. The bell rings announcing the usual exit from the class and all depart for separate activities, some to shop, some to gym or study hall, some to science. Mark yells as he races down the hall, ''Only two more periods to go'" Gary chases after him. The day grinds on until 3:30 when the dismissal bell sounds. Russell sets out immediately for the downstairs to pick up a friend and depart. As he once was beaten and his watch stolen, it is common knowledge that he won't walk the halls without a teacher. Dismissal, however, means he can get away from the school quickly. Corridors are filled with laughing, pushing, students, the older ones flirting with each other. Many are in no hurry to leave but would rather stand around and talk, while the haste of others to leave school is visibly apparent. For the seventh graders, various interests send them on. For Mark and Eddie it is home to the mini­ bikes or places where one can be found. Gary and Ron run for a quick game of football. Sandra hurries home while Bernice scowls in the hallway admitting she doesn't want to go home and face her mother. Pam runs off to meet her boyfriend whom she will marry this summer.

The Groups

While the seventh graders were together at least four

to five out of nine periods in the day, little interaction of influence was noticeable among the class members, unlike the eighth graders at All Saints.

Reliable students.- One analysis of the class members depicts the categories which Mr. Wheatley, the social 132 studies teacher, drew to Indicate his "reliable*' stu­ dents, meaning those who cooperate, get involved in class and have good reading skills. Interestingly, all the ones designated as "good readers" are in the first group except Larry and Sylvia.

TABLE 2

TEACHER’S GROUPING OF STUDENTS ACCORDING TO "RELIABILITY"

I II III IV Very Reliable Fairly Reliable Unreliable Nonworker

Ronald Carl Sylvia Dave Sandra Larry Donald Gary Eddie Bernice Paula Sharon Hark Robert Pam Patsy Richie Ken Russell Brenda

Observation varified that Group I was a more enthusias­ tic group who payed closer attention to the teacher, was less prone to bored looks, attention wandering and personal acts. One might say that differences in classroom work behavior were more visible at Onondaga, than at All Saints and the three groups attest to this. Since the class activities will be dealt with more thoroughly later, an analysis of social grouping is directly in order.

Lack of Cohesion.- When they were given choice in seating or when they worked in small groups (which occurred 133

rarely) or had free time certain tenuous alignments were

apparent. Figure 7 reveals no strong lines in influence

in the class. Every student interviewed said, "We have

no leader. We act independently." Even in work groups which they formed occasionally, Sandra summed up the

attitude: "We have no leaders. When we work together we take turns leading. But no one controls anybody else."

Observation confirmed this. Students gave little

consideration to each other in class. As a matter of fact, hostility was more the rule than the exception, but this will be discussed later.

Division of the sexes.- As in All Saints the groups were divided according to sex, but more loosely united.

The girls were rarely involved in the antics of the boys

as seen when the boys got together to harass the substitute during math class. The girls rarely initiated conversation with the boys. But Larry, Russell and Carl, were extremely passive and fearful students. They agreed more closely with Sandra and Robert on how one should behave in class, for example, they agreed that being quiet and doing what the teacher said was important.

The Boys

Ron and Gary were two of the more central boys in the class. While Gary and Ron were considered "good students" by those interviewed, Ron "fooled around" more than Gary BOYSGIRLS

Don<- — > Mark— Patsy ^ Richie

Ron <— > Gary <- -> Carl <- — — SandraI v A A 1 /K i t

'ii— * ¥ ' 1 .Ed *!/ Davq^ - Robert Bernice^- ^>Pam^ ^Sylvia Vs X \ v V Larry V -> Russell Sharon Paula Ken

Indicates direction of association more than influence

Strong friendship or association

FIG. 7.— SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SEVENTH GRADERS 135 and thus received a bad reaction from such students as

Sandra and Russell. Ron was always in the center of

things* Although the class denied itf it appeared that

he more than Gary led the class in daring antics when a

substitute came in. An exerpt from the field notes

indicates one of the many incidents in which Ron,

rather than Gary, was the one involved:

The teacher hasn't arrived yet. Someone runs out of the room and yells, "He's coming!" Mark, Rick, Ron and Eddie carry this on. They make a run for their desk. They do this over and over again. ...

Ron and Gary considered themselved good friends and

Gary admitted that the one he listened to in the room was

Ron. Ron felt that a good student kept his mind on what

he was doing but he was not sure if he was a good student

although he admitted, "I read ahead faster than the rest.

Most of the time I guess at questions because Mr. Wheatley

has asked them before."

The students associated with Gary and Ron were Don,

Mark, Richie, Eddie, Dave and sometimes Carl. However,

"associative” in this case, refers generally to those

times when a substitute came and they fooled around.

From the incident related above one can see that particu­

larly Mark, Richie and Eddie included themselves in the

fooling around.

Fooling around.-Mark and Richie chose each other as

friends while Ed said he hung around with Dave and Ron. 136 These boys admitted that they spent a great deal of their

time fooling around in school, except in Mr. Wheatley's

class, "because he gives swats. We don't dare fool

around." As Eddie and Ron put it:

We fool around because we get tired of sitting and reading. If the teacher calls on you and you don't know where you're at we don't care, especially if we've had a rough day."

These boys all "acted up" when the substitute came in and

they gave similar reasons for their behavior. Gary said,

I get all my attention in class. I spend my time making the teacher mad. We don't make Mr. Wheatley mad because he's our best teacher and Mr. Rosa is next. But that math teacher is crazy.

Gary went on to explain that the "foolers" in these classes, meaning, Ron, Ed, Richie, Pam, Sylvia, Bernice,

Paula and Don, had an understanding that they didn't tattle on each other when they acted up for substitutes or when the regular teacher was out of the room. But the "rule" didn't affect Sandra, Patsy, Russell, Larry or Carl because they didn't do anything. "The rule is for us who do things. To keep each other in line." However, very few other students felt that "the rule" was ever "enforced."

Ed, Gary and Ron explain that they fooled around for substitutes because they were bored, they wanted a break in the routine with the regular teacher (they couldn't get away with anything, they said, in Mr. Wheatley's class) 137 and because the substitute usually was scared, unfamiliar

with the names and tried to "order them around." They

admitted that,

Ve all do it. We made one guy have a nervous breakdown... He had to go to a hospital. We didn't like him. He kept mouthing off. We hollered and threw chalk and erasers. If he reported on us he won't have any class cause we'll all be down in the principal's office. He won't even have a case cause we'll try to lie against him. He tried it once, and it didn't succeed. We didn't like that lady substitute. She wouldn't let us have our way. I Just wait until we get in class to see what mood they're in.

While all the boys in the group admitted that they

feared swats and detention, they were the only ones in

the class besides Pam and Bernice who didn't take the school

threats too seriously. As Gary said;

The worst thing a teacher can do is give you a detention and I'll never come. You can get a misconduct and that's a swat. I don't mind that."

However, other students in the class, particularly the other boys in the grouping felt Gary was more "chicken"

than he verbally indicated.

Dave was included in this grouping because all the students interviewed indicated a liking for him, particular­

ly Ron and Ed. He was known for his good humor and no one seemed to mind his poor reading ability or attendance.

Sandra, who particularly liked David because he was not an avid "troublemaker" in the classroom said, "David tries to get out of all the work he can by going to sleep." 138

Ur. Wheatley suspected that David was taking drugs and that a great deal of his sleepiness in the classroom stemed from that. "He needs alot of help. He's very insecure.

He'll do the work if I sit right next to him."

Carl was extremely quiet and passive in class and had been observed to go directly to the back of the room with Russell and simply observe the action of the class. Sandra considered him a good student because

"He's quietf pays attention and doesn't fool around."

While he rarely fooled around, he's well liked by all the boys and respected "because he's on Student Council."

Ron said that "Outside of class he's much more talkative than in class." Ur. Wheatley attributed his poor per­ formance in school to low reading level. But Pam said that she knew Carl "pretended" often because "he looks like he's following along but suddenly he'll get called on to read and he won't know where we are."

Russell and Larry considered each other friends and neither aexe liked by the rest of the class. Russell was disliked because he "squealed" so often and was afraid of everyone.

Gary and Ur. Wheatley said, "Russell waits everyday for the teacher to walk him to his next class." Russell admitted that he didn't like to get in trouble and that he couldn't do more than one thing in class or he would 139 lose his place In the book and "get an *F’".

Larry Is picked on by everyone in the room because

as Pam says, "He’s little and he calls us names. We hit on him and he cries so easily. Well, when I get at somebody it Just makes me feel real good inside.

Especially when they don't fight back." Bernice added,

"I can’t stand Larry because everybody calls him ’green,’

and if I were to like him they'd call me names. He ’s a pest."

As for Robert and Ken, neither were ever mentioned by the others. While Sandra considered Robert a good student, Richie said the class disliked Robert. Ho reason. He was just "not with it." From observation it appeared that Robert did not interact with anyone, except Russell or Carl on occasion. He was more attentive to the work than Ken but he did not include himself among the foolers.

Ken was in his own world. His refusal to be interview' ed was another indication of his distance from the teachers and students. He was completely ignored perhaps because he chose to ignore the other students. He often moved away from the boys when fooling around began. He just appeared as if he didn't want to be bothered.

The Girls

Sandra and Paula were the central girls in the class 140 primarily because they were both present in class most often. They interacted more often with the boys and they were considered by the class members to be examples of the

"good student." Sandra did not like the boys' fooling

around because she felt that "they just don't want to

learn." They often stood in her way of learning, she added, because, "once they start in on a substitute, forget it."

She articulated future goals, "1 want to be a nurse and 1 want to get all the way through school. I don't want to drop out 'cause it'll be hard to get a job," and considered herself different because of this, but different in no other way— no worse or better than anyone else.

Sandra considered Patsy her friend and appreciated her quietness in class. Patsy, however, was referred to by the boys as someone "who does nothing." Sharon, as observation verified, remained distant from the class.

She could be heard to say frequently, "I'm so bored," and often put her head down dramatically on the desk. Her only bother with the rest of the class consisted of passing notes to Bernice or Sandra.

Bernice, Sylvia and Pam were friends, however, Pam said, "1 think Bernice is jealous that I hang around with

Sylvia." Sylvia was considered a tomboy and was always in trouble, answering teachers back and walking out of class with the salute, "Fuck you." Pam felt that one had 141 to learn the art of pretending in school and her friend

Sylvia missed this:

In the math teacher's class I was acting crazy and he threatened to give me a misconduct and I just made him feel sorry for me. 1 said I'll come to school and learn. 1 was really sincere and he believed me. Host of the kids try to order him not to give a misconduct. They don't try to make him feel sorry for them. If you order him that'll make him do it more because teachers don't like kids ordering them around. Most of the time it works for me. Sylvia's tried it before but she gets in trouble so many times. Richie's gotten plenty, too, but he doesn't play it clever at all. He goes crazy when they threaten to give him a misconduct.

Very few others in the class revealed this sophistication regarding their behavior, however, Pam did not plan to stay in school beyond this year because she would be getting married. As she said, "I got put back in seventh grade by mistake and I'll have to repeat the year because I was in a detention home for skipping. So I figure it isn't worth it!"

Brenda was not included in the social analysis as she was not in attendance more than two days during the study.

Neither the teacher nor the class members referred to her in any of the conversations unlike Sylvia and Pam who were absent also but still remained figures in the activities.

The above discussion revealed a much more loosely structured social system than existed at All Saints.

While there were some informal associations and common 142 norms these could almost be said to play a more divisive

than a uniting role in the class. A discussion of the en­ tire class may illustrate this.

The Class

Lack of Commonality of norms and cohesion. The only time some of the members of the class united for any reason was to "get the teacher," or the substitute. Ron,

Ed, Hark, Gary, Don and Richie agreed that, "It was fun, to get the teacher mad." Although they didn't like getting swats they liked to "see how much it took to get the substitute mad." None of them seemed extremely bothered by threats of detention or swats. The reason they behaved in Ur. Wheatley's class was because "he gives swats and

*F* s."

The rest of the class members did not share this view or the accompanying activity (Pam and Sylvia, perhaps, being the exception). Sandra, Robert and Russell felt one should "always do what the teacher says," but when

Ed, Hark, Ron, Rick and Don were "getting the substitute," they did nothing to prevent it, nor did they do anything to assist the substitute.

Lack of assistance in accomplishing tasks. All the class members interviewed defined a good student as one who "got their work done, did no talking or fooling around and did what he was told." This is quite different from 143

the students' definitions at All Saints. The eighth

graders did not take the need for rigid compliant behavior

quite as seriously as the seventh graders. The eighth

graders felt that getting along and helping each other were most important but to the seventh graders at Onondaga, helping each other only stood in their way of complying with the teacher. For example, cheating and copying were viewed by the eighth graders as "ways of helping each other learn more. Everyone should get decent grades. No one likes to see another fail. Fooling around makes learning easier." However, the seventh graders felt differ­ ently. For instance, students were observed in test situations four times. The only "cheating" that was observed was entirely personal, meaning, students wrote the answers on their desks or hid a "cheat-sheet" from view in some manner. No one consulted with anyone else.

Several examples from the field notes demonstrates this:

The spelling test begins. Mark has got the words on a paper at the side of his desk. He *s looking down. Eddie checks his desk, where he has written several answers. Sharon has the words out on a piece of paper under the one she's writing on. She suspects someone is looking and puts her purse on her desk, but she continues to peek at the answers anyway.

Rus has got his paper folded in half so that no one can see it. The only one he really has to fear copying is Larry who's sitting in front. No one else is around. Distrust is evident. 144

Ed, Mark and Sharon are definitely cheating, but Mark just got caught.1 Mr. Wheatley glancing down the side of the desk, said, "Does that help a little bit?" and threw Mark's paper in the basket. Mark looks very embarrass* ed. Sharon hasn't been deterred by this. She continues checking her answers. She gets rid of it by pulling out her note* book and sliding the cheat sheet inside as the test ends.

Class ends and Mr. Wheatley calls for papers.

When asked why they didn't help each other, the

answer was consistently the same for all members of the

seventh grade class: "If you help each other you can

get caught. If you were to help, the other person would probably squeal on you. We all squeal on each other when we catch someone cheating because they're not supposed to cheat. Then they get a zero for that day."

When asked why they would want to give someone a zero or an "F" their reply was unanimous: "He might get a better grade than you and that isn't fair."

Sandra was the only one who admitted not feeling threatened by the others* grades, but then her grades were the best in the class.

She hadn't tattled because, "I haven't caught anyone cheating. I'm usually too busy with the test. People tattle to prove to others they ain't no chicken to tell the teacher on them, or they're not afraid of them." 145 Gary stated his strategy in a test:

I make two tests: I do one test all wrong and let people see it and I make the real one for me. I trick them so they'll get an "P." They shouldn't copy. If they copy they should fail. All of us tell on each other. If one of them don't get what the other one got they get mad and tell about copying. Like Eddie tried to tell a lie on Ron and me one day but we tricked him back into it. He accused us of copying but he didn't have any answers. When he turned in his paper and he didn't have any answers down we said, 'How can we copy when you don't have any of the answers? Mr. Wheatley asked him why he told a lie. No one likes to get better grades. One day I got a better grade and he got all mad. I got a higher grade than Sandra but she didn't say anything.

Ronnie added that he told on people because, "I am mad at them. It's my way of getting back at someone. So you better cheat alone."

Russell and Robert denied also that they cheat.

Russell said, "I don't cheat because it takes all my con­ centration to listen. It's not worth getting caught."

Similarly they felt that Ron and Ed could tell some­ one more about cheating because, "We can't. If we were to pretend anything we'd get caught. We're not good at fooling anyone."

Lack of control of situation. Unlike the students at All Saints there is no understanding regarding the class's ability to control their situation. All agreed that Mr. Wheatley controlled the class with the paddle 146 and the judicious use of "F's". Students didn't even see

themselves even uniting against substitutes. Certainly

boys fooled around because it was a break in their

routine but all felt they acted independently. There

was no pressure to fool around. If a student didn't want

to fool around, he simply went his own way, as Ken did.

Even if one fooled around there was little responsibility

to one another. Because there were no leaders even the

"activists" admitted they could not "control" each others' behavior. Gary came closest to articulating an under­ standing among the foolers, "A student who fools doesn't tattle or the rest will get on him,” But no one else, not even the "foolers" agreed to this. Everyone took his chances and as Robert said,

Everyone usually agrees with the person who is telling the truth. I squeal sometimes because I know they'd do it to me. They've squealed on me when I was not in the class when I was supposed to be. I feel that if I do something wrong and somebody tells on me it's for my own good, and if I tell on somebody else I figure it's for their own good, too.

Lack of roles. There were no articulated or observ­ able roles in the class. No one felt there was a leader and as most of the behaviors observed were personal, it was difficult to say if anyone exerted influence over the other class members.

While the students agreed on what was proper behavior for a good student there were differences in degree of 147 compliance with that understanding. No one defined a good student as Hr. Wheatley did: one who cooperated, got involved in class and read well. In fact Russell, Robert and Sandra felt that answering questions was fine, but that it was more important to be quiet. Table 3 demon­ strates the difference in conforming to their own under­ standing as verified through observation.

Column I indicated those who were considered by others to be good students. Column II signifies whose who were considered to be the foolers (to differing degrees). All members of this grouping agreed they fooled around more than a good student should. However, members of this group usually considered Gary and Ron good students, but those in Column I did not vote for Ron or Gary frequently.

Richie was the only one who was designated by more than one person as a bad student because "he was always bother­ ing people." No one in this class considered himself a good student. The closest admission to being a good student came from Sandra who said:

Hr. Wheatley said Gary and I were his best students. If I had my choice of who to work with I'd choose Patsy, Robert and Gary. But I don't consider myself different than anyone.

The class members agreed that they behaved differently for different teachers but the difference would be among those in Group II rather than Group I. What characterizes

Group I is the lack of fooling or variation in behavior TABLE 3

RANKING BY STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR CHOICE OF "GOOD STUDENT"

I II III Number Number "Good Students" of votes "Foolers" of votes "Bad Students"

Sandra 7 Gary 4 Ricky♦ Carl 5 Ron 1 Ken (not regarded Robert 3 Pam 1 as a member of Paula 2 Don class) Larry 1 Mark Patsy 1 Ed Russell 1 Dave Sylvia Sharon Bernice

♦voted by a few of the class as a bad student. 149 In any class. All the students felt Mr. Wheatley was

the best. "He's fair," said Gary. "He has no favorites

and he means what he says." No mention of method or

material is ever considered in the competancy of the

teacher, unlike students at All Saints. Mr. Rosa, the

language arts teacher, was considered the second best, because "he can control us." But the general consensus was that the new math teacher "is crazy" as Gary and

Pam indicated.

Therefore, unlike the eighth graders at All Saints* there was no division of labor for productive ends, no

"team spirit" and nothing that united the class members.

Roles were not even considered and rather than helping each other "tattling" was important. The seventh graders did share an understanding of how a good student behaved but unlike the eighth graders at All Saints, there was no imposition by class members to rely on each other. The seventh graders at Onondaga valued highly conforming rigidly to teacher expectations whatever the expectations were, while they omitted Mr. Wheatley's consideration for class participation and academic performance as important.

It seems that they took the "maintenance" aspect of the definition more seriously than other aspects.

Finally, observation verified that personal activities took presedence over interactive ones at Onondaga even when fooling around with the substitute took place. CHAPTER V

ANALYSIS OF DATA

Introduction

The purpose of this study has been to (1) describe and record as many student patterns of behavior in two class­ rooms as possible, (2) classify those behaviors in terms of role and role expectations, and (3) indicate how those stu­ dents' roles combined to create a total classroom social system.

The method chosen to do this is best explained in terms of "functional analysis." The concept of "function," according to Malinowski, means "the integral result of or­ ganized activities, that is, as distinguished from charter, which is, the purpose, the traditional or new end to be ob­ tained."1 Function, therefore, is what actually occurs as a result of organized activity. Charter is the idealized end, that which is strived for but not attained. Or, as

Merton explains Malinowski, functional analysis "alms at the explanation of anthropological facts at all levels of development by their function, by the part which they play within the integral system of culture, by the manner in

Bronislaw Malinowski, A Scientific Theory of Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 19601, p. 535. 151 2 which they are related to each other within the system."

Malinowski goes on,

Each institution that has an organized type of activity has a definite structure. In order to understand, describe and discourse theoretically upon an institution, it is necessary to analyze it in the manner indicated, and in this manner only. . . . No element, trait, custom or idea is defined or can be defined except by placing it within its relevant or real institutional setting. We are thus insisting that such institutional anal­ ysis is not only possible, but indispensable. It is also maintained that any other type of discus­ sion or demonstration in terms of isolated traits or trait complexes other than those which follow the institutional integration must be incorrect.

It is the contention of this study that the school, even the classroom, is in a sense the locus of its own cul- 4 ture. As Smith and Geoffrey have shown, there are sets of common understandings and those common understandings among the students combine to make that classroom at least a par­ tial culture. Of course it is a somewhat limited and small culture; and each individual act cannot be perceived as being related only to that classroom because the children are oriented to other organizations— the home, family, church, and neighborhood. However, the position maintained herein is that since they spend a significant portion of their time in school, they will create some sort of organ-

Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure, p. 76.

Malinowski, A Scientific Theory of Culture, p. 53-54.

Mmith and Geoffrey, Complexities of an Urban Classroom. 152 ized micro-culture or mini-society in school and in the classroom. That mini-society will contain many of the ele­ ments of a full-blown culture, that is, there will be com­ mon knowledge, beliefs, morals, customs, and patterns of a activity.

The intention of this research is to look at the

"function" of the integrated sum of these things. That is, we are asking the question, "What is the possible end result of the pattern of activities and beliefs that constitute this micro-society of the classroom?" To strive for such answers, those separate activities and beliefs must be carefully analyzed and scrutinized for the total pattern they form.

There is, however, a problem with the issue of func­ tional analysis. It can be used to Justify any act. For

Instance, if any act can be viewed as having an integral relation to other acts, one might argue that racism is ac­ ceptable because it is functional, it seems to be integrated into a pattern with other cultural traits, i.e., regionalism.

Or, indeed, fighting in the classroom can be viewed, even

Justified, because it may have a definite and integrated relationship to other classroom behavior. To get around that difficulty, Uerton discussed the concept of dysfunction.

He recognized that certain things do cause change and can be categorized as conflict elements and therefore, by regard­ ing things not only as they function or Integrate with other 153 elements but also as they fall to function or cause the dis­ ruption of other elements, not only "the basis of social 5 stability, but also the basis of social change" can be studied.

These concepts are extremely important to the process of analyzing classroom behavior. Too often teachers diag­ nose problems based on vhat they learned in child psychology.

They regard deviant behavior as an individual thing and make an individualized attempt to correct it. However, ac­ cording to the point of view being taken here, it is equally profitable to look at deviant behavior, or indeed any act, as it is related to the entire classroom social system. In other words, a teacher should examine a child's acts as they are related to the environment in which the child finds him­ self, in this case, the environment of the classroom.

The functional method of analysis also allows looking at social situations in terms of both their lack of unified structure and social cohesion. For instance, in a single classroom there might be the lack of any unified set of role understandings. If so, the individuals might be studied to see if they constituted such separate subcultures out of school that in the school they simply refused to get together.

This may be the case in some inner city schools. The pres­ sures for the blacks to maintain an identity separate from

^Uerton, Social Theory and Social Structure, p.76. 154 the whites and the resulting resentment by whites may actu­

ally prevent a school or a classroom from becoming any type

of integrated, holistic society* Rather than analyzing the

interrelations and common understandings in certain in­

stances, functional analysis can be used to concentrate on

the absence of interrelations and the absence of common un­

derstandings to examine things not only as they function

but as they fail to function. Either way, the concept of

functional analysis can be extremely helpful in analyzing

either a whole culture or a mini-society such as a classroom.

Summary of Methodology

In summary, the methodology was guided by certain questions generated through common sense and theory which

were posed before the observation and interviewing began.

These questions provided a starting place for developing working hypotheses. Then, Howard Becker's process of anal­ yzing field data as summarized in Chapter Three (page 58) outlined the sequential, ongoing process of data analysis conducted throughout the duration of the study.

Finally, Figure 1 demonstrated the application of

functional analysis to the model building process, that is moving from first order abstractions to a well integrated

(or not integrated) social system. What appears in Chapter

Five is a result of this ongoing process of data analysis. 155 Therefore, the plan of this Chapter Is as follows: the questions contained in Chapter One will be restated and

answered for each school setting in light of the data pre­ sented in Chapter Four. The questions are cumulative. Ques­

tions One through Six discuss the elements of the social system. Question Seven integrates the elements by dealing with the problem of function, namely the end result of the social system.

The final sections will discuss the conceptual sig­ nificance of the findings and the implications of this study for further research.

Findings

Question One

How did the students spend their time in class?

a. In what ways did the students react uniformly to the

teachers* expectations of their behavior?

b. In what ways did the students react differently to

the teachers' expectations of their behavior?

Answer One: All Saints

In describing the typical day at All Saints the data indicated that the students spent a large part of the day

(possibly three-fourths®) interacting with one another with the approval of the teachers.

- The figures in this Chapter do not represent exact numbers. Rather they are intended to convey an estimated proportion. 156 1. Free time was spent running errands together and

playing together.

2. Work time found the students helping each other on

tests, doing homework and monitoring class. This appeared

to be acceptable to the teachers.

3. Teachers accepted and condoned "fooling around" to­ gether. (The examples from Chapter Four show Hr. White over­

seeing the boys' seance act; Sister laughing at Raymond's

shoe phone act; and Miss Jones ignoring Ronald's antics at the window during a discussion.)

Teacher Expectations of Students' Behavior.— In terms of the student behavior in the classroom, the eighth graders reacted rather uniformly to the expectations of the teachers.

The students all knew that the different teachers expected different things from the class and they measured their be­ havior accordingly.

1. In response to the productive expectations of the teachers, the students developed a set of roles and norms among themselves which were understood by all, including the teachers.

2. Some conflict arose in the class due to different understandings of the teachers' expectations. Sister ex­ pected a student to do his own work and the girls felt this could best be accomplished by sharing and helping, but the boys felt this was copying. 157

3. Ron, Ray, and Mike were known to comply the least with the task expectations of all the teachers. They relied on others for answers rather than assistance; they copied more frequently and received lower grades. They were re­ garded by the teachers as "hopeless" cases. While Mike,

Ron, and Ray fooled around more than anyone else, this did not Jeopardize their group standing, in fact, it enhanced it, but it did lower their academic capacity in the eyes of the teachers; that is, the teachers expected less of them.

Answer One: Onondaga

In response to the first question, the seventh grade students at Onondaga spent much of their day fooling around-- meaning, talking, sleeping, doodling, or being Inattentive.

1. Boredom was the observable state of most of the stu­ dents and interview verified this condition.

2. The type of inattentive behavior was different than that of the students at All Saints. Two-thirds of student non-task behavior in the class was personal rather than interactive, even during free time. The students frequently did not include others in the fooling around. Instead, they carried on alone.

Teacher Expectations of Students* Behavior.— Observa­ tion verified that the task expectation was often reading silently, reading orally, or answering questions verbally and in writing.

1. In addition, it was expected that the students be 158 cooperative, quiet, attentive, and responsive. While stu­ dents were often attentive and quiet, they rarely gave full attention to the task at hand as evidenced by the number of personal behaviors which they used to divert their attention periodically.

2. Table 2 (page 133) indicated the differentiation of the students into three categories as the teacher perceived different degrees of conformity to his expectations of a good student.

3. Table 3 (page 149) demonstrated the differences the students saw in themselves as to how well they lived up to their definition of a good student. The students thought there were two discernible groups, the workers and the fool­ ers, and they defined this according to the degree of fool­ ing around each student exhibited. While a fuller treatment of this would be more adequately handled in Question Two, there were differences in compliance with teacher expecta­ tions as perceived by both students and teacher.

Thus, in both schools the students spent approxi­ mately two-thirds of the time outside any cognitive inter­ action with the teachers, either fooling around or pursuing other nonwork activities; but at All Saints the time was spent with the students interacting with one another, while at Onondaga students were frequently alone. 159 Question Two

What roles did the students take on in the classroom?

a. How might these roles be defined?

b. How do the students define them?

c. How do the roles not interrelate and therefore may

be regarded as dysfunctional?

d. How do students adapt to limitations on their behav­

ior?

Answer Two: All Saints

Role was defined in Chapter One as "a norm that

states the expected relationship of a person in a certain 7 position he comes in contact with." At All Saints there

was a complex and integrated set of commonly understood be­

haviors. It is difficult with the eighth grade to discuss

roles in terms of the formal and the informal organizations

because there was little differentiation at All Saints be­

tween the formal and the informal organizations. In factf

the informal organization was so great in the eighth grade

that it successfully imposed itself on the formal for the

students* control of their environment. The strong student

social organization, with its commonly perceived roles and

integrated groups could be discussed rather from the infor­ mal, the productive and the maintenance aspects of the class­

room. Figure 8 attempts to depict the overlapping and inte-

^See Chapter One, page 10. i

Informal Organization Productive Aspect of Formal Organization

Girls - Academic -Leader -Tattler -Prettiest lper workers

Boys - Spirit Inde ndent-Worker Floaters own -Joker Foolers -Leader -Lieutenant Thel Questihn-Responder -Moderator^ Policeman

Tattler

Attendence-taker Teacher's helper Errant Runner Teacher's pet

Maintenance As Formal Organization 160

FIG. 8.— MODEL OF ROLE INTEGRATION AT ALL SAINTS SCHOOL 161

gration of roles in the social system at All Saints and the

dependency between each of these elements of the classroom.

This model has particular meaning as it is contrasted with

F i g u r e u summarizing the lack of role integration at Onon­

daga.

The Informal Aspect

In the informal sector, we saw the breakdown of the

class into two main groups, the boys and the girls, each of

which had a separate function as a group in the class: the

girls kept up the academic side and the boys kept up the

spirit. Even the teachers supported this. Sister rewarded

the boys for being boys and actually condoned their behavior.

For instance, she did the following:

1. laughed at Ray's antics;

2. allowed Ray to take attendance every morning;

3. gave Tim teaching privileges in the lower grades, to

"keep him on the right side of her."

4. sent Tim to the bank with school money;

5. took advantage of Ron's strength for moving heavy

objects;

6. told visitors "the boys add spirit" and "boys will

be boys."

Among the boys and the girls each student had a role and a position which was understood by all the students in the class. For the Girls.—

1. Mary was leader.

2. Debbie was a leader and a tattler on the boys.

3. Cindy was quiet and had no influence.

4. Kim was the prettiest.

5. Karen was the "Black Power" advocate.

6. Colleen and Rose were "out of it."

7. Sally was articulate and influential.

Colleen and Rose's roles were dysfunctional in terms of the girls' group and the entire class. They did not inte­ grate with the others. Specifically, they did not conform to the norms of the girls. They

1. wore Improper dress;

2. held different views (Rose in particular);

3. did not participate in the division of labor (Colleen

was considered too slow.).

While the end result of this was Colleen's withdrawal from social activity, Rose's behavior was equally dysfunctional— she dropped out of school.

The Boys.— The girls depended on the boys for spirit and the boys could be identified for certain things in the informal organization.

1. Rick was leader.

2. Ron was the lieutenant and enforcer of certain under­

standings.

3. Ray was the class clown. 163

4. Mike was relied on for his antics.

5. John, while not Influential, was known for his dirty

jokes.

6. Rob, the moderator, kept the balance and harmony

between the boys and relieved tension between particular

students.

7. Tim was "bossy.”

8 . Doug was the "outsider" because he tattled.

Doug's role, in contrast to Rose's and Colleen's, was not dysfunctional. He was considered a member of the group, although he received the greatest number of sanctions on his behavior. The girls did not bother to sanction Rose and

Colleen. They were simply "out of it."

Productive Aspect

Independent Role.— Each of the groups had certain functions in the productive aspect of school. The girls were known for their "helper” orientation and the boys for their independence in doing work. However, certain students were known as more independent than most: Doug, John, Ward,

Rose, and Colleen. They relied very little on anyone for answers. While the class held the norm of working together, getting along with each other, and maintaining satisfactory grades, both Colleen and John did not thoroughly approve of the class's reliance on each other.

Helper Role.— In order for everyone to maintain ade~ quate grades the girls became the helpers. Homework was 164 shared and answers were copied— usually from the girls.

Homework was not considered important but obviously some

students had to assume responsibility for getting work done

so that all students could maintain an adequate grade level.

But one did not get "helped" if it was felt that the student

did not "know" the material.

Workers.— As Homans' suggested, those in high status O positions adhere more closely to the norms of the group.

Therefore, it was not unusual that Mary and Debbie were de­

fined as "true students,"— meaning, those students who took

grades and work more seriously than others. Cindy, however, was also considered a true student but she lacked status in

the class because she was too quiet. The workers were those

students whom one could observe nearly anytime of the day

fulfilling the task assignment and doing an adequate Job at

the work. Sally, Debbie, Mary, Cindy, Rick, and Tim usually

played this role. The rest of the class relied most heavily

on these six for the successful completion of tasks and each

had a special function in the class.

1. Sally was relied on for science.

2. Debbie excelled in English and spelling.

3. Mary took care of math.

4. Cindy did homework regularly.

5. Rick and Tim were known for their breadth of infor-

g Homans, The Human Group, p. 141. 165 nation.

Floaters.— There was a second group who kept up with

the work but who relied on the helping relationship in the

class. Observation revealed a group of students who con­

sistently floated around during group work. They were the students who drifted in and out of the task depending on the proximity of the teacher and the pressure from the

"workers." The activities of Karen, Kin, Colleen, John,

Doug, Rob, and Ward were difficult to discern. They were termed floaters because it was always difficult to pin down what they were doing— working or fooling around.

Foolers.— Finally, the productive aspect of the for­ mal organization had foolers, those who felt that being ac­ cepted was very important and doing work was secondary. Ron,

Ray, and Hike spent most of their time fooling around and were most dependent on the class for answers, but in ex­ change they felt they contributed good humor to the class.

Haintenance Aspect

The maintenance domain of the classroom overlapped with the others. It kept the class running smoothly and the students were only too aware of the Importance of this for insuring their control of the class and retaining the oppor­ tunities for frequent association. For instance, Rick's job was to be the "question-responder” in Mrs. Grimm's class.

The class could carry on their own interactions if they an­ swered her questions. Thus, Rick took care of the need for 166 minimal compliance. In addition, Mr. White expected three or four students to pay attention in his class and, again,

the high status students performed this function (namely,

Debbie, Mary, Rick, Tim, and Sally). A discussion could not be carried on without them and they knew it.

The students felt they had control over the destiny of a particular class. Thus, two roles were important in both controlling the informal aspects and maintaining mini­ mal compliance with the teachers: the policeman and the

tattler. Ron controlled the behavior of the students both

inside of class and out. He, more frequently than anyone else, enacted certain physical sanctions against violators of norms, such as:

1. One must not fink on another.

2. One must comply with the group's decisions. When

the class had a goal and good conduct was warrented, one

must not interfere.

Debbie and Karen were his contrast. Both "finked," or tattled usually when the boys went "too far" in their fooling around. Thus, they insured that the class met the behavioral expectations of the teachers which they took much more seriously than most of the students. Indeed, they were not liked by the boys for this role, but it was understood by all that one could not go "too far" and, in a sense, they were the arm of the "formal organization" in the groups.

To keep the class running smoothly, certain other 167 functions were performed by student members of the eighth

grade class.

1. Ray took attendance.

2. Rick answered the office phone.

3. Colleen and Doug took care of Sister's need for

helpers (thus relieving other members from what they

considered burdensome chores).

4. All students were "errand runners." (This was the

main source of reward in the class from the formal or­

ganization. )

Thus, at All Saints one saw a well integrated set of

roles the purpose of which was control of the environment.

Sister did not really object when the boys fooled around be­

cause she liked "boys to be boys" and expected that kind of

behavior. The girls did not mind the boys' fooling because

it satisfied their need for a lively class. In turn, the

boys respected the way the girls worked and depended on them.

Two students didn't "make it": Rose who came very infre­

quently and Jeff, the black student who quit shortly after

he arrived.

Answer Two: Onondaga

While there were roles played by the students at

Onondaga, the result was something less than an integrated

society; the students could not control their environment.

While the students could articulate norms of other individ­ uals, they did not share in the differing norms and there- 168 fore exercised no control over each other. The observable

result, which will be discussed in greater detail later,

was apathy toward the productive realm of the school, hos­

tility toward each other, and a display of a wider range of

behavior than at All Saints.

Figure 9 illustrates the isolation of the factors in

the class, the informal organization and the formal organi­

zation. One might even say the factors impinge on each

other rather than support each other. The islands within

these circles represent the lack of influence and acceptance

of the roles within these realms.

Informal Aspects

The division of sex was the most apparent aspect of

the informal organization; there were the boys and the girls.

1. Students had little sentiment or feeling of friend­

ship for members of the opposite sex except as it was

negative. Little effort was made to communicate and

neither sex looked to the other for assistance in any

matters.

2. The girls generally regarded the boys as "rough, and

too silly."

3. The boys felt the girls were "too scared to do any­

thing."

Productive Aspect

Three roles were defined in the productive realm of the class: "reliable students," "unreliable students," and 169 FIG. 9. — MODEL OF ROLE DISINTEGRATION AT ONONDAGA SCHOOL ONONDAGA AT DISINTEGRATION ROLE OF MODEL 9. FIG. — Informal Organization Informal Maintenance Aspect Maintenance Boys Girls a Students Bad Students Good Foolers Productive Aspect of the Formal the of Aspect Productive al Organization al Reliable Nonworker Unreliable Organization 170 "nonworkers." These roles were mentioned only by the tea­ cher, reflecting, perhaps, the student emphasis on compli­ ance with the teacher stated norms. In fact, criteria for performance and achievement in learning were never discussed or modified by the students. Thus, Table 2 differentiated the reliable students from the unreliable students and the

Donworkers. 1) A reliable student was cooperative, respon­ sive, quiet, and generally a good reader; 2 ) an unreliable student was uncooperative, unresponsive, negative in atti­ tude, and generally a poor reader; 3) a nonworker (David being the only one) engaged in few or none of the class activities.

Maintenance Aspect

The most important aspect of the system at Onondaga was the maintenance factor as characterized by the regular use of threat, physical force, and sanctions in every aspect of the students' lives. The reaction to the student strike, the students' fear of swats, the use of detention, suspen­ sion, and threats became the routine for the students. The only apparent reward for students was grades, unlike All

Saints, where students rewarded each other with systematic social approval. Even being released for janitorial func­ tions was a punishment at Onondaga. The Curriculum Coordi­ nator once pointed out some students who were picking up papers on the front lawn and said, "Those students are hope­ less. They can't learn so why keep them in class? But 171 since they have to come to school we might as well keep them busy."

1. Hostility and suspicion marked the behavior of every student toward the other in the seventh grade class. Stu­ dents did not help each other. Students reported each other

for cheating because better grades were resented. The only students who did not feel this way were Sandra and Gary, two students who had no need to resent others because they re­ ceived good grades.

2. Even the role of good student was defined in main­ tenance terms: one who did not fool around, did what he was told and was quiet. Table 3 demonstrated that students saw twojfoles, the good student and the fooler.

Questions Three and Four

Yhat are acceptable behaviors of students toward the teachers and toward each other?

What behaviors are followed by reward? by punish­ ment ?

Answers Three and Four: All Saints

The norms of the eighth graders at All Saints re­ flected the acceptable and unacceptable behavior:

1. A student respected adults and teachers even though

they might not be considered "good teachers."

2. A student respected property of others. It was con­

sidered unacceptable to both students and teachers to

destroy property. 172 3. A student did not purposely hurt a teacher's feelings

or another students. One could call Debbie and Karen

"niggers" but if Sister heard, there would be "trouble."

4. A student did not "fink" on another. Tattling was

resented and ostracism or some verbal reprimand from

the group would result.

5. Helping each other was important. If one could not

help or "keep up,” one did not have as high a status in

the class.

6 . Fooling around was an important behavior in the

class. Students felt that not fooling around would

Jeopardize standing in the groups.

There were many opportunities for rewards and grati­ fication at All Saints.

1. Students could merit extra gym periods if they were

"good."

2. Students ran the errands and managed many of the

school affairs.

3. Opportunities for interaction could be achieved easily

and without fear of reprisal.

4. Good grades could be achieved with minimum effort.

5. The formal organization approved of the informal as­

sociations and actually encouraged frequent interaction.

The greatest fear at All Saints was isolation from the groups. No one particularly feared punishments of the teachers. They simply went through the motions of being 173 punished and supported each other through it. It is rea­ sonable to guess that this was difficult for those non­ involved students such as Rose and Jeff who finally dropped out of school.

Answers Three and Four: Onondaga

The effort to survive was so great at Onondaga that it seemed from the data that the students were overwhelmed with the obligation to comply to the maintenance realm. The demands were great and except for grades the rewards were few. While the notion of being a "modified'' student was not considered a punishment in theory, actual practice indi­ cated the contrary. Teachers may have said the modified student was less "endowed," but Ur. Wheatley did not hide the fact that Richie and a few others were in his modified class only because no one in the regular classes could

"handle them." Therefore, actual practice revealed that the modified section was used as punishment for unruly be­ havior.

Norms

While there were more controls and sanctions at­ tempted by the formal organization upon students* behavior at Onondaga than All Saints, the school did not succeed in maintaining a smooth running routine. Certainly the stu­ dents did not feel compelled to influence each other's be­ havior. There was little informal influence and hence a lack of integrated social system to breed adherance to norms. 174 Indeed, the seventh graders seemed to have taken the formal organization's notions of behavior literally. They felt cheating was wrong and were quick to report any transgres­ sions of behavior on the part of each other to the teachers or the principal. Many of them became policemen to each other for the formal organization, but they were not succes- ful in creating uniform compliance. They seemed merely to become more frustrated.

Thus, the role of the seventh graders conflicted ra­ ther than integrated. Because they had little influence on each other's behavior there was a wider range of behavior as evidenced by students yelling "fuck you" as they ran out of the door while others sat passively and gazed off with­ out concern. This was exemplified in the norm verbalized by a student: "If a student wants to behave in a certain way, he can. He is only hurting himself."

Therefore, the range of acceptable behavior was greater at Onondaga than at All Saints. For example, a student at All Saints would never run out of the room in anger, beat another student, skip class, or use four-letter words openly. While one was not supposed to do these things at Onondaga (one would be considered a "bad" student by some), one could still behave in this manner. If the behav­ ior became too outrageous, the maintenance aspect of the formal organization took control at Onondaga.

Thus, one might say that because it was unacceptable 175 to the teacher to run around the room, students were pun­

ished by the school, even though they persisted repeatedly with substitutes. However, the only punishment or sanction

the students had over each other was the threat of reporting

another student to the teacher or beating him up.

Question Five

What beliefs do some of the individuals have about classroom social systems of which they are not a part?

Answer Five: All Saints

Rose, Colleen and Doug were the only ones who could

actually be considered part of the classroom social system, however, even these three had their place— outside the group.

Because Rose was absent it was not possible to obtain her perceptions of the classroom social situation, but Colleen admitted to thinking differently about the degree of con­ formity one gave the teachers. Both Doug and she said,

"Fooling around gets you in trouble." Both, therefore, viewed the threats of the teachers much more seriously than the others. In addition, Colleen felt that she was not a part of the favoritism which Sister bestowed on the stu­ dents. She resented Sister repeatedly choosing the same students for the privilege of running her errands. What

Colleen might have been expressing, however, was an aware­ ness that Sister recognized the Informal organization and rewarded the high status members, of whom Colleen was not a part. 176 Answer Five: Onondaga

The discussion of Questions Two, Three, and Four dem­ onstrated the different beliefs students had about the class­ room. There were the boys who fooled around and were will­ ing to risk getting into trouble and there were the "good students" who felt that any deviation in behavior was wrong and thus they generally complied completely with the teacher and the formal organization.

Certainly, it is clear that there were mini-social systems within the classroom at Onondaga and one social system in the eighth grade at All Saints. Again, the result at Onondaga was a much wider range of tolerated behaviors than at All Saints.

Question Six

In what ways did the teacher become a member or at least an important referent for all the social systems of the classroom?

Answer Six: All Saints

In the eighth grade the teachers were literally co­ opted into the informal organization but it served the tea­ chers' purposes: the errands were completed and good spi­ rits were maintained. Sister Anne was the main referent and students took her moods, orders, and assignments seri­ ously. Vhat direction the class needed, she gave. However, one might say that it was a mutual co-optation which occur­ red in the classroom— everyone benefited, including teachers. 177 Answer Six: Onondaga

r Mr. Wheatley was the only referent the students had.

All looked to him for control, direction, reward, punish­ ment, and protection which he could not, in fact, provide.

Indeed, it is questionable whether any formal organization can.

Thus, one might say that Sister Anne was literally a member of the studentsf social system because she pro­ vided opportunities for their interaction while at Onondaga

Mr. Wheatley was the only common referent the students had and the only source of what commonality they shared.

Question Seven

What is the end result of function of the student behaviors in the classroom? Of the social system created by the students?

Answer Seven: All Saints

Figure 10 demonstrates the relationship of the ele­ ments at All Saints and the end result of the students* be­ havior in the classroom: the strengthening and control of the total classroom situation and student control of the environment.

The dysfunctional behavior in this classroom was ex­ hibited by Rose, the student who stopped attending school.

The school may be described as having a fairly in­ adequate educational plan. Observation revealed a lack of individualized learning, scarcity of materials, lack of spe- School's Inadequate educational School reliance p la n . on studentsfor 1. Lack of Individualized learn­ d e fin itio nand ing. harmony of 2. Scarcity of material Weak education' productive/ 3* Lack of specific direction al structure maintenance Confusion over mix of science and religious aspects. 5. Other duties taking precedence I Student need Vf for some type of Integration stru c tu re . and imposlon of student informal organization on the form­ Strong student socle al organ. Strong student Informal organization with organization. commonly perceived 1. Frequent Interaction roles, integrated 2. Similar soclo-cultural ■> groups, behaviors background and patterns of 3. Age grouping interaction and 1. Subsequent strength* 4. Factors not studied a c tiv ity . ening of total classroom social system, 2. Student control of environment. 1 Fig. 10.--Integration of elements at All Saints School and resulting social system. 179 cific direction in class, and confusion over the mix of the

scientific aspect with the religious. Other duties took

precedence over learning activities. These conditions

were conducive to a weak educational structure! namely, a

lack of goals and direction. Because there was a need for

some type of structure and definition on the part of the

students and the teachers, the factors which created and

supported a strong student social organization allowed for

imposition and integration of the student informal organi­

zation on the formal organization. Because there were a

sufficient number of rewards and because the student infor­

mal organization was relied on for definition of the situa­

tion, students did not fear the formal organization. In

fact, it was the students themselves who controlled their

environment with their strong social system and thus a bal­

ance was maintained between the maintenance and productive

aspects of the organization.

Answer Seven; Onondaga

The roles of Onondaga's seventh graders might be

termed dysfunctional because they did not integrate to con­

trol the environment. The observable proof was the fact

that many students did not come to school at all. They

stayed away because they never created an integrated society and they did not obtain gratification from attending school.

Another dysfunction of the social system created at

Onondaga was the fact that the students of the seventh grade 180 class looked to the formal organization for definition and control of their environment. For example, they took the definition of a "good student" literally from the mainte­ nance realm and measured their behavior accordingly, never considering productive aspects or their own needs. This raises a possible discrepancy between teacher expectations of students and student expectations of students. What may have occurred is the teacher's inability to discern the fact that his behavior belied his intentions, as evidenced by his concern for reading improvement while the seventh grad­ ers measured themselves according to his use of the "paddle."

Indeed, the class looked to the formal organization for pro­ tection and control but in fact received none. The extreme case was Russell who needed Hr. Wheatley to walk him to class for fear of being beaten by other boys.

The social system was dysfunctional because it could not control its environment and the agent (the formal organ­ ization) which the students turned to for guidance and con­ trol actually failed the students.

Figure 11 contrasts the model for All Saints School.

If a judgment could be made, the factors contributing to an inadequate educational plan were more serious than at All

Saints. Materials were rarely available. In fact, Russell admitted he was failing math because he lost his book and it would not be replaced. Hr. Wheatley added that he kept no­ thing in the classrooms (nor did other teachers) for fear of School's inadequate educa­ Student withdrawal tional clan. chool's la- | from productive as­ 1. Lack of individual i I once on2 i>i.n^{ pect of school learning 'tenurCf aspect] Failure to enact goals Inadequacy of method of school 2. Leak educa­ (for structure and materials tional Br.d - 'i n i r c l ( Lack of specific dlree* 3. structure r iirrrr ul re- J lion jttrdt ovailab! Lack of Integration and jtafrt students cohesion JpahcnIrr. of ilucent Infonc- honintegrated iru il organizotion weak social system ind student I ..adequate oppor­ tontrol of en- tunities for i earn­ Week student informal rironaent i ing oruer.it til I J.1 I 1. Infrequent intercet Ion I 2. Transient population Student re- \ r 3. Black-white conflict Student heed 1 lantr on fare for so >e la! orrjaniiatiofi / Studtrt hosttliry and type of jfor structure sJstrust tcv;c-rl pue structure and Control of situation •■no 11- c t Factors not studied Wider rarra oi acceptable 1. Home influence I stjernt behavior due to 2. Street influence Iscn of coT.Tvir. iors;' 3. Soclo-ecoiKsnlc fact­ Luck cf peer influence on ors 'I' each other'a behavior Cciupetitior for the few rewards

Fig, 11,—Non integral Ion of * laments at Onondaga School end the resulting effect. 182 thefts or disfigurement. The model demonstrates that the result of these factors was:

1. Student withdrawal from productive aspects of school.

2. Failure of students to enact goals of the school.

3. Student hostility and mistrust toward one another.

4. Wider range of acceptable student behavior due to

a lack of common norms.

5. Lack of peer influence on each other's behavior.

6 . Competition for the few rewards available in the

classroom.

In summary, Onondaga's seventh graders had a noninte­ grated and weak social system with inadequate opportunities for learning.

Conceptual Significance of the Findings

This educational study has dealt with two separate classrooms and two separate schools and attempted to show how selected elements of the classroom exist and integrate to create some sort of functional social system. The con­ clusion is that in All Saints School the individuals, both teachers and students, combined and integrated sets of be­ haviors, roles, beliefs, and activities to create a tightly organized whole which served to provide the students with a strong control over their own environment. On the other hand, at Onondaga School the students were unable to achieve that integration of understandings and action, and subse­ 183 quently they exerted little control over their lives. Their

reaction was to ask more of the formal organization than it

could provide, and when it failed, the students virtually

"dropped out" of school in various ways. At All Saints, the

students were able to "reward" one another socially, that is,

one gained the approval and friendly reaction of his peers

and his teacher by complying with the total system. At

Onondaga there was no total integrated system, therefore,

the social rewards were fewer and the students' behavior

was less integrated, and Judging from the number of dropouts

much less rewarding.

The lesson for educators is simple and has no doubt

been said before. The duty of administrators and teachers

is to create a climate of warmth and understanding for their

students and offer a protective environment. It is not dif­

ficult. The students themselves will, Just as the students

did at All Saints, help and cooperate.

Secondly, schools and educators have to deal with the

total social psychology of the classroom and admit the neces­

sity of encouraging rewards. Because the students at All

Saints created a social situation, there were many opportuni­

ties for rewards other than those dispensed by the formal organization. This raises another consideration. Ve know that formal organizations in general are limited in their ability to meet the social needs of the participating indi­ vidual. In addition, classroom teachers and researchers 184 have admitted for years that social factors affect the cli­

mate of the classroom and ultimately, learning. But the ex­

tent to which students can influence and control, or fail to

influence and control a learning situation to their own ad­

vantage has perhaps been underestimated. Therefore, this

study demonstrates the further need to explore the impact

of the formal organization on the informal and vice versa.

For example, if student informal organization is necessary

in dispensing certain rewards such as esteem, status, and

recognitionf the question is, can the formal organization

do this? If it cannot, and that seems to be the indication

of this study, then perhaps the teacher and those other re­

presentatives of the formal organization are not the chief

determiners of the social factors and climate that previous

research on the classroom (such as Flanders1®) assumed.

Onondaga failed because the formal organization tried

to dispense rewards while at the same time blocking the in­

formal associations. Thus, it actually defeated its own

purposes because it necessitated the use of more threats and punishments, which were usually directed at the informal as­

sociations, and the result was student hostility and apathy

toward each other and the school.

a Peter Blau, Exchange and Power in Social Life (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1$63). ~"

*®Ned Flanders, Analyzing Teaching Behavior (Reading Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing co.f 1970. 185 Propositions for Further Study

Therefore, from the preceding analysis in this Chap­ ter, certain conceptual propositions were derived and they summarize the findings of this research. At the same time, these propositions are suggestions for further study. It should be clear, however, that following the findings of the study, the first set of propositions will more closely re­ fer to the eighth grade classroom at All Saints School; the second set is merely the converse of the first set but seems to fit the classroom situation in Onondaga.

Set I

Proposition One.— As the students have increased op­ portunity for threat-free Interaction, they will create a more integrated and organized social system.

Proposition Two.— As the students create a more inte­ grated and organized social system, they will have Increased opportunity for the mutual exchange of social rewards.

Proposition Three.— As the number of rewards avail­ able to students increases in the classroom, positive feel­ ing regarding the classroom increases.

Proposition Four.— As the students create a commonly understood system of mutual exchange, the teacher will be forced to recognize that system and, in part, adapt his be­ havior to it.

Proposition Five.— As the students create a teacher- recognized and respected social system, they will increase 186 their ability to control the classroom environment.

Proposition Six.— As the teacher approaches a recog­

nition and respect for the student social system so the tea­

cher's influence will decrease as does the influence of the

formal organization.

Proposition Seven.— As the students create a more

integrated and unified social system, so their range of pos­

sible behaviors will decrease.

Proposition Eight.— As the teacher and students reach

a mutual understanding and respect for one another's realms

of influence, so they will work to combine those realms of

influence and thus integrate the formal with the informal

organization.

Proposition Nine.--As the teachers and students com­ bine their efforts and integrate the formal and the informal organizations, and as they are successful, so the classroom will become a more attractive, appealing, and rewarding place to be.

Set II

Proposition One.— As the students' opportunity for threat-free interaction decreases, they will create a more disintegrated and disorganized social system.

Proposition Two.— As the students do not create an integrated and organized social system, they will have less opportunity for the mutual exchange of social rewards.

Proposition Three.— As the number of rewards avail- 187

able to students in the classroom decreases, positive feel­

ing regarding the classroom decreases.

Proposition Four.— As the students do not create a

commonly understood system of mutual exchange, the teacher

will not be forced to recognize that system, and will not

adapt his behavior to it.

Proposition Five.— As the students do not create a

teacher-recognized and respected social system, they will

decrease their ability to control the classroom environ­ ment.

Proposition Six.— As the teacher does not recognize,

respect, or accept a student social system so the teacher's

influence will increase as will the influence of the formal organization.

Proposition Seven.— As the students do not create a more integrated and unified social system, so their range of possible behaviors will increase.

Proposition Eight.— As the teacher and students do not reach understanding and respect for one another's realms of influence, so they will not work to combine those realms of influence and therefore will not integrate the formal with the informal organization.

Proposition Nine.— As the teachers and students do not combine their efforts and do not integrate the formal and informal organizations, so the classroom will become a

less attractive, appealing, and rewarding place to be. 188

Methodological Significance

The analysis of this Chapter strongly indicates that

the methodology of observation-participation as discussed in

Chapter Three played an important part in the generation of

significantly different data regarding the students’ influ­ ence in the classroom.

It cannot be assumed any longer that the teacher or even the formal organization can control or even manipulate the students for certain ends. However, a methodology is needed which does not, by its very procedures, reinforce that assumption. The research method of (1) familiarizing oneself with the classroom, (2 ) observing the students,

(3) interviewing, and (4) analyzing for function, holds great promise as a research tool in schools for the follow­ ing purposes: (1 ) teacher training, (2 ) supervision, and

(3) classroom analysis.

For example, the question, ’’Did the students learn?" can be approached slightly differently with this methodology.

Yhile no attempt was made to actually assess learning, it is inferred that no child could actually benefit from being at the Onondaga School situation. The amount of fear, hos­ tility, apathy, and rigidity among the students in the se­ venth grade could almost negate whatever slight reading improvement (the teacher-stated goal) the teacher felt the students made. Certainly, Mr. Wheatley did spend much of his energy keeping students away from each other. If one of 189 the primary functions of school is to socialize members and equip them to deal with other institutions, Onondaga failed because it could neither hold the students there nor socia­ lize its own members to the workings of that organization.

Indeed, it could not even offer a protective environment.

On the other hand, All Saints School did a good Job. The students liked one another, they liked their environment, and they liked their teachers. They learned to like and thrive and turn the situation to their advantage. It is questionable whether the Onondaga students felt they could turn anything to their advantage, except on those occasions when they used devious tactics, as with the substitutes.

Certainly, there are many factors not studied in this work, but it seems clear that the organization which refuses to take account of the informal factors, and indeed, thwarts those associations, will fail in its productive ends.

Implications for Further Research

Indeed, one of the implications for further research is that educators need to develop new ways of systematically explaining and studying the phenomena of classroom behavior.

As Smith and Geoffrey state:

The accent we make is upon the primacy of theory as the strand or theme that must integrate the usual dichotomies of research and practice, class­ room versus laboratory research, and clinical or case-study research and verificational research. As the theorizing improves, the gaps will narrow, the dichotomies will dissolve, and issues of in­ dividual classrooms will yield to more abstract 190 and powerful conceptualizations.11.

The sociological perspective and developing theory induc­ tively may give educators and researchers more viable ways for challenging some assumptions about the classroom, learn­ ing, and students, which we have previously been unable to do because of a limited view of research methodology in generating theory.

Therefore, because this type of study lacks histori­ city, it is strongly recommended that the methodology of observation-participation be appled in other situations such as the following:

1. inner city schools such as Onondaga Junior-Senior

High;

2 . suburban and private schools;

3. lower grade classrooms;

4. upper level classrooms.

Studying classrooms in the manner indicated in this study would create the opportunity for refining, challenging, and adding to the propositions generated herein.

Secondly, the methodology is strongly recommended for exploratory studies of (1 ) teachers and (2 ) administrators.

Vith a systematic study of the other factors in the school and classroom, many "gut level*' opinions regarding teaching

^Smith and Geoffrey, Complexities of an Urban Classroom, p. 250. 191 and those cherished educational theories could be examined from a fresh perspective.

Thirdly, it is suggested that this methodology be merged with other methodologies for the purpose of accounting variables which could not be controlled in the present study. It is admitted that the elements of personality and culture in the data were not accommodated in the research. Other variables not controlled— for example, size of school, socio-economic background of the students, class size, and teacher effeetiveness— could be examined using other measuring techniques or combinations of methods.

Finally, this study did not yield discrete cate­ gories, rather it was intended to explain student influ­ ence holistically. Thus, taking the propositions generated in the study and using other methodological techniques, more discrete categories could be generated for further analysis.

Summary

In summary, this study is of educational significance because it used a sociological perspective thereby raising sufficiently the question of student influence in the classroom. While hypothetical, it is the conclusion of this study that students can control their environment to obtain certain ends, namely, to satisfy the social needs 192 of esteem, status, and recognition which the formal organ­ ization is incapable of dispensing. However, student groups who are frustrated in this regard or who are unable to manipulate or control their environment, will respond in an apathetic or hostile manner to each other, the goals of the school, and the learning goals of the teacher.

While it is the intention of this chapter to support the influence of students in creating and maintaining a social system, the influence of the formal organization cannot be denied. However, the variables affecting such a condition would need to be studied much more intensely, using, perhaps, other methodologies, such as experimental designs. Although the influence of a teacher in supporting or failing to support the development of a social situation is not denied, it is the finding of this study that if students are simply allowed to dispense their own social rewards, the students will not only feel they control, but actually will control, their environment* If students are not allowed to dispense their own social rewards certain negative consequences will ensue. While the seventh graders at Onondaga could not control the situation to dispense these rewards, certainly they con­ trolled the situation in other respects as manifested by their ability to "run" teachers out of school. Their control, however, was in direct agreement with the schooljs 193 notion of control— control by the use of force and punish­ ment. In both school situations there was Indeed control by the students but each satisfied different functions.

Secondly, it is the conclusion of this study that more research be conducted in this manner to sharpen the theoretical base on which experimental research in educa­ tion is founded. In addition, for preservice teacher education this methodology could prove to be a more system­ atic approach to initially viewing the classroom. Simi­ larly, in inservice teacher education the Smith and

Geoffrey method offers great potential for developing more practitioners to carry on research. Research in education should not be religated to the university confines and this study indicates that those who are in a position of making educational decisions should have the tools with which to view the situation in a systematic, holistic manner. APPENDIX A APPENDIX A

Sample Field Notes from All Saints Parochial School

and Onondaga Junior-Senior High School

All Saints Parochial School

9:45 am. Shortened periods today because they had a funeral mass at 9:00. 1 enter the social studies class. Mr. White passes out Current Events Reader. "You get two this week because we1re behind,'* Questions and answers about the topic to be read. Seats are arranged in rows today. All the boys are in the front two rows. Ron is conspicuously in a row of his own, sitting next to John. About four of the girls are out of the room right now: Kim Debbie, Colleen, Sally. Ray is reading aloud in the Current Events. Mr. W. just walked by Rick and pulled one of the magazines away from him. Rick looked surprised and puzzled Mr. W. ignores him. Rick attempts to speak (explain?) and pull it back, but Mr. W, still ignores him. The rest of the students look like they are following along in the reading. Kim, Debbie and Sally come in. Tim asks to be excused, and obtains permission. Kim is now finishing her "house" drawing for art which is due at 10:00 am. She is sitting in the last row with her Current Events Reader out, but she is certainly not following along. Colleen comes in now. Mr. W. is talking about the topic being read. Students are very quiet. Most are at­ tending him, but Ray is reading in the magazine. Rick is playing with his fingers. Mr. W. then asks for comments about the topic. He receives none. Ron is resting his head on his arms while listening to Mr. W. (Mr. W. keeps looking at me. I still think he's trying to impress me or check to see my reaction. He seems to seek my approval and he appears to be teaching at me. 1 can't seem to get away from that.) Ward and Doug are tying and untying their ties in a game, while Mr. W. talks on. Kim, Colleen, Sally and Karen are reading their magazines, but Mr. W. is still discoursing on the issue. Mary is wiping her face and playing with a bracelet* She appears to listen, but she doesn't look attentive enough to say she's involved. She just gazes off. 196 Rick now engages in a discussion with Mr. W, He is the only one who is commenting from the group until Tim fi­ nally enters in. Kim, who was listening, simply goes back to her drawing. Doug has got his watch off. He fixes his attention on the band, puts it back on, and gazes off. Hose is sitting with her hands to her face. She seems to be lis­ tening, but as usual, doesn't appear to care. Ron grabs an eraser, pats it against John, puts it back. Vatches for Mr. W. to turn away and then does it again. He seems to be en­ joying himself. Mr. W. asks, "Who threw the paper wad into the bas­ ket? I saw it fly." (annoyed tone of voice). Bob owns up to it. A knock at the door and Mr. W. goes to answer it. While he is occupied Ron, John, and Ray fool around. Ron keeps hitting John all over with an eraser and laughs loud­ ly. John is starting to look annoyed. Period is coming to an end. There is no announce­ ment of this. Students simply begin to talk and some go to their lockers. While waiting for Sister to come in for Math, Ron keeps hitting John with the eraser. Sister enters and he continues, but only when Sister isn't looking. Sister begins by giving them directions. "Get out paper and protractor. Michael, pay attention to directions and then when you need something raise your hand and get it the right way." (Mike had just asked someone for paper while Sister was talking.) Directions continue. She writes on board. Rick and Ray talk. She turns around and they stop talking a split second when she looks like she is waiting for quiet. They look like they're expecting a reprimand, but instead she continues her directions while writing. (This is a test. Perhaps this is why she seems sterner.) Someone asks, "What is a rhombus triangle?" and she turns and yells, "If you don't know what it is by now, it's too late." Doug is trying to get some equipment, but no one is helping him. Sister continued writing and talking. Mary Anne and Karen and Cindy look puzzled about the test. They whisper to each other, "What is it?" Ward sharpens pencil ancT Bob passes out rulers to the class. Sally asks Mary a question when Sister is not looking with some hysterical gesture which indicates she doesn't know what the answers are. Mary tries to help but she sim­ ply shrugs. To Karen, Sister says, "Where is your protractor?" Karen replies meekly, "Don't have it." Sister: "I guess you can't do much then." Rose is making faces of annoyance at the test. She is sharing a protractor with Colleen, but she has no pen­ 197 cil. Sister notices and says sternly, ''Pencils are always available. The only requirement is that you put it back so that someone else can use it too." So, Rose gets a pencil from the teacher*s desk. Protractors are shared, which facilitates very busi­ ness-like gestures to each other about the questions and answers. As someone turns to borrow a protractor, they ask a question of their neighbor. Sister helps students along. She goes from desk to desk saying, "That's not quite a rhombus," etc. (Is this a testing situation? I begin to suspect that Sister has different moods. She pretends that cheating is not allowed, but then she goes around and gives hints. She loves to point out mistakes. But this is not done equally. Some never get her attention, like Colleen and Rose. What are testing conditions?) Sister is answering Ray's question while Rose is openly asking Sally a question, "Is that a rhombus?" (Sister's attention is on Ray. She cannot see this. She seems to have limited peripheral vision.) Sister then turns to help Rose. Ward turns around and looks for a short time at Doug's paper and then goes back again to his own work. Sally contacts Kim's eyes. She seems to be looking for an answer, but when Cindy turns away, Kim stretches her eyes over to Cindy's paper. Sister comes up to me and she starts talking about her plans for today. Students begin to buzz but I can't see much because my attention is turned away from them. I do catch Rick and Ron talking. Rick is turned completely a- round looking on Ron's paper. Tim interrupts us and she goes to his aid. Rick looks stumped. He looks around but appears not so much to want an immediate answer as to find out how to do the problem. Suddenly there is a moment of quiet. But then Doug asks Sister a question and Rick asks Bob a question, so buz­ zing continues. Hike leans over to Doug and watches him. Sister notices and cautions, "Doug and Mike." Hike returns quickly to his seat. All are working while Sister is over­ seeing the activity. She stops and says, "Tim." He stops talking. Sister now goes to Ray's assistance. Ward turns to Tim, the Tim to Bob. Very dramatically he mouths a ques­ tion to Rob who answers behind his hand. Doug then asks him a question, but he shrugs and turns to his paper. Rose is doodling. She's not doing the test. (She has given up. Is this due to her absence or just her poor ability to do Hath?) While Sister is with Ray, Doug Is reading his Current Events magazine. Is he finished, just stumped, or what? 198 Tim turns to Hike and asks, "Trapezoid. What is it?’* Mike shrugs and turns around to Colleen. Now Tim asks Bob the same question but 1 can not tell if Bob answered. Hike confers with Ray who has just been helped by Sister. It must be all right because Sister retruns to watch as Hike is still leaning over toward Ray. Ward turns to look at Doug's paper but sees a Current Event Reader out he and turns back. While the class works Karen has withdrawn. She looks annoyed and stumped and simply begins gazing out the window. Ward has just turned and passed his paper and pencil to Doug who makes a mark on it, comments and then hands it back. Ward then turns again and asks Doug a question. (Sister already told me Ward has no math abil­ ity.) Now he looks around for answers from others. Sister steps out for a moment as the phone rings in the office. Suddenly stretching and conferencing begins but she comes back too quickly for students to take full advantage of her absence. Rose is still drawing. Hike stretches over to Doug again for help. Ward looks "finished." He leans back on his chair and stretches and looks around but not as if he's trying to get an answer. Sister helps Sally so Mike turns completely around to Colleen. His talking is audible. Now he gets out of chair and works with Colleen. Sister has not stopped him although she is in front of the room with full visibility. Then Sister helps the class. She shows the class's, mistakes on the board but still refuses to give answers. It's getting on in the period and recess time is approaching. Tests are put away in the desks as most students are not finished. Host leave for the rest room and talking appears to be about the test. Doug, who has not left is working on the test again? The Current Events Reader has disappeared from his desk. Colleen, who is also still working, asks a question of Sister. "What is..." Sister replies, "I can't tell you 'til I go over the test this afternoon." (What is the difference between the help she gave to the class and Colleen's questions?) To Doug Sister adds, "Your sudden interest is something." Doug answers, "I'll get it." Rose and Colleen remain in room while Doug works. Back come the boys who take their seats while Sister is at the door waiting for the period to change. All the rest of the students are visiting quietly with each other. Tim and Rose start pulling on John's tie, laughing and teasing him but he doesn't appear to mind. (It seems quite a few students still have test papers. Doug just asked, "Tim, does Sister want these now?" but Tim does not answer. 199 ENGLISH. 11:00. In comes Miss Jones and she immediately asks if anyone has book money for the monthly book club. Ron and John are fooling around by punching each other quietly. (My impression of Ron is changing. I suspect more guarded behavior than before. Hefs very conscious of me watching him at times.) Miss Jones says, "Sit down," to Vard and Doug who have not taken their seats yet. However, loud visiting continues because she's attending to business. Debbie is diligently and obviously helping Kim on the math test but this goes away into the desk when Miss J. starts talking. Students had done written impressions of a poem and Miss J. reads the students' comments aloud. Although they are expected to listen and react Rose simply continues drawing and coloring. Karen is reading Current Events. Ron is fooling with John. "Ronnie..." but he continues even with Miss Jones' warning. He slaps and nudges John and does not appear to care about reprimands. Occasionally he turns to see if I am watching but he continues with a lot of laughing. Hiss J. is still reading aloud. It is quiet in the room but Ron and John keep at each other, punching and laughing. Debbie is writing another assignment* Rose is still coloring. As Miss J. is reading a poem and asking for student Interpretation; Sally and Kim answer. However, Vard is talking with Doug and they, too, begin punching each other playfully. Ray is listening to the teacher but he is mocking the poem with a comment here and a comment there. Although Ward and Doug are giving each other short j abs Miss Jones turns to Ron and John with a warning regarding the same activity. "If you don't calm down...." Ron slows down but he still continues his behavior with John only more quietly now. Rose answers a question posed by Miss Jones while Ray is mocking our the poem. He turns to Mary and makes a face. Mary laughs in return. Miss J. stops the discussion. "I'm sorry, Sally. I missed your comment because one student is making a punching bag of the other." Laughter rises from the class and Doug and Ward stop their activity. Then Miss J. brings up the subject of sex for discussion. Rose comments. All are quiet for that moment. In contrast, the call for Debbie to read her composition in front of the room brings giggles from all the girls. Sud­ denly Ron and John stop the punching and become very quiet. It does not appear that the reason is because Debbie is reading, as they look like they are in their own worlds. 200 There is alot of buzzing and giggling among the class members probably because their own writing is being read aloud. Embarrassment rises on faces as their compo­ sition is chosen. I wonder what Colleen is doing? I can not see her. She has not answered or turned to anyone for a long time. She appears to be simply looking down on her desk. Ray and Sally are laughing together over Ray's Jokes. Rick's head is down on the desk. He seems to be reading his Current Events. A knock at the door takes Miss Jones' attention away. There is a sudden rise in the noise level in the room. Clock watching begins and when Miss J. turns back to the class she orders the students to line up for lunch. Class is brought to a sudden halt.

Onondaga School 9:00 a.m. The students enter with different degrees of enthusiasm. Don, Carl, Brenda, Mark, Ron, David and Sylvia are absent. Sandra and Sharon ask me about my "absence" and I explain where I have been for several days. Eddie is quite friendly also. He inquires about my notetaking. P.A. announcements are still going on so the class waits silently for something to begin. Richie comes in late at the end of the announcements and slams his books down on the desk. Mr. Wheatley announces, "Open you book to page 80." Sharon can not find her book. She goes up to Hr. W. and is assigned to sit next to Sandra to share her book. "Let's all move up front since you're all in the back of the room." Sandra, Sharon, Patsy and Russ move. Just as Mr. W. begins the oral reading he is called from the room. While he is gone Bernice enters. In the teacher's absence most of the students talk quietly to each other but Larry and Ken never interact with anyone. When Mr. W. returns, the students begin reading aloud at the designated page. Richie is first. The teaching strategy proceeds in this manner: someone reads. Mr. W. then stops and asks the class a meaning of a word or a question about something that has Just been read. While Richie reads, Larry looks at his book but takes breaks to write on a piece of paper under his book. He is then called on to read and so he moves slowly to the front of the room. Ken assumes the same position that he does all the time. He appears to be reading along but makes no effort to participate whatever. Ed has his book open but his attention seems to be on his hands. He turns to look at 201

me and then he puts his head down on his book. When Mr. Wheatley begins questioning again, Richie, Gary and then Ed raise their hands to answer. No one else seems to care. Over on the other side of the room, Bernice is writing what appears to be a note. Although Ur. W. is asking questions of the class she does not participate whatever. All but Bernice and Ken pay attention. Ken has his head on the book. Paula has come in during the activity. She takes her seat quietly. Larry is back doodling on his small piece of paper after he reads* He seems very engrossed in this. Patsy simply watches the class activity. Her face is raised up for the first time in a long time but since Mr. W. is at the map at the side of the room, it necessitates that she raise her head in order to see. Richie takes out paper and begins to write. (He seems to have a lot of energy. He can tune into the conversation and pop up his hand yet still carry on his own activity. I would guess he is basically a curious person. All activity catches his attention.) What is Bernice going to do with the paper she is writing? She is folding it up into a small wad and she passes it to Sandy via Sharon. Sandy opens and reads. Then Bernice turns to see if I'm watching. Bob, Gary and Ed are answering Ur. Wheatley's questions. After Ed answers, he goes back to playing with his comb which he runs through his hair continually. Bernice gets a sudden question thrown her way— "What ocean is between England and America?" Caught unaware she withdraws and puts her head down, Ur. W. reassures her that she might as well try because no one else has guessed correctly but she refuses to participate. The note from Sandy comes back to Bernice. The "pop" question did not appear to attract Bernice's atten­ tion if that was intended because she is doodling on her desk with her pencil. Ken still has his head on the desk. Richie turns around. I can not be sure whether he is watching me or Ed. Ed has a battery in his hand and while he throws out answers to Ur. W.'s questions, he plays with this. On the other side of the room, Russ is very quiet. He appears to listen but during breaks he looks at his hands and rubs his eyes. He has not yet spoken. Reading continues after the "review" so Larry takes it up. Sandra is working the bow on her dress rather than follow along. Sharon watches her dress Intently. She continues this until Larry stops reading and Mr. W. asks a question. (Mr. W. is very answer oriented. He will take the correct answer if it is called out by someone. Richie 202 started to figure out the problem but Sandy piped up with the answer and so ends Richie search. Mr. V. likes to ask factual questions and give the kids the "stem" of the answer or all the clues possible so that they will emit the correct response.) Paula is figuring out a math problem at the board, which has captured some interest but Bernice is still writing away, probably a note again. Ken has finally raised his head to watch. Russ is watching but he is so passive. He rarely raises his hand. The bell rings indicating the end of first period but Mr. Wheatley does not stop class. In come Don, Ron and Carl not looking too happy but no questions are asked by anyone regarding their whereabouts. Richie is throwing a paper wad in the basket— his fourth attempt. The class is still trying to solve the math problem: How much money was spent per acre in the Louisiana Purchase? However, Ed talks to Ron who looks annoyed. Something must have happened last period. But then Ron stops his talking suddenly and pops up with the answer to Mr. Wheatley's question. Paula leaves the board and the reading continues. Sharon is called on to read. She stumbles and her voice gets quiet almost inaudible. Carl is into his book, reading along. Bernice is still writing. She has not stopped the entire period. —Carry is still writing on his piece of paper, also. Ron looks as if his mind is elsewhere. He is not following along in the text, Just gazing off into space. Don has turned his pages to the back of the book and he gets interested in a table there. He appears bored with following along in the reading. Russ continues to rub his eyes. (He does this frequently, as I recall. Tired, or eye trouble?) Gary and Ron attempt an answer to another or Mr. Wheatley's questions but Ed is beginning to look restless. He answers a question and then stretches, combs his hair and flicks his comb against the desk. Carl's hand is up for the first time but it is not acknowledged. Larry is still doodling and Bernice is still writing notes. Sharon now Joins in on the writing. Mr. W. solicits answers but Ron and Ed interact with each other. Don is preoccupied with himself. He watches intently between his legs which are spread apparently attempting to masturbate. Then he turns to see if I am watching and he stops, Paula pays close attention to Hr. W. while Patsy sits quietly. She is called on but she never says any­ thing. (One might call this an interactive lesson, but 203 the questions are mostly of the "recall" variety and require only one word answers at best.) Richie threw a paper wad again in the basket and missed. Ur. W. says, "From now on you hold that until the end of the period." Bernice is still writing and Sandy appears to be getting restless. Carl takes his turn to read aloud for the class but Richie is not following along nor is Larry who is making circles with his hands. It is very quiet in the room as Carl is sounding out words slowly. Russ is resting on his arm and so is Paula. He gets called on and he sits up suddenly but he can not answer. Ur. W. does not even wait for him to try. He moves on to another student for the answer. The waiting for the period to end is becoming apparent. Don Just sits sideways in his desk gazing off. Ed gets up and asks Ur. W. something. He is told to sit down. The P.A. system goes on and off again with more announcements while Russ is reading. Richie turns around to Larry who is slapping one hand into the other and makes some verbal comment to him before turning back to his reading. (There are a few who do not respond or try when called on. Bernice, Russ, Patsy and Ken are never bothered witli by the teacher. However, Russ occasionally raises his hand. Sharon only seems to volunteer when the subject becomes extremely interesting to her although she has not once this period, nor Larry or Sandy who usually volunteer occasionally.) Paula, Ron, Rick, Ed, Gary and Bob did most of the answering this period. As the time to dismiss approaches the class becomes more restless. Ur. V. stops as the bell rings and announces that there will be a test tomorrow. All file out of the room quickly. APPENDIX B APPENDIX B

Sample Interviews from All Saints Parochial School

and Onondaga Junior-Senior High School

All Saints School

Q. Timmy, I’m wondering what you kids do in school. What do you do all day? If someone were to ask you how you spend you time in school, what would you say to somebody? A. Study and play around. Q. Which do you do more? A. Mostly you have to study more. You can do both at the same time. Q. They don’t conflict? How come? A. They just don’t conflict if you get the same grades. You can get more out of your studying if you have fun. Q. It appears that you spend more time interacting with your friends, talking and fooling around. A. I guess. Q. Is that what you want to do more than anything else? A. Well, I figure if you get what's done, done, then you know... Q. How do you know you're going to get it done on time? A. 1 just know I will. Q. Is that why you are always asking Sister, "How many do I have to get done before the end of the period?" A. I don't remember asking her that. Q. Remember on the stage you asked Sister, "How many do I have to do?" She said this to you twice, "From those who can do more, more is expected." A. Oh, I remember that. Q. Does she always say that? A. It depends on whom she is talking to. Some people she says it to and some people she doesn't. She doesn't say it to Rose. Q. Why not? A. Because Rose is never there. (Laugh.) She hasn’t said it to too many people. Q. What does it mean? A. Well, it bolls down to— work ahead. Q. Are there certain kids that are just smarter than others? 206 A. Yes. In certain subjects. Certain capabilities. Q. Do you all know who these people are? Do you all use it to your advantage? (Nod from Tim.) Do you all copy? A. No, not all. We know who copies in the room. Q, Who does? A. Everybody. No. Rose and Colleen don't. Rose is never there. (Laugh.) Q. Does John copy? A. I don't know. He hasn't been there very long. I don't think he does. Maybe now and then. Q. Whom do you tend to copy from? A. From the girls mostly, unless one of us has the work done. Q. Like who? A. I usually have mine done.

(Interruption when Sister comes in and explains that unless the eighth grade "conduct warrants" they do not go to the zoo on Friday.)

Q. What does she mean by that— "Unless your conduct warrants?" A. We can't get out of the ordinary. Yesterday we were playing around and Mike cut Kim's hair. That much (gesture ). Q. That’s really fooling around? A. Yes. Then she got mad at how the girls were calling the boys names and the boys were calling back. Q. That really is going too far? A. Yes. Q. Well, what is Just fooling around and what's going beyond the boundaries? A. Just funny cracks, talking and acting out the shoe phone act. That sometimes distracts teachers. Q. Are there certain limits that you don't go beyond? A. Yes. But they Just happen. We don't make them. Whatever occurs is what the limits are. You don't sit there and say, "We can't do this because that's the limit." If it comes up, it comes up and you know whether or not to do it. Q. And then by the way the teacher reacts, you know whether or not you should do it? You know ahead of time that there are certain things that are really beyond the limits like cutting Kim's hair? A. Well, most of the time the girls don't tell. Q. How come the girls don't tell? Is that an under­ standing that you have in the room? A. The understanding is that nobody finks on each other. If you really fink, nobody pays attention to you. You're not with them anymore. APPENDIX B

Sample Interviews from All Saints Parochial School

and Onondaga Junior-Senior High School

All Saints School

Q. Timmy, I’m wondering what you kids do in school. What do you do all day? If someone were to ask you how you spend you time in school, what would you say to somebody? A. Study and play around. Q. Which do you do more? A. Mostly you have to study more. You can do both at the same time. Q. They don't conflict? How come? A. They just don't conflict if you get the same grades. You can get more out of your studying if you have fun. Q. It appears that you spend more time interacting with your friends, talking and fooling around. A. I guess. Q. Is that what you want to do more than anything else? A. Well, I figure if you get what's done, done, then you know... Q. How do you know you're going to get it done on time? A. I just know I will. Q. Is that why you are always asking Sister, "How many do I have to get done before the end of the period?" A. I don't remember asking her that. Q. Remember on the stage you asked Sister, "How many do I have to do?" She said this to you twice, "From those who can do more, more is expected." A. Oh, I remember that. Q. Does she always say that? A. It depends on whom she is talking to. Some people she says it to and some people she doesn't. She doesn't say it to Rose. Q. Why not? A. Because Rose is never there. (Laugh.) She hasn't said it to too many people. Q. What does it mean? A. Well, it boils down to— work ahead. Q. Are there certain kids that are just smarter than others? 207

Q. Are there kids that fink? A. Karen and Debbie might. They only fink on something really out of the ordinary. The boys fink when the girls copy because the girls sit back and get the answers all day. Let's say Sister saysf "Oh, the girls have already got their work done and the boys haven't." Then we tell her why. Q. You resent that Sister points the girls out? A. Yes, we resent the way they get their answers. They let one girls do one and the other do another and they go down like that and they get five done in the time it takes us to do two. Q. Is it because you want them to give you the answers, also? A. We can get the answers from them if we want to. Q. Dont you get them from each other? A. If we have them done. We usually get them off the g iris. Q. Have you ever finked? A. All of us have. We do it at the same time if we do. Q. Do you have ways of ostracizing each other if someone violates this understanding? A. Yes, Doug usually finks. He only usually finks on Ronnie or Raymond. Q. How is he punished? ----- A. Sometimes they hit him, make fun of him. Q. But he's not on the inside of the boys? A. Sometimes he is but that all depends. See,7 the boys aren't like the girls. The girls always fight over each other. Cindy, Colleen and Rose are not in the group like the rest of them. But the boys are all in one group. We are different from the girls. We get together. The girls don't. Q. Do you know why that is? A. We just accept each other, I guess. The girls don't accept Rose because of her attitudes and Colleen just hangs around with Rose but the guys just all play around together. Q. Are there certain guys in the group that set the standards for the group by influencing how the rest of you behave? A. Yah. Maybe Ronnie and Ray. Q. Rick? A. No. He's an instigator. He'll talk about it but he won't do it. Q. But do people do what Rick says? A. I do.' All of us do, really. That's why he never gets in trouble because he don't do it. Q. I thought he was more serious but from talking to you I see he's in the middle of things. 208 A. What he does is say, "That's really great you guys. Do it." We do it and there he ist over there still not doing it! Q. Why is that? A. He's just smart (laugh). So he just gets along. All the boys get along except the girls. Even Doug and Ward. Q. John sits by himself alot, though. A. That's becuase I think he wants to get his work done before school gets out. He don't fool around that much. He works for what he gets. Q. But he's like by the boys? Does he have any influence on the boys? A. I don't think so. Q. Are there any other understandings in the group that you people have about how you're supposed to behave to each other? A. Mostly we try to keep Ronnie and Ricky away from each other. Whenever we play anything it's always those two on sides. You don't want them on sides because they're always on sides. Everybody in the class understands each other. Q. Do you think the class influences how you people are going to behave more than the teachers do? A. Yah. Take Miss Jones' class. We get down in the rest­ room and we say, "O.K., you guys, let's go. Tim, you read fast, Debbie, you read slow." Well, the girls usually don't get in on it. It's usually the boys. We'll be reading along and we say, "I don't know what that word is." And it'll be a "the" or some little word like that. Q. Do you plan that out ahead of time? A. Either that or we'll do the shoe phone act or I'll say I want someone to read fast and I'll go ZOOM! And that's the way it goes. Most of them just happen. Suppose the teacher starts hollering right when she comes in the door and we know what to do. We rebel. Q. I don't see you doing that with Sister. A. We don't do it with Sister because she's the principal. Q. Although you say you can influence the way a class is going to go, there are some teachers that you don't try as much, is that it? A. There are certain teachers, but I don't think it really matters, at least not to most of us. If we get it in our minds to do something we do it. Like in music, if we get it in our minds to play around and she says to stand up that's not gonna stop us from playing around. Q. I gathered that! When do you get upset? No one was upset the day you were punished by writing, remember? You were laughing. A. When she says she is going to get the board off Mr. White (laugh). Or she'll say, "One more time out of you, Tinv and you're going to get expelled." Q. Does that affect you? 209 A. Yah. Q. Do you believe it? A. Oh, she will. She's threatened me about three times already (laugh). Q. But she hasn't done it yet? A. No, but she will or she could. I think she would. I got somebody expelled once. She's expelled people before. Q. How do you know the difference between a threat and when she would. You say that you think that she'll kick you out but there's other things that don't scare you at all. A. Well, when she says we’re gonna write or something, that doesn't scare us because we know we either gonna do it or not gonna do it. I do it; Brown does it, that's about it maybe. Most of the time if she says something and she says it a second time, she'll do it. Like Mr. White, all he does is holler. Miss Jones will send you out of the room and stamp her foot on the floor. Q. That's when you know she's mad? A. Or the look in her eyes. You can tell in her eyes. Q. What are they like? A. Like that (nonverbal). Q. Hick was telling me that Mr. White does something with his nose. A. Like this (nonverbal). It wiggles or his eyes go up and down. He also says nothing, he just sits there. He'll stop just like that and look around and say, "O.K., what's happening? Who's doing it?" Q. How do you know when a teacher is pleased with you? A. Well, you can only tell when you do something. They don't usually come in looking mad. Unless Mr. White slams the door, and then you know. Q. Sister comes in looking annoyed? A. Here's hers (nonverbal). And that little dimple foils up here.' Usually when you come in first thing in the morn­ ing jind you do something for which ordinarily they would get mad at you then you know they're in a good mood. I think mostly when the teacher's in a good mood you don't get in trouble as much. When they're in a bad mood you get in trouble. Like Sister's been in a good mood today and yesterday. She comes in and she sings and stuff. Q. Does that affect the class when one of the teacher's is in a good mood? A. Yah. Every once in a while when we get real bad Rick says, "O.K., you guys, you better stop it or we won't get to go to the zoo." Like the day Raymond was calling Debbie a nigger, I said, "Raymond, you better stop it or you son't go to the zoo." And he said. "I don't care. She's talking about our Black Nationalist flag and I'll talk about our white flag that's really for both of us." We can control each others behavior. 210

Q. Tell me more about that. A. Within certain limits we can. If someone will get real mad at a teacher, you can say, "Stop it, Tim," and he won't but if you’re sitting around playing with a shoe phone, Raymond, Mike and me, we can say, "We better stop," and we do, just like that. If Sister says to stop it, big deal. That don't mean nothing. Q. How come your controls work better than the teacher's controls? A. Because we're friends and we’re not superiors. Like Mr, Lowell, he was our friend and everybody was good in his room instead of like a superior. He didn't act like that. Q. Did you people act differently with Mrs Mims also? A. I couldn't tell because we were always open in those classes. Whenever we have open class, we'll walk around and talk to each other and stuff like that. Q. Do you get you work done? A. It all depends. Ray and Ronnie don't get their work done usually. They don't want to do it. They have no desire to do it. They don't see why they should do it. They don't have time, I guess* What's this, one assign­ ment. But one assignment and one assignment, they all mount up. But Rick and I do it. I do it most of the time and whenever he don't have it, he gets it off me. But Rick gives it to Ronnie or Raymond. It don't give it to them. I don't see why they should get credit for something they didn't do, unless I know they can do it. The girls don't give the answers to Ronnie, Raymond, Mike or Ward because they don't think they know how to do it, so they don't give them the answers. But they'll give it to me because they know I know how to do it and I'll give it to Rick. But really, most of us have it done. Q. Why don't the girls help them? Why don't they show the boys how to do it? A. Because "nigger" and name calling like that stops them. No one shows how to do it in that room. Once in a while Ray will come up and ask but you just don't act like a teacher. Q. This is what I think I see happening in this class during a test. During a math test, for instance, it seems like everyone helps each other. No one is laughing or fooling around but the minute Sister turns her back or helps somebody it's like a signal to start talking. It appears that as long as you don't look like you are cheat­ ing you can help each other out. Some were doing it in front of Sister. Am I correct in what I see? A. I'll be working on my test and Ray will be fooling around and he'll ask, "What's number two?" and I won't give it to him because if he's playing around why should he get it ? But if he's sitting there trying to get it Rick and 211 me will usually give the answers. John usually sits there and does what he can get. He cares if he gets and "A," "B," or "C," but he gets what he can get and that's it. Q. Then you people take very seriously the fact that some­ one should know something? A. I do. Q. Does everybody? A. Bob, Ronnie and Mike had a make-up test and Ronnie was reading everything over Mike's shoulder and I told on him because all the other people who had to take the test and didn't have our book missed them. I don't see why Ronnie should get all five of them right when he didn’t read the book just because Mike knew his stuff. Q. You resent that? A. Yah. Q. I thought you people were committed to not finking on each other? A. I fink whenever I don't like it. There's something that says, "That's wrong," but when we have tests everyday in reading they add up and I don't see why some should suffer. I don't mind helping in a little question, such as, "How much is two times two?" Q. Is my description of what you look like when you cheat, accurate? Are you playing; are you people putting on a front? A. We don't call it cheating. It's more like copying. Q. It seems you help each other out. A. I guess. We sit there like we're doing our work. Nobody gives each other the answers if you don't try to work it out. If you try to work it out...when you sit there business-like, you are business-like, and if you're stuck you say, "Hey," and you get help but from the girls you can do the same thing and certain people won't give the answers to certain people. Rick and I can get them pretty easy but John don't ask. Q. Why doesn't he ask? A. Well, in the morning if he doesn't have his homework we'll give it to him. Maybe he's afraid he'll get caught or something. It don't matter to us because we do it all the time in spelling class. If you've been in one of our classes during the test, here are the girls with their pens: "Click, click," means, "Mary, give me one of the answers." Anyway, it used to be. I don't know any more. I sat back with the girls once and I couldn't figure out the problem and then I went, "Click, click," and the girls looked up to see who wanted an answer. Q. One of the girls told me they passed a paper around. A. On the test they don't. But the boys just come right out and say the answer. Q. Is it because you people don't take being a student as 212 seriously as the girls do? A. The girls take the grades seriously. I don’t know about the boys. I don't take mine seriously because I don’t need any. I don’t have to worry. Rick gets fair grades and he don't worry. All the rest of them need grades, but they don't worry. Q. Why not? Is the group pressure to have friends more important than having grades? A. Yah. Q. Would the group look down on you if you had good grades? A. No. Q. Is it because in order to have friends you have to fool around in class and if you don't, your position will be jeopardized? A. I think if you play around it produces better grades. But if you come everyday and you just sit there and don't do nothing, you're gonna get good grades but that's all you are going to get. But there's more to school than getting grades. There was one kid in our class and he left. He was a colored guy and he couldn't stand it. Q. Did you run him out of school? A. We didn't run him out, heck! He was the kind that sat there and did his work. And he did it wrong even. We tried to make friends with him but he just left. He didn't like us because we were white. The only ones he talked to were Debbie, Sally and Karen. Q. How do you define a good student? A. One who does his work but not just his work. Q. A good student is one who does his work and has friends.... A. And plays around. Playing around in our room is every­ thing. You just can't sit there all day without doing something. You'd be out of it. Q. And if you sat there all day you'd be jst an ordinary student? A. That's what that one guy was. You should be able to do your work and get what's supposed to be done, also. Q. What does Sister think a good student is? A. Probably her definition would be: Do your work and make sure you have good grades and stuff, but do what you are supposed to do, no less. But guys like Raymond do less and they're not out of it. Q. They girls do more work. Would you say they are better students? A. They get better grades because they copy. Every single girl in our room copies from another. I bet one girl copies more than all of us boys put together. Q. Is there such a thing as a bad student? A. Yah, I guess so. Rose is not really a bad student but 213 she has different viewpoints than everyone in the class. That wouldn't be called a bad student but it's not like us. I'd call Raymond a bad student because he don't do nothing. Q. But he fits into you definition of fooling around and that's important. A. Because you just can't sit there all day like a machinical robot doing what you're supposed to.' Anyway, Ray is the laugh-out. He does a bunch of funny things. He'll do art but math and spelling he won't do. Hike knows how to do it but he won't take the time to do it. Hike is more aware than Raymond of what he has to get done. Ray is aware of it but he won't do it. I'd call that a bad student. Rick., John, Bob and I are good students. You can only play around if you know how to do what is sup­ posed to be done. Some days I'll play around and some days I won't. But Ray is not different. Rick is like me. He'll know what to do. Most of the boys look towards me when they can't get something because I can get a little bit more. I show them.

Onondaga School

Q. ...Eddie, how do you spend your time in school? A. When Mr. Wheatley is not here we have a substitute and we like to play around. Q. How come you like to give a substitute a hard time? A. Ur. Wheatley works us all the time. Sometimes when we finish our work we have free periods but when we have substitutes we can play cards. Q. When you had that substitute the other day it seemed as if you wanted to "get her." A. She was probably reading to herself because everyone else was doing something else. Q. How can you fool a teacher like that? A. We just turn our chairs around like we were sharing books and we play cards. She'd ask someone to read and the other person would read instead so he could play cards. Q. What does a substitute do wrong to merit this reaction? A. Nothing. Q. But how come you don't fool around when Hr. Wheatley is here? A. He's got a board ten inches thick. Remember the day me and Ron went down to the office? We got it then. The substitute left our names. Q. What do you fear more than anything else? A. Mr. Smith when he suspends you. Q. Why don't you like to be suspended? A. I don't know. When you're home you can't do nothing 214 but work but in school you can skip class. Q. It seems to me that a lot of you look bored. What do you feel when you look bored? Are you really bored? A. We get tired of sitting there and reading. The teacher will call on you to read and you have to find the place and you don’t know where the place is at. When we started reading he said that if you don’t know the place he'll give you an "F" but he d o n ’t do that. Q. How do you fool a teacher when you get called on and you don’t know where you are? How do you fool a teacher so he doesn't think you are asleep? A. You find a paragraph and tell him you were reading ahead. Q. Do you get embarrassed when he calls on you and you don't know the place? A. No. Sometimes you get up and throw a paper away,and act like you were throwing paper in the trash can. Q. Why do you pretend? A. If he catches you sleeping he'll call your mother and tell her to make you go to bed at night. Mine is never home. Q. Do you do this pretending a lot during the day? A. Not in Mr. Rosa's class because he's got a strict class but when he's got a substitute.... Q. Remember when you said to me,"We don't like sub­ stitutes because we can get away with murder." How come you said that since you just said you look forward to substitutes? A. Well, Mr. Williams (the Curriculum Coordinator) takes you out and you can't fool around when he substitutes. Q. When don't you like to get away with murder? A. When we have a substitute like Mr. Williams. Q. Do you like to "get the teacher?" You looked like you wanted to do that to him. Is that what you want to do? A. Ron does it to the substitute. Remember when he tried to get the next door teacher mad? Q. Do you do it to get the kids to like you? A. No. It's just fun. Q. Who thinks it's fun? A. Everybody but the girls. They're scared. Gary don't either. He's scared. I don't know why they don't like to. We guys don’t like to stay in the chairs. We had a Japanese substitute who could hardly speak English and he was marking us all absent so when we took the cards down we fixed it correctly or else we would have been in trouble the next day. We helped him because he didn't know the names. Q. How come you helped him but gave the other one a hard time? A. Because we would have gotten in trouble with the other 215 teachers for attendance the next day because of the Jap. Q. Who do you hang around with in school? A. David and Ron. Q. David doesn’t come too often. How come? A. He and his brother hardly come to school, unless they have something to do at school. Q. Why do you come to school? A. There ain't nothing else to do at the house. Some­ times my mother keeps me home. Sometimes I have to take my brother to school and I am late so I come home and help her. Q. What do you think about school? A. I don't like school. Q. Why not? A. I don't know. It's boring. Q. Why don't you do something else? A. You can't do nothing else. You have to read. Some­ times we draw funny pictures in Current Events and pass them around. Somet imes he catches you and throws them in the trash can. Q. Sometimes you come in looking annoyed. A. Sometimes I am. Sometimes you ask a teacher for a hall pass and sometimes he won't give you one. One day when Mr. H. came around and said everyone could leave (due to the school disturbances) Mr. Wheatley wouldn't let us leave and I was mad because I wanted to leave. Q. About cheating. I saw you once writing words on your desk. Do people cheat alot? A. Yah. He caught Mark the other day. Q. How do you cheat? A. Sometimes you write them on the desk, sometimes you write on a piece of paper very dark and put a thin sheat of paper over them. Q. Is it important to you to pass the test? A. In a way. Looks like I'm not going to pass. Q. If you don't want to flunk why don't you study? A. I don't have the time. When I get home they're always ready to go fishing. Like this weekend they went up to Bay City and I had to go because I couldn't stay there alone. Q. Why don't you want to flunk? Is it because you'll be behind your friends? A. That ain't it. It's because I might get in trouble with my father. Q. What do you do when you feel frustrated with school? Do you ask people for help.... A. I ask them but they don't do anything. Q. Do you ever talk about this with your friends? A. Ho. When we get out of school we go fixing our mini­ bikes . 216

Q. What does it mean to be a good student in school? A. He sits there and does his work. He don't help nobody. He can do his work. He can get all the credit himself. Carl does help when he's finished but the rest don't. Some­ times I like someone to help he. Q. Could you tell me who the good students in social studies are? A. Sandra, Carl and sometimes Gary but he bosses everybody around. Q. How do the other kids feel about Gary? Do they like him? A. Sometimes. Paula is a good student. Q. Do the good students raise their hands more? A. No. They raise their hands just to be raising their hands. Q. How come some kids get away with more than other kids in the class? A. The teacher pays more attention to those who do their work and the person who can't doesn't get help. Q. Do the teachers yell at some students more than others? A. We just have two teacher that yell, the math... Q. How about in our class? Are there some kids that he yells at more than others or is he fair to everybody? A. He is fair to everybody. Q. You said you fool around alot. What does that mean? A. It don't mean anything. It's just something to do instead of work. Q. So it means anything you do that doesn't have to do with work? A. Yes. I don't fool in Hr. Rosa's room. We usually work for one period then he gives us the other one free. We usually wait for the bell to ring at the end of the day so we can go out and play football. One time Hr. Wheatley caught us running up the stairs. Gary has a contest to see who gets up the stairs first, second and third. He keeps it in his hook. Q. Who don't you like? A. Richie. He don't like to fight. Everytime he gets in one he goes home and tells his mom. Q. Who are the leaders in the class? A. What do you mean? We don't have any. Q. How about when you work in groups? A. No. Everybody does what they want to do. Q. Who are the best kids? A. The best workers are Carl, Sandra, Paula and Gary. David and Richie don't work. Richie is always reading other books. Q. What about Larry and Russ? Where are they in the class? A. Russell got beat up once and he waits for Hr. Wheatley 217 everyday to walk him to his next class. He's scared to death. Q. When you cheat why don't you people help each other more? A. Because Srndra and Paula will tell. Ron will tell. But he cheats too. He writes them on his hand. He got caught. Mr. Wheatley made him put his hands above his head. Q. Is there a teacher's pet? A. I don't know. Q. Who is the most popular? A. The one who makes people laugh the most. David. Q. How do you know what acceptable behavior is or is not in the classroom? A. I don't know. From the first of the year you know. He watches you and then he'll punish you and you know. I had to stand up for two periods once in the corner of the room. BIBLIOGRAPHY 219

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